I'm working on a big thread on the the interlocking disasters of the LA school system. Part of that process is reading up and making a reference list. It greatly speeds things up when the actual writing begins and it reduces the chances of me getting my facts badly wrong.
In case anyone out there wants to play along, here are some of the sites I'm using to get a handle on the LAUSD iPad fiasco.
1. An LAUSD introduction to The Common Core Technology Project.
Troubling for its vagueness, motivational-speaker language and lack of insight into the way technology works. All problems that would get worse as things spiraled out of control.
[Though off-topic here, one of these days I'm going to have to come back to the connection between the influence of management consulting and the belief in the miraculous curative powers of standards like Common Core.]
2. The vision statement for the project
,,, because it tells us that the people behind the project are the kind of people who believe in writing vision statements.
3. An early warning about Superintendent Deasy's somewhat questionable relationship with Apple. Spelled out in more detail here.
4. Suppression of internal critics.
5. A piece on where the iPad funds were being diverted from.
6. A devastating comparison with another school district's successful iPad rollout.
7. An inside account of what went wrong from two LAUSD contractors.
8. The comically fast security breach,
9. Failure to anticipate even the most obvious complications.
10. Still more problems.
and a very nice wrap up by Michael Hiltzik.
I've been arguing for a while that ddulites and flaky management theories are doing great harm to our education system. Those arguments are about to get a bit more shrill.
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