Commentary
Commentary
The Politics of School-Based Management: Understanding the Process of Devolving Authority in Urban School Districts
Elaine M. Walker, Education Policy Analysis ArchivesAugust 4, 2002
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Race in American Public Schools: Rapidly Resegregating School Districts
Erica Frankenberg and Chungmei Lee, The Civil Rights Project, Harvard UniversityAugust 2002
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The liberal case for privatization
Harvard Law School professor Martha Minow is ambivalent about the Supreme Court's decision in Zelman, but she has come to believe that the left's opposition to the privatization of social services is simplistic.
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Paige makes teacher-ed hive buzz
In June, Education Secretary Rod Paige issued an important report, the first "Secretary's Annual Report on Teacher Quality." What a splendid fuss it has kicked up-and hurrah for Paige for standing his ground.Entitled "Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge" (and previously noted by the Gadfly at http://www.edexc
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Showdowns over vouchers in state courts
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Zelman that the Cleveland voucher program does not offend the First Amendment, The Christian Science Monitor reports that state legislatures in California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kansas, Minnesota, and Maine will introduce voucher legislation this year.
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Choice is not a magic bullet, researchers argue
In an article in this summer's Harvard Educational Review, Dan Goldhaber and Eric Eide summarize research on the impact of school choice on minority students in urban settings. They write that relatively little evidence exists that school choice is having a clear-cut impact, and conclude that the mixed results suggest that choice alone will not transform urban school systems.
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Contract awarded for "What Works" Clearinghouse
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded an $18.5 million contract to develop a national What Works Clearinghouse to summarize and disseminate evidence on the effectiveness of various education interventions.
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Effectiveness of class size reforms hinges on student misbehavior
The larger a class is, the more student misbehavior reduces teaching effectiveness, suggests research by Edward Lazear, published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.
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A blueprint for reforming California's schools
The Pacific Research Institute has issued a brief guide to improving public education in the Golden State. The mini-report advocates 10 commonsensical but hard-to-implement reforms including: providing a school-choice accountability option, adopting value-added testing, introducing merit/ differential pay and testing for teachers, and ensuring the use of proven teaching methods and curricula.
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Changing Special Education Enrollments: Causes and Distribution Among Schools
Shazia Rafiulla Miller and Robert M. Gladden, Consortium on Chicago School ResearchJune 2002
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California Teachers' Perceptions of National Board Certification
The Center for the Future of Teaching and LearningMarch 2002
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"Blue Ribbon" schools of failure
USA Today reports that 19 schools designated as "Blue Ribbon Schools" of excellence by the U.S. Department of Education also appear on states' lists of failing schools.
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With Clear Eyes, Sincere Hearts and Open Minds: A Second Look at Public Education in America
Andrew J. Coulson, Mackinac Center for Public PolicyJuly 2002
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Achieving World Class Schools: Mastering school improvement using a genetic model
Paul L. Kimmelman and David J. Kroeze2002
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What Elementary Teachers Need To Know: College Course Outlines for Teacher Preparation
Core Knowledge Foundation2002
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The Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit: A Model for Federal Reform
Dan Lips, Goldwater InstituteAugust 1, 2002
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America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2002
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family StatisticsJuly 2002
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Schools' anti-drug programs miss the mark
New research shows that, despite a decade of federal efforts to promote them, the three most popular programs that schools use to discourage kids from using drugs are ineffective or unproven. "Anti-drug programs like D.A.R.E. called a bust," by Greg Toppo, Chicago Sun-Times, August 4, 2002
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States would benefit from linking student achievement data over time
When evaluating schools and education reform initiatives, analysts (and the policymakers who depend on them) are often hampered by poor data. Conclusions about school and program effectiveness would be far more robust if states had a mechanism for linking student test scores over time.
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Higher education officials confront standards and testing
The standards and accountability movement that is transforming K-12 education has begun to permeate the ivory tower, as colleges and universities are being pressed to prove that they can deliver results, not just rest on reputation. Although some public universities are phasing in state assessments, many higher education officials don???t want to open that Pandora???s box.
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Implementing No Child Left Behind: Eagerness, Regulation, Capacity
States are revving up to carry out the No Child Left Behind Act. At the leadership level, dozens of them are eager and energized. And several sources of help have lately become available. The Business Roundtable has chosen seven states to assist with policy and communications.
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California drops bonuses for teachers in high-performing schools
Budget shortfalls have led California to abandon its $100 million cash reward program for teachers in schools that demonstrate significant improvements in test scores. While the state will continue to rank schools based on academic gains, state lawmakers have not included any funding for these awards in the 2002-03 budget bill.
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California shamed on teacher quality
California has been in the hot seat since the U.S. Department of Education noticed that it was planning to meet the ???highly qualified teachers??? requirement of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act by labeling teaching interns and those with emergency certification as ???highly qualified.???
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District administrators covered by state tenure law, court rules
While the superintendent???s job is being rethought, their lieutenants are still part of the old order, at least in Connecticut. Even assistant superintendents are protected by the state???s teacher tenure laws and cannot be fired without the hearings and process afforded to teachers, according to a state supreme court ruling in Connecticut.
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Judge outlaws Florida voucher program
Putting a wrinkle into Governor Jeb Bush???s plans to allow students trapped in failing schools to transfer to private schools, a Tallahassee judge earlier this week struck down Florida???s three-year-old voucher program, ruling that it violated the state constitution by aiding religious schools with tax dollars - and following very different jurisprudential reasoning than the U.S.
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Madrasas resist reforms in Pakistan
Religious leaders in Pakistan are blasting a government plan to crack down on that nation???s 10,000 madrasas, Islamic schools that often foster religious extremism, and the government has been too nervous to press for reforms, according to an article in The New York Times.
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AP and IB programs still strong, despite setbacks
The Advanced Placement (AP) program has taken a beating this year, with Harvard announcing that it would only give credit for scores of 5 on AP tests and several prominent private schools withdrawing from the program altogether.
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What does it take to be superintendent?
With New York City focused on the question of what it takes to be an effective school system leader for the 21st century, the Times published profiles of four respected superintendents in this Sunday's Education Life section: Alan Bersin (San Diego), Carmen Russo (Baltimore), Joseph Olchefske (Seattle), and Barbara Byrd-Bennett (Cleveland).