RE: Patt Morrison for Friday, February 24, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, February 24, 2012

1-3 p.m.

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

1:06 - 1:30 OPEN

1:30 - 1:58:30

Bill Gates says "Shame Is Not the Solution"
Last week, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that teachers' individual performance assessments could legally be made public. In response to the ruling, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates contributed an op-ed article to the New York Times criticizing the practice of publicizing teacher ratings. Gates explains that school administrators are under pressure to weed out ineffective teachers and many districts, such as those in New York and Los Angeles, do so by publicly ranking teachers according to their "value-added rating," which measures educators' impact on students test scores. Critics of this these types of assessments, such as Gates, argue that they encourage "teaching to the test" and do not promote a well-rounded education for students because the evaluation is only based on one type of measurement, students' test scores. Can teachers be publicly shamed into becoming better educators or is this kind of policy, as Gates calls it, "a big mistake"? What alternative methods are there for measuring teachers' effectiveness?

Guest:

Diane Ravitch, is a research professor at New York University and an education policy analyst

UNCONFIRMED

Representative, Los Angeles Times

2:06 - 2:19 OPEN

2:21:30 - 2:50

"The Most Insane, Illogical Award Choices in Oscar History"

In many circles, Orson Welles' masterpiece, "Citizen Kane," is considered to be the greatest film ever made. But cinephiles who know their history will recall that "Kane" didn't win the Best Picture Oscar in 1941 - that distinction went to John Ford's "How Green Was My Valley." Ford's pastoral coal mining drama isn't a bad movie, but how many graduate-level film school classes are devoted to dissecting it? When it comes to cinema's highest honor, the Academy often gets it right; "The Godfather," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Schindler's List" and "Slumdog Millionaire" all took home the Best Picture Oscar in their respective year.

But some might argue that from time-to -time Academy voters miss the mark. Was Forrest Gump" was more worthy than "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Pulp Fiction?" Should Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" have lost to Kevin Costner's "Dances With Wolves?" What films and performers do you think got snubbed by Oscar voters? How can the Academy improve their voting?

Guest:

Jason Bailey, Film Editor for Flavorwire, and author of "The Most Insane, Illogical Award Choices in Oscar History," for The Atlantic, Feb., 16, 2012

2:50:00 - 2:58:30
Should Oscar acknowledge soundtracks? (NOT CONFIRMED)