- We here at Fordham are really jazzed about the potential of high-quality career and technical education (CTE). Like, really couldn’t be more jazzed—we’ve written blog posts about it, held sumptuously catered events celebrating it, and even published a groundbreaking study about how CTE makes students more likely to enroll in college and earn a decent wage. But there’s nothing in life like the power of an object lesson, so here’s one for you: In Kentucky, where officials have added incentives for schools to prioritize career readiness to the state accountability procedures, we’re starting to see a blossoming CTE sector that benefits students and businesses alike. As one rural teacher puts it, referring to a local manufacturing boomlet, “These are good jobs, and any student who wants a job can get one.” When’s the last time you heard that?
- A recent report on gifted and talented education in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., has stirred up some strife that was eminently avoidable. Officials in Montgomery County, Maryland have proposed measures to diversify the local gifted programs, in which white and Asian students are (as is often the case) disproportionately enrolled. That’s left the parents of those students suddenly and predictably awakening to the importance of a strict meritocracy. The problem, of course, is the scarcity of a resource (spots in gifted and talented programs and selective magnet schools) confronted by surging and inexhaustible demand (D.C.-area parents who consider their kids special). Thankfully, the solution is just as simple: Expand those programs by creating way more magnet programs in schools and using them to educate low-income children of color. Maybe they’ll get around to it once the latest foofaraw has run its course.
- You’ve heard of Success Academy. You’ve heard of Uncommon Schools. You’ve heard of Democracy Prep, Village Academies, and plenty of others—New York charter schools that push their underprivileged kids to stunning heights of achievement with a mix of high expectations and stupefyingly dedicated teachers. But have you heard of the Icahn Charter Schools? Established fifteen years ago and named after benevolent philanthropist (qua bloodthirsty corporate raider) Carl Icahn, the network of seven schools are outperforming some of the marquee charter franchises. The secret to their success? An E.D. Hirsch-inspired Core Knowledge curriculum that’s ludicrously stacked with content knowledge (maybe too much, if there can be such a thing; there’s something eerie about eight-year-olds listing off Aztec cities). If they keep pulling off academic magic acts, the schools might overshadow some of the other stuff Icahn’s thoughtfully named after himself.
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