Pay to play
Moving to Michigan? You might want to check out the website BestSchoolsinMichigan.com to pick a promising school district--or you might not. The nine districts featured on that site, and highlighted in a special half-hour TV segment recently aired in the Detroit area, paid $25,000 each for the honor.
Lone Star looniness
Did you know that a group of fifteen people basically control your child’s curricula?
Adding value, subtracting teachers
Houston Superintendent Terry Grier’s plan to link value-added student test scores to teacher evaluation and dismissal decisions drew attention when he proposed it early this year. Now, the school board has unanimously agreed.
Will political winds cause Duncan's sails to droop?
Michael J. PetrilliIt’s hard not to get the sense right now that the Democrats are in free fall.
Will the political winds clip Arne Duncan's sails?
Michael J. Petrilli[caption id="" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Clipping Arne Duncan's sails?"][/caption]
Quotable and notable
"I am saddened and shaken at the core by the enormous ramifications of my responsibilities. The only solace I have is that I know I provided every opportunity possible, in fully public and transparent ways, the means to avoid this."
Rick Hess in the house
Michael J. PetrilliWatch out edusphere, here comes Hess. Our good friend (and Gadfly show co-host) Rick Hess has launched a new blog, Rick Hess Straight Up on the coveted real estate of edweek.org.
Thanks and best wishes to Nelson Smith
In 2004, after realizing that the Charter School Leadership Council, a loose coalition of pro-charter school organizations, couldn't meet the needs of the burgeoning charter school sector, a number of the nation's top charter leaders created the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Quotable and notable
???We've gotten all of these accolades, and our schools are showing such success, so do we change policies to go after ones that we're not even guaranteed to get???? ???Paul Pinksy, Maryland State Senator
Teacher policies in the Deep South
This new report from NCTQ about state policies on teachers deserves attention for lots of reason (Daniela writes it up here.)
School Improvement Fund
In this week's Gadfly, I take a look at the massive School Improvement Fund, the federal government's primary tool for funding and directing school turnarounds.
Quotable and Notable
???The solution to underperforming schools is much more complex than who's in charge.?? To suggest that this is a silver bullet is na??ve at best.??? -Tom Madden, Minneapolis School Board Chairman
Following innovation at the TED conference
The annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference is under way in California this week and today's speakers include Bill Gates, who we all know has invested billions of dollars in U.S. education via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Gary Orfield responds to his critics
Michael J. PetrilliGary Orfield, the head of the UCLA Civil Rights Project, has faced a barrage of attacks from charter school supporters in recent days, after his center published a study looking at the high inc
Morning news
MD with some impressive AP results But nationally more students failing AP tests AL House??rejects charter school bill, but MS senate passes one
Quotable and Notable
???It's changing the concept of school from ???here's what you have to know, you get it or you don't get it and we're moving on anyway.??? -Susanne Daggett, education specialist with the Oregon Department of Education
Department of Education closed for third day in a row
Michael J. PetrilliAnd can anyone tell the difference?
Quotable and Notable
"It requires a lot of wraparound services. It's not easy; but we have to do it. You can't just write-off one-third of your high school graduates. You can't do that in this economy." ??? Nancy McCallin, President, Colorado Community College System
Thumbs-up on Obama's k-12 education themes
Chester E. Finn, Jr.On primary-secondary education, as on most topics, Mr.
Hopes, Fears and Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2009
Robin Lake, Ed.Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington at BothellJanuary 2010
The Economic Benefits from Halving the Dropout Rate
Alliance for Excellent EducationJanuary 2010 The commonly cited phrase that an investment in kids is an investment in our collective future is no understatement. This report by the Alliance for Excellent Education examines the potential impact of increased high school graduation rates on local economies, individual earnings, and home sales.
The funniest education-related Super Bowl commercial
Curious as to how Fordham manages to churn out so much terrific education news and analysis in such a timely fashion? We employ a Gadfly of course. Watch this video to learn more.
Re: Decade in Review
In Gadfly’s January 8th “Decade in Review,” I noticed a minor inaccuracy concerning the September 1999 entry about school facilities. The tobacco settlement provided only $2.5 billion of the Rebuilding Ohio Schools initiative I launched in the fall of 1999. I proposed a 12-year, $10.2 billion plan to rebuild all of Ohio's schools.
Social studies, history standards debate finally heating up
Mike LaffertyInterest is building over how best to teach history to Ohio’s public school kids. Largely ignored thus far by the media, the draft social studies standards – read, history – have been noticed by the education and history community.
So that our readers can be snowed in, but not tuned out...
Terry M. MoeDon’t feel like reading through 41 Race to the Top applications? (We don’t blame you.
Convergence and Contradictions in Teachers' Perceptions of Policy Reform Ideas
Learning Point Associates & Public AgendaJane Goggshall, Amber Ott, & Molly LasagnaJanuary 2010
Our limits on school choice are better than your limits on school choice
Michael J. PetrilliIn the brouhaha over last week's UCLA Civil Rights Project reporton charter school "segregation," one talking point seems unimpeachable: that it's??paternalistic or
In the news...
Post's Hiatt on Obama's "killing off DC's voucher program" Will Alabama ever pass a charter school law?
What a work ethic!
Stafford PalmieriThose in the Mid-Atlantic region know that we've been drowned in the white fluffy stuff. I'm talking about snow and lots and lots of it.