Raising standards right
I appreciated Gadfly's recent coverage of Massachusetts ("Wishing for a Massachusetts miracle?"). About 18 months ago, the Massachusetts Board of Education raised the state graduation standard, but in a flexible way.
I appreciated Gadfly's recent coverage of Massachusetts ("Wishing for a Massachusetts miracle?"). About 18 months ago, the Massachusetts Board of Education raised the state graduation standard, but in a flexible way.
The interim evaluation of Reading First has all sorts of people upset for all manner of reasons.
Arnold Schwarzenegger revels in his role as an unconventional politician. How many other Hummer-driving, global warming-fighting Republican governors can you name? Yet his big promises, like those of so many elected officials, can evaporate when the heat rises. Observe how his "Year of Education" was scrapped as California realized it was in a fiscal crisis.
It is generally agreed that academically able American high school graduates should attend college, regardless of their financial circumstances. That's a time-honored education goal in this country and a worthy one.
Regarding last week's Gadfly piece "Wishing for a Massachusetts miracle?": The rush to college readiness is muddying the original intent of the graduation requirement of the Massachusetts Ed Reform Law.
The Economist aimed its reporting lens last week on charter schools in New York City and Chicago. In the Big Apple, demand for charter schools has overwhelmed supply, especially in Harlem: at the Harlem Success Academy Charter School lottery, 3,600 applied for 600 available spots.
The NAACP believes that Anne Arundel County, Maryland, is suspending too many black students.
Reid Lyon, former Reading Czar and one of the creators of Reading First, posted a comment about Shep Barbash's Education Next article
Lisa Graham Keegan, school reform trailblazer and former state superintendent of Arizona, has quit her day job to spend most of her time working on behalf of Senator John McCain's campaign, reports the Arizona Republic:
Mississippi has passed legislation, and the governor has signed it, that would fire superintendents whose districts are labeled "under
Here's another interesting video from The New Yorker Conference (those New Yorker people are always so darn interesting!). In this one, the magazine's financial columnist, James Surowiecki, chats with Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern about the future of unions.
Mushy Mike knows it's not news that college graduates live longer than high-school graduates. The article??to which he refers??is a comment on the lousy healthcare that many poor Americans receive, and it really doesn't have??much to do with getting a college education.
Ohio AG Marc Dann isn't the only one coming in for a beating.
Back when the controversy over unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers exploded (no pun intended) in the middle of the 2008 Democratic primary, Senator Barack Obama used an unfortunate analogy to defend his association with the bomb-thrower:
Amber and Christina discuss the good and bad of the Reading First interim evaluation report: httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=KCgR_VC2KTk
While Americans feel no particular love for the U.S. Department of Education (see this graphic from Sunday's New York Times Magazine), I have found that, in education circles at least, particular scorn is heaped??upon state departments of education and their civil service employees.
The Wall Street Journal reviews Mark Bauerlein's new book, The Dumbest Generation, and Marion Barry defends vouchers for D.C.
"No Child Left Behind Lacks Bite." This is not exactly news to Flypaper readers, but it's great that the Wall Street Journal is spreading the word:
Flypaper does not relish the role of policing The Quick and the Ed, but that blog's latest item simply demands rebutting.
Parental choice advocates might think that Sol Stern's critique of school vouchers has harmed the cause, but surely
Malcolm Gladwell, kicking-off last week's New Yorker Conference, spoke about the mismatch problem--i.e., the hiring of people based on qualities or characteristics that have little or nothing to do with what delivers success in the position being filled.
Today at a big wing-ding on federal education research sponsored by Education Sector and several other groups , former Deputy Secretary of Education Marshall (Mike) Smith agreed that it was probably a mistake to have carved the Education Department (ED) out of the old Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Megan McArdle reflects thoughtfully on teachers unions today at Atlantic.com. I found this bit especially interesting: