Author: David Kristofferson

Retired Ph.D. scientist, teacher (after retiring from industry, taught in private and public high schools and then worked a decade in my own private tutoring business), bioinformatician (managed both the NIH-funded GenBank National Nucleic Acid Sequence Databank and the BIONET National Computer Resource for Molecular Biology), IT director at Eos and Raven Biotechnologies, software product manager, AAAS Fellow, avid cyclist, and backpacker!

Into the Shark Tank…

Dangerously wading into the teacher evaluation controversy.

Earlier today on Diane Ravitch’s blog, she posted an alert that the State of Utah was going to base teacher pay on teaching evaluations, and that this would be a terrible idea.

Diane Ravitch is nationally known; she was initially in the Bush Administration, but later turned against the No Child Left Behind Act and has written extensively on its problems.  She also opposes the expansion of charter schools because they drain money away from public schools often in an unaccountable, possibly corrupt, fashion.  I agree with some, but not all, of her positions.

I may get my head handed to me on silver platter, but I submitted the following comment to the post.  The comment was in the moderation queue for a while but went live around 3 PM PDT.

Continue reading “Into the Shark Tank…”

Article Directories

Welcome to EduIssues.com, a site to discuss education issues facing the area around San Mateo, CA, as well as more broadly across California and the U.S.A.  Please read the Welcome message for more details about this site.  All discussions are moderated as explained in the Welcome message.

NOTE: My (Dr. David Kristofferson’s) tutoring site www.kristutoring.com is now archived here following my retirement at the end of May 2022.

EduIssues Special EVENT!

San Mateo Union High School District Area 3 Trustee Candidates Forum

On this page below, you will find article directories of (a) the most important articles on this site, (b) the most recent articles in each topic, and (c) the Top 10 most read articles on this blog.  (Note – As of mid-October 2026, “Pros and Cons of the CPM Math Textbook Series” has been viewed almost 48,000 times by readers from across the U.S. and more than 150 countries around the world!!!)

Following the directory listings on this web page, all blog articles are displayed in reverse chronological order.

I would appreciate your support for Eduissues by signing up for email alerts for new posts. This can be done in the right sidebar (or scroll to the bottom in the mobile version).  Alerts will only be sent when new articles appear, not for comments unless you also request the latter.  Your email address will not be released or used for any purpose other than sending you article alerts.

Most Important Articles for new Visitors to this Blog

  1. Raising our Children – American Society Reflects our Values and Choices
  2. SMUHSD Class Sign-up Time – Please Read This First!
  3. It’s AP ex(sc)am time again!
  4. Never Believe Educational Experts (or Me)!
  5. Reducing the Achievement Gap
  6. “Mutual Assured Destruction”
  7. My SMUHSD Board Report on NGSS – A Lot of People of Good Will Trying to Deal with a Tough Problem
  8. Update After 7 Years: Finally an NGSS-aligned Textbook
  9. Pros and Cons of the CPM Math Textbook Series
  10. Info from UC Berkeley confirms why students should not skip from Precalculus to Calculus BC
  11. Why Can’t We Teach Mathematics Properly?
  12. A Hole in the Aragon Math Curriculum
  13. How Students are “Accelerating” in Math at Aragon
  14. How to Interest Kids in Science, Engineering, and Math
  15. How to Get in to Harvard

Recent Topics

(Click on any topic title below for all articles in that category in reverse chronological order – only the most recent or important articles are listed below)

Current Topics

  1. Position Paper from SMUHSD Trustee Area 3 Incumbent Jennifer Jacobson
  2. A debate between our SMUHSD Area 3 Trustee Candidates?
  3. Update After 7 Years: Finally an NGSS-aligned Textbook
  4. “Thank You for Being Late”

Education News

  1. Position Paper from SMUHSD Trustee Area 3 Incumbent Jennifer Jacobson
  2. A debate between our SMUHSD Area 3 Trustee Candidates?
  3. Update After 7 Years: Finally an NGSS-aligned Textbook
  4. New Developments in the Data Science Math Controversy
  5. Reducing the Achievement Gap
  6. The Battle Over the California Math Framework Revision
  7. ALERT – “Draft California Mathematics Framework Shortchanges STEM”
  8. The Local Math Wars Begin *Again* – Part 2
  9. The Local Math Wars Begin *Again*

Issues in Teaching Mathematics     

  1. New Developments in the Data Science Math Controversy
  2. Reducing the Achievement Gap
  3. The Battle Over the California Math Framework Revision
  4. ALERT – “Draft California Mathematics Framework Shortchanges STEM”
  5. The Local Math Wars Begin *Again* – Part 2
  6. The Local Math Wars Begin *Again*
  7. A Result to Inspire Women in Mathematics!
  8. Guest Article: Why I Oppose the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics
  9. Why a “Sage on the Stage” in a Classroom is not always a Bad Thing
  10. Senior Dilemma: What to Take – AP Statistics or Calculus BC?
  11. Aragon Accelerated Math Class Drop Rate Controversy Has Been Resolved
  12. Alarmingly High Drop Rate for Aragon’s Accelerated Math Classes??
  13. How Students are “Accelerating” in Math at Aragon
  14. STEM Class Issues from the 2017-2018 Aragon School Year: Part 2 – AP Statistics
  15. STEM Class Issues from the 2017-2018 Aragon School Year: Part 1 – Precalculus (with an aside on Multivariable Calculus)
  16. Pros and Cons of the CPM Math Textbook Series
  17. Why is 10^0 = 1 ???
  18. Why Can’t We Teach Mathematics Properly?

Next Generation Science Standards

  1. NGSS Physics and Biology Textbook Adoption: Follow-up from the 5/22/25 Board Meeting
  2. Update After 7 Years: Finally an NGSS-aligned Textbook
  3. My SMUHSD Board Report on NGSS – A Lot of People of Good Will Trying to Deal with a Tough Problem
  4. A Great Conversation at the SMUHSD Board Meeting Regarding NGSS
  5. SMUHSD Board of Trustees Science Curriculum Agenda Item on Thursday, March 7th
  6. NGSS Impact on the 2018 SMUHSD AP Physics 1 Scores?
  7. Rewriting Your Child’s Science Curriculum – the Bold NGSS Experiment
  8. Update on the NGSS impact on the Local Physics Curriculum
  9. The Fine Art of Delay – An Open Letter to the SMUHSD Board
  10. My Speech to the SMUHSD Board on NGSS
  11. Attention SMUHSD Parents! State Mandated Testing Negatively Impacts Aragon’s Physics Program

AP Class Crisis

  1. Help for AP Physics Students during the Pandemic
  2. UPDATE on AP Exam Uploading Issues
  3. AP Exam takers lost network connectivity in some cases !!!
  4. SMUHSD Class Sign-up Time – Please Read This First!
  5. Prepared?
  6. Raising our Children – American Society Reflects our Values and Choices
  7. 2019-2020 High School Class Sign-up Time – Please Read This Article First!
  8. Senior Dilemma: What to Take – AP Statistics or Calculus BC?

College Admissions

  1. How to get in to Harvard
  2. How the College Admissions Scandal was Uncovered
  3. SAT Test Prep Recommendations

Top Ten Most Read Articles

  1. Pros and Cons of the CPM Math Textbook Series
  2. Senior Dilemma: What to Take – AP Statistics or Calculus BC?
  3. Guest Article: Why I Oppose the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics
  4. It’s AP ex(sc)am time again!
  5. Info from UC Berkeley confirms why students should not skip from Precalculus to Calculus BC
  6. The Battle Over the California Math Framework Revision
  7. STEM Class Issues from the 2017-2018 Aragon School Year: Part 2 – AP Statistics
  8. SMUHSD Debating a Change to a Quarter System?
  9. The SMUHSD “Remote Learning” Problems of Spring 2020 are NOT Indicative of the Future
  10. Critical Warnings re AP Classes

Thank you for reading and participating on this site.  Together we can make a difference and improve education for our students!

Raising Local Teacher Salaries (part 2)

San Mateo / Foster City School District salaries have not been competitive with nearby districts for years. This discussion (part two) is an attempt to understand and address this issue. This part contains a response from SMFCSD Superintendent Rosas.

Continue reading “Raising Local Teacher Salaries (part 2)”

Raising Local Teacher Salaries (part 1)

San Mateo / Foster City School District salaries have not been competitive with nearby districts for years. This discussion (part one) is an attempt to understand and address this issue.

Continue reading “Raising Local Teacher Salaries (part 1)”

AP Exam Questions on Chapter Tests?!?

AP Exam questions should not be used on chapter tests early in the school year except possibly as extra credit. This practice of using “trick questions” too early damages students’ confidence when they are trying to master material for the first time.

Continue reading “AP Exam Questions on Chapter Tests?!?”

Critical Warnings re AP Classes

Extremely important information about high school AP math and science courses gained from “bitter experience.” Parents and incoming students should carefully study this article BEFORE they sign up for classes each year.

Continue reading “Critical Warnings re AP Classes”