Yesterday, Diane Ravitch noted on her blog that United States Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan invited school districts to ask “What if”? His issue was scalability of solutions or some other corporate edubabble, but the Twitter-verse co-opted the #WhatIf hashtag and started to ask real questions. 24,000 tweets and counting later, the “What If…?” questions are still going strong.
The #WhatIf idea really appealed to me since those types of “What if…” questions are what got me started writing this blog. So I’ve jumped on the bandwagon throughout the day.
Here are some of mine (a few slightly edited) to give you a sampling. But you should really check out the trending hashtag and the retweets, because there are so many amazing ones.
#WhatIf @arneduncan had an @DianeRavitch style epiphany regarding what will actually help students and schools?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif @arneduncan and @BarackObama listened to front-line, classroom teachers when setting #edpolicy ? http://t.co/PSXvbc1tAa
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif my child could have meaningful social studies & science education b/c her school's central office wasn't focused #PARCC prep?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif parent choice included choosing between test prep curricula and teacher-devised project-based learning tailored to our kids?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif #edreform was about reducing poverty & systemic inequity rather than blaming schools & teachers for economic policy failures?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif my kid's kindergarten teacher wasn't a rebel & an outlier for including block area & pretend play as meaningful parts of kids' days?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif education drove tests instead of tests driving education?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif #edpolicy was guided by focus on preparing citizens & college/career readiness just a byproduct of citizenship prep? @arneduncan
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif ELA standards for K-5 kids focused on inspiring love of reading? @arneduncan
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif #edreformers whose rhetoric relies on "putting students first" actually put students first? @arneduncan
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif we evaluated student achievement of standards with portfolios of student work rather than with high-stakes standardized tests?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif we adequately & equitably funded public schools in high-poverty communities? @arneduncan
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif privileged & wealthy kids went to school with kids who aren't growing up with privilege & wealth?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif we stopped eliminated teacher-devised exams to make room for high-stakes testing? http://t.co/WQXU08YMzc @arneduncan
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif #edpolicy didn't ignore rural poverty's unique issues?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
When I asked my kid's teacher last year what had been lost due to Common Core, she responded: "Social Studies." #whatif we just said no.
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif #edpolicy valued school diversity more than test score conformity?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif @pearson and #PARCC gave a test, and none of the kids showed up? @arneduncan
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif @usedgov was led by professional educators with significant & recent experience in the classroom: i.e., not @arneduncan
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif @arneduncan actually listened to students prepping to take #PARCC & other #CCSS aligned tests?http://t.co/Wz1wm3PPfQ
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif charter schools taught all kids, not just the "easy kids" who "want to learn"? @arneduncan @MichaelPetrilli @carolburris
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf we were actually willing to pay for the schools we think our own kids deserve — for ALL kids?@arneduncan @Wlecker @EdLawCenter
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif #edpolicy privileged creative writing & thinking b/c we believe that creative people will chart their own career success?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf economists meddling in #edpolicy measured happiness rather than income as a proxy for whether school alumni are successful?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#whatif parents & teachers across the nation organized to oppose high-stakes standardized testing. Oh wait…@arneduncan@UnitedOptOut
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#Whatif we diverted current corporate welfare to robust school funding?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf @arneduncan started listening to (rather than blaming) parents, teachers, & students when formulating #edpolicy?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf the next presidential election became a referendum on anti-democratic #edreform & instead advocated citizenship-building schools?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#What if we gave @arneduncan a haiku lesson?
My children matter
Test scores are not their life scores
Down with high stakes tests— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#What if more haiku for @arneduncan ?
My kids need civics
Elections, not oligarchs
Real democracy.— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#Whatif more @arneduncan haiku?
All kids want our love
Tests crush creativity.
No school to prison.— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#Whatif @arneduncan figured out that numbers, data, and Harvard degrees do not confer wisdom?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf we didn't revere the oligarchs of philanthropy & instead allowed teachers, parents, & communities to set #edpolicy?@billgates
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf we gave more than lip service to social studies, civics, history, & government?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf we taught kids that they're capable of controlling their own destinies & designing the futures they believe they deserve?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf there was music?#WhatIf there was dance?#WhatIf there was art?#What if there was drama?#What if there was joy?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf our kids looked forward to going to school every day instead of dreading the #testprep factories they actually attend?#NoPARCCing
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf we started by finding out what talents our kids bring to school rather than insisting that they don't measure up?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf our kids learned world cultures & studied foreign languages & studied abroad?
Could we halt a retreat into xenophobia?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf we inspired?#WhatIf we created?#WhatIf we imagined?#WhatIf we were curious?#WhatIf this was for all?
(And not just the rich…)— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf we took field trips?#WhatIf we camped & hiked & swam?#WhatIf we visited museums?#WhatIf we stopped crushing dreams?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
#WhatIf our schools could value "what if" questions instead of forcing them to regurgitate "what is" for the high-stakes tests?
— Sarah Blaine (@parentingcore) December 31, 2014
Thank you so much, Diane Ravitch, for bringing this to our our attention. I’ve had a great time today asking “What if…”
What are your What Ifs?
parentingthecore 