The anatomy of an Op-Ed. . .

A fellow professor at Furman, Sean O'Rourke, and I have discussed the Op-Ed, concluding that expressing an effective commentary in 750-850 words is akin to writing poetry.

Much of today I have been drafting an Op-Ed on the Harlem Children's Zone. Here are the resources I have been using to communicate a complex idea to the general public:

• David Brooks's Op-Ed titled "The Harlem Miracle," which is the primary focus for my discussion.

• Aaron Pallas's challenge to Brooks and the paper on HCZ by Dobbie and Fryer.

• Diane Ravitch's challenge to the praise of HCZ.

• Alex Molnar and Holly Yettick offer compelling discussions of how the media misrepresents educational research.

Sense Series

My new Sense series, Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres, is shaping up well.

I am excited to announce the following Editorial Board members for the series:

Karen Stein, PhD
Professor, English Dept.
University of Rhode Island

Shirley Steinberg, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Integrated Studies in Education
Director, The Paulo and Nita Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy
McGill University

Jeanne Gerlach, EdD
Professor
Associate Vice President for K-16 Initiatives/ Dean
College of Education
University of Texas-Arlington

Leila Christenbury, PhD
Professor
English Education
School of Education
Virginia Commonwealth University

Renita Schmidt, PhD
Assistant Professor
Elementary Education, Literacy
Education
Furman University

Ken Lindblom, PhD
Associate Professor
Directior of the English Teacher Education Program
Stony Brook University
English Department
Editor, English Journal

New Op-Ed in The State

New president, same failed education policy