Don't blame Common Core for publishers' lousy textbooks
If you’ve been keeping up with the Common Core scandal pages, you may be wondering who Dianne Barrow is.
If you’ve been keeping up with the Common Core scandal pages, you may be wondering who Dianne Barrow is.
A new study from the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences provides results for fourth-grade students on the 2012 NAEP pilot computer-based writing assessment. The study asks whether fourth graders can fully demonstrate their writing ability on a computer and what factors are related to their writing performance on said computers.
Education reform has been a specialty of Jeb Bush’s, and his track record on this issue in Florida is unbeatable. He knows the topic up, down, and sideways.
Nearly thirty years ago, a then-obscure University of Virginia professor named E.D. Hirsch, Jr. set off a hot national debate with the publication of Cultural Literacy.
In a perfect world, all children would have access to an inspiring, well-rounded education, especially in pre-K and elementary school. They need a solid grounding in history, science, art, music, and literature.
My wife and I both spend time working with our kids on their homework. We have also made a family tradition of “Saturday School,” a routine that my wife and I instituted a couple of years ago because our kids’ school was using a pre-Common Core math curriculum that wasn’t keeping pace with the standards.
Editor's note: This is the first in a series of blog posts that will be collaboratively published every Wednesday by the National Association for Gifted Children and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Each post in the series will exist both here on Flypaper and on the NAGC Blog.
Officials at the Department of Education have requested public comments by January 21 about areas in the new Every Student Succeeds Act where regulation might be “helpful or necessary.” My recommendation to the feds: Tread ver
By Robert Pondiscio
I re-read about fifty major articles, blog posts, and other missives about ESSA over the break, since this written record will serve as the foundation for years of commentary and analysis. Below are the five major themes that jumped out (along with gobs of the supporting links).1. The diminished role of Uncle Sam in schools
As everyone knows, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)—the long-overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—was approved by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate and signed into law by the president in December.
The importance of making history an academic priority once again. By Robert Pondisico
The best compliment I can pay a fellow education blogger is to confess professional jealousy. By Robert Pondiscio
There is a fast track in American education. And we’re getting far too few African American students onto it. By Brandon L. Wright and Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. But if you’re pressed for time and want to end all intelligent life quickly, nothing beats a task force.
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of visiting Success Academy Harlem 1 and hearing from Eva Moskowitz and the SA staff about their model. I’m not going to venture into the thorny stuff about SA here. What I will say is that their results on state tests are clearly impressive, and I doubt that they’re fully (or even largely) explained by the practices that cause controversy.
Attending a religious school might reduce bigotry. Kevin Mahnken
The creation of Brooklyn Ascend charter school, textbooks in Texas, and substitute teachers in impoverished schools.
As states have implemented college and career readiness standards, it has sometimes been assumed that most of the work and attention has occurred at the elementary grades. In truth, many states have been working for some time to ensure that grade twelve prepares all students for post-secondary success.
The dominant narrative about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is that it shifts authority over schools back to state governments. But this belies a key feature of the legislation.
We’ve seen a lot of hand wringing over math achievement in this country. Our students continue to underperform against their peers in other countries, lighting a fire under educators and politicians to push new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programming in schools. While these panicked efforts have admirable intentions, they are mostly barking up the wrong tree.
Undoing damage inflicted by the blunt axe of test-driven accountability. Robert Pondiscio
Earlier this year, when it looked like ESEA finally had a chance of being reauthorized, I came up with a graphic for assessing the accountability provisions of the various proposals.
The ESEA reauthorization conferees delivered some good news for America’s high-achieving students last week.
A new study suggests that they don’t. But mind the details. Kevin Mahnken
STEM interest doesn’t necessarily translate into STEM aptitude. Robert Pondiscio
The action is moving to the state level. It’s about time. Michael J. Petrilli
Editor's note: Politics K-12 reports that House and Senate negotiators have reached a preliminary compromise on reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.
An affordable model that helps students who are already behind become better readers. Robert Pondiscio