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?What makes any new school different is that the people who are in the school opt to be there.? ? Ms. Haskins, opened the Brooklyn Brownstone School in Bedford-Stuyvesant in 2008
Discussing national standards
The CATO Institute will host a forum tomorrow (at noon) to discuss national education standards and whether or not they'll improve educational outcomes.
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?It's a real nice idea if we're swimming in money, but we're drowning in debt.? ? Sean Elsbernd, San Francisco Supervisor
NY makes big play for RTT
New York just significantly increased its chances of winning in round two of Race to the Top.
Do black single-parent families explain the achievement gap?
Michael J. PetrilliAn article by Stephan Thernstrom in the Wall Street Journal last week caught my eye. I respect Steve immensely (along with his wife Abigail) and found this paragraph intriguing, especially the sentence in bold:
education news nuggets
Janie ScullPop quiz: How do we become?internationally competitive???For starters, we should all?
Needles report relevant to Cleveland transformation
On Wednesday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on the release of our new report, Needles in a Haystack, which highlights the achievements of eight high-performing, high-need urban schools in Ohio?and then draws lessons from the common denominators that make these school
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Quotable: ?The reintegration idea is one we're going to hold on to. The way it's being executed is not.???Richard Nyankori, deputy chancellor for special education, District of Columbia Public Schools
Weighted-student funding's funniest fan?
Emmy L. PartinAs part of his ongoing attempt to save his hometown of Cleveland, comedian Drew Carey met with members of the city council yesterday to talk about his ideas for bettering the city.??
quotable and notable
?There is no content-, value- or business-free education.? ? Jon W. Wiles, retired University of North Florida professor and textbook editor
Unique Schools Serving Unique Students: Charter Schools and Children with Special Needs
Daniela FairchildRobin Lake, ed. Center on Reinventing Public Education 2010
Charter School Funding: Inequity Persists
Stafford PalmieriMeaghan Batdorff, Larry Maloney, Jay May, Daniela Doyle, Bryan HasselBall State UniversityMay 2010
'Zona fide
This fall, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Arizona’s thirteen-year-old tax credit scholarship program, under which credits (against state taxes) can be taken by those who donate to special “school tuition organizations” (STOs); these orgs then award scholarships for students to attend private schools of their choice.
Profiting from for-profits
Is there a place for for-profit organizations in public education? If i3 and higher ed are any indication, the Administration rejoinder seems to be no. Gadfly wonders, though, are we being distracted by tax status to the detriment of evaluating quality? Yes, for-profits may be tempted to cut corners to fatten the bottom line.
Rushing to judgment?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.You could be forgiven for thinking that the education messiah will arrive on June 2, considering all the hype, angst, dither and pother that already surround next week’s promised unveiling of the final “common core” state standards (CCSS).
Moving beyond adoption
Kathleen Porter-MageeThe final drafts of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts and math are slated to be released next week. While there has been some controversy in a handful of states over their adoption, the majority of states seem poised to adopt these standards quickly and with little fanfare.
New Fordham report, LeBron, charter scandals, and lots of graphics
Don't miss this week's Ohio Education Gadfly for coverage of all this and more.
Half of college diplomas are useless?
I just got around to Monday's optimistically-titled NYT article, ?Glimmers of Hope for Grads.? (The web page header is ?Job Prospects Improve Slightly for Graduates? ? maybe that one ended up in the print version). In any event, one of the stats really stuck out to me:
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?Without that, it doesn't really matter how much you spend on the car you are likely to crash.? ? Bret Schundler, New Jersey Education Commissioner, on appropriate student data tracking systems
MD and RTT
Maryland's Race to the Top application fails to garner the support of nearly all of the state's unions and a number of districts, including its largest LEA, Montgomery County.
Recent charter school stories clear signal for better accountability
A recent flurry of news about Ohio charter schools makes a strong case for clearer lines of charter school accountability in the Buckeye State.
States factor in teachers' performance
Last Saturday, the Columbus Dispatch ran an op-ed by Fordham Institute policy and research analyst Jamie Davies O’Leary about the growing trend of states incorporating teacher performance into evaluations.
Get a jumpstart on college
Ohio offers multiple options for high-school students to earn free college credit, but these pathways remain a mystery to most families and high schoolers. KidsOhio, School Choice Ohio, and the Columbus Urban League have teamed up to produce a simple, informative brochure to help students and their families understand their options for “jumpstarting” their college careers.
Can the school-choice genie be put back into the bottle?
Emmy L. PartinIs school choice a genie you can put back into the bottle? The Dayton Public School District wants to try.