Phil Rynearson of Rochester, Minnesota, is working to raise student achievement and decrease students' waist-lines-simultaneously. He's using a program developed by the Mayo Clinic's Dr. James Levine (who also created an office of the future where white-collar folks work kinetically), which forces students to stand at podiums, sit on exercise balls, or lie on mats while learning.
It is understandable that citizens and policymakers want taxpayer-funded universities to show proof that students are learning. But are government-mandated standardized tests-currently under serious consideration by a federal panel-the answer? The 4,000-plus institutions of higher education vary wildly in institutional structure, educational goals, and academic focus.
History, science, and the arts are being de-emphasized by most schools in order to make room for teaching basic reading and math skills, according to a new study. Who's to blame for this? Critics of reform point to the No Child Left Behind law.
Educators in some districts throughout Ohio may be teaching more than reading, writing, and arithmetic to prepare students for state achievement tests. Some kids may also be getting a crash course in Cheating 101.
When Robert Pohl visits a school, his aim is to look at all aspects of its operation, from finances to academics. But the first thing he looks for is a sense of urgency."It should permeate the entire school, from the principal to the secretary to the custodian," Pohl said.
K.i.d.s. is looking for a few leaders who believe that all children can learn and be successful. The Dayton-based school reform organization wants educators who can set ambitious, quantifiable goals for students, and use the best data available to measure the results.
A three-day series in the Cleveland Plain Dealer argues that charter schools across Ohio, "despite notable exceptions," are sinking fast.
Joe Nathan, Laura Accomando, and Debra Hare FitzpatrickCenter for School ChangeDecember 2005
The College Board, the Educational Testing Service, Pearson Educational Measurement, and the rest of them should be ashamed of-and held accountable for-the recent spate of screw-ups in SAT scoring, as well as the less-visible but recurrent delays and glitches in
National standards and tests are no longer desired by just a select group of policy wonks-some of the country's most powerful business leaders are on board, too.
In response to "No Cartoon Controversy," Gadfly asks whether Higher Ground (HG), a St. Paul charter public school is challenging the common school ideal. The school adapted art lessons so that Muslim parents and students are more comfortable with them. HG is meeting Minnesota state standards in art.
Charismatic Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is ready to shake up his city's beleaguered schools, and he's looking to Chicago and New York for lessons. He even took a field trip to the Big Apple this week, meeting with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein to explore the potential and perils of mayoral control of schools.
There's more than one way to skin a Badger. So when the Wisconsin Education Association lost its initial legal battle to close the state's first cyberschool (the WEA said the school violated Wisconsin charter and open enrollment laws) it took another tack.
The nation's leading teacher educators made a startling admission last year in their tome, Studying Teacher Education, by conceding there's little evidence that what happens in ed schools helps in the K-12 classroom. Kate Walsh explores why teacher educators are ignoring the achievement gap and, thus, consigning their field to irrelevance.
While some unimaginative sorts still argue that national standards and tests are politically infeasible, former John Kerry campaign aide Robert Gordon makes the case that a bipartisan coalition could turn the idea into re
Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Oregon just aren't what they used to be-at least in the eyes of the Oregon Education Association. The teachers union spent Saturday auditioning six likely contenders for the Governor's Mansion, but decided to delay its endorsement because none of the six made a match as the union's candidate.
Chicagoans love their car horns, and it's not just because the city's drivers are among the rudest in the nation. It's because they're scared to death of blind drivers. That's right-blind drivers.
The Harvard Educational Review hit upon a novel idea recently when its editors proposed that America should look to the international community for guidance in delivering education to the roughly 370,000 students displaced by hur
In many respects, the Charter School of Wilmington should make the charter school movement proud. It is considered the "flagship" of the Delaware public education system, and it posts the state's highest SAT scores and a nearly perfect college matriculation rate.
Americans are generally supportive of "special education." Educating disabled children so they can live independent, satisfying lives appeals to our sense of fairness and shared responsibility.
Civic Enterprises John M. Bridgeland, John J. DiIulio, and Karen B. MorrisonMarch 2006
Daria Hall and Shana KennedyThe Education Trust March 2006
A Seussian circus descended on Sacramento last week, but center ring wasn't the state's infamously rancorous capitol building. It was the convention center, where more than 3,000 charter school leaders and supporters arrived for four days of panels, meet-and-greets, and keynote addresses-including one by The Terminator, who dropped by on Wednesday morning.
For most Americans, the transition from high school to college today is as chancy and vexing as crossing a bridge over a river where builders on one bank have ignored what those on the other are doing. Only the fortunate will be able to make it across.
Districts and charters disagree all the time, and the battles can often turn nasty. But a coup? Last Tuesday, district officials from Sacramento Unified (and their security guards) arrived at the campus of the city's Visual and Performing Arts Charter School (VAPAC) and placed the principal and office manager on administrative leave.
Oh, Canada. Our northern neighbor's supreme court recently ruled that students may now carry swords to public schools-but only if those swords are called "kirpans" and the students are orthodox Sikhs.
