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Budget cuts are good for schools
That's what I would have titled this new National Review Online piece penned by me, Checker, and Rick Hess.
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The 'Fly is back
It was quite a dry spell, wasn't it? Hopefully the holidays distracted you in your Gadfly-less state of depression. We're back and better than ever for 2009.
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Stimulating business as usual in school systems?
The Obama economic stimulus plan comes under a bit of fire in this bold op-ed by Checker, Mike and Rick (Hess), posted on National Review Online.
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Quality does count in 2009: a look at ELL students
A guest post from a Fordham Research Intern, Hannah Miller. Hannah attended the Quality Counts release event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC yesterday.?? Education Week and Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) made a smart choice when deciding the order of events for the release of their 13th annual education report card.
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Rethinking Human Capital in Education: Singapore As A Model for Teacher Development
Susan SclafaniEducation and Society Program, The Aspen Institute2008
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Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring US Students Receive a World Class Education
National Governors Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, and AchieveDecember 2008
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New Year, new buzz word
Gadfly has previously noted the flaws and weaknesses inherent in "21st Century Skills" (here, here and here, for example) and
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Nitwit Brits
If it weren't enough that the "21st century skills" crowd is bent on distracting American educators, they've made a splash on the other side of the pond, too. Faced with complaints that the British primary school curriculum is too traditional (20th century if you will), the government has decided to give it a facelift.
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Classroom to nowhere
Education, welcome to the party; Wall Street is over by the bar and Detroit is shaking it on the dance floor. Indeed, with Uncle Sam handing out money like education professors hand out As, it was only a matter of time before schools got in line for a piece of the pie.
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Cursing cursive
While we're all in a lather over 21st century skills, the elegant, practical skill known as cursive handwriting appears to be going the way of the horse-and-buggy. The problem is two-fold. First, the advent of technology and its requirements--typing and text messaging--means students are using pen and paper much less than in days of old (you know, the 1980s).
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Why Obama's stimulus plan may retard education reform
As President-Elect Barack Obama and his Congressional allies shape--and debate--their big economic-stimulus package, governors are pleading with them to include hundreds of billions for state governments that face whopping deficits.
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Jeb Bush, a voice for education reform
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's announcement that he won't run for the U.S.
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Re: Jeb Bush, a voice for education reform
Reading this Wall Street Journal editorial about Florida Governor Charlie Crist's unwillingness to defend the state's alternative charter authorizer, which was created under Jeb Bush but recently declared unconstitutional, I couldn't help but wish Bush were still governor. As the Journal explains:
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ODE ends year down $157.5 million
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) ended the year down $157.5 million after a third round of spending cuts announced in December lopped another $30.4 million from its budget (see here). Ohio Gov.
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Oh Eric! FYI, private colleges are often cheaper than publics
Todd Jones is president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (see here), which represents 49 private Ohio institutions of higher learning. Before coming to Ohio, Jones was associate deputy secretary for budget and strategic accountability in the U.S.
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2008: What a year it was
Ohio educated 1.7 million public school students in 2008, a year marked by the continued decline in urban enrollment (falling 19 percent from 2003 to 2008). The state's ailing economy also continued to show its fangs with 37 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, up from 31 percent five years ago. Students with limited English ability have doubled since 2003.
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The conceit of "21st Century Skills"
Like many of you, I'm still getting back into the swing of things after a nice??New Year's??break. One of the joys of this holiday season was visiting good friends and??their kids--and watching my son Nico (14 months old, adorable, brilliant, did I mention adorable?) play with them too.
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Fordham in the news
Fordham experts (and our many studies) continue to garner excellent media hits. As previously mentioned, many journalists turned to Checker and Mike for comment on the nomination of Arne Duncan to be Ed Sec.
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A generation of ahistorical (but devout) morons?
Visiting the LBJ Ranch in the Texas hill country this weekend, our ad hoc tour group included a gaggle of high-school students from??"south of Houston." They generally seemed pleasant, self-conscious, goofy and teenager-is
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Malia and Sasha's first day of school
Seemingly upholding her "mom-in-chief" moniker, Michelle Obama took her two daughters to their first day at Sidwell Friends this morning.