Blood and cuts in Gotham
In the New York Sun, Andy Wolf reports that "virtually all schools [in New York City] received budget cuts that in some cases exceeded 20 percent," despite an increase of $264 million in total funding for Gotham's public schools in 2004-05. Where did the money go?
The home schooling spectrum
Jay Mathews's latest column at washingtonpost.com offers selections from emails he received after confessing his "deep ignorance about the home-schooling movement" earlier this summer. He makes it clear that the stereotype of home schoolers - usually depicted as fundamentalist or right-wing zealots - doesn't bear much relation to reality.
Full-day and Half-day Kindergarten in the United States
Chester E. Finn, Jr.National Center for Education Statistics June 2004
The unintended consequences of "adequate" funding
In 1994, the Lake View (AR) school district - a tiny, rural district with declining enrollment and a high proportion of poor and minority students - sued Arkansas, arguing that the state's system of education finance was inequitable.
CBE, we hardly knew ye
Diane RavitchWhen I learned recently that the Council for Basic Education had closed its doors, I felt terribly sad. According to an article in Education Week, some attributed its demise to a "tight fund-raising environment for education groups" and suggested that CBE had expired because it was swimming in a crowded pond.
Direct instruction over "discovery learning"
Gadfly is pleased to report the results of a recent study, to be published in Psychological Science this fall, comparing the effectiveness of "direct instruction" (where teachers actually teach, rather than observe or facilitate) and "discovery learning" (where children are given certain materials and are expe
Napping 'till November
Chester E. Finn, Jr.On Tuesday, the Democratic Convention adopted a platform containing a 3-page education plank that offers something for everybody, but nothing in particular, save for a pointed 3-paragraph dig at George W. Bush. Insofar as one can detect policy impulses in the fog, however, many of them resemble what Republicans also say.
Union grievances
According to a new report from the Capital Research Center - penned by Education Intelligence Agency sleuth Mike Antonucci (see http://members.aol.com/educationintel/) - an organization you've heard of "files unfair labor practice charges and restraining orders. Circumvents the other side's negotiators.