Moving Past the Politics: How Alternative Certification Can Promote Comprehensive Teacher Development Reforms
Kelly ScottVirginia Roach and Benjamin A. Cohen, National Association of State Boards of Education2002
Growth of the Teacher Advancement Program: Teaching as the Opportunity 2002
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Lowell Milken, Milken Family FoundationJuly 2002
State High School Exit Exams: A Baseline Report
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Naomi Chudowsky, Nancy Kober, Keith S. Gayler, and Madlene Hamilton, Center on Education PolicyAugust 2002
Charter Schools and Accountability in Public Education
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Paul Hill and Robin Lake with Mary Beth Celio2002
Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education
Chester E. Finn, Jr.edited by Laura Hamilton, Brian Stecher and Stephen Klein, RAND2002
The Class Size Debate
Terry Ryanedited by Lawrence Mishel and Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute2002
Teachers exploit loophole in law to qualify for extra pension money
In many states, teachers (and other state or local government employees) are prohibited by federal law from collecting "spousal retirement benefits" from the Social Security system when they retire if they have state or local government pensions. But a loophole in the law allows them to receive such benefits if they spend a single day-their last working day-in a different job.
Teachers reject NEA's September 11 curriculum
The American Federation of Teachers and some other educators are scrambling to distance themselves from the "blame America" lesson plans produced by the National Education Association for use on and around September 11, 2002. The NEA's lessons urge teachers to discuss instances of American intolerance but avoid suggesting that any group is responsible for last September's terrorist attacks.
The new and improved SAT
While many are suspicious of the changes that the College Board and ETS are planning for the SAT (changes made largely to placate the University of California, which had threatened to stop requiring the test), college admissions counselor John Harper argues in the cover story of this week's Weekly Standard that the new test is a big improvement.
Public likes vouchers more and more, and tests too
The results of the 34th annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the public's attitudes toward the public schools were released on Tuesday, and as in other years, early attention has focused on what those results show about public support for vouchers.
Purging history and literature from the schools
In a long essay in the Summer 2002 issue of Daedalus, Diane Ravitch ponders whether the current round of standards-based reform can solve the endemic education problems that undermine effective teaching of history and literature.
Schools, teachers slow to take advantage of Internet
School and classroom websites, once hailed as a way to let parents know what their kids are doing in school, often languish today, with students and parents likely to find only outdated information such as school menus or homework assignments from the previous year.
California threatens home schoolers
A memo issued by the California Department of Education last month warned parents that they may not home-school their children unless they have professional teaching credentials, the Washington Times reports.
CliffsNotes for education statistics
The Heritage Foundation's Krista Kafer has compiled an education "CliffsNotes" of sorts, drawing from data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics and others.
Florida school puts a positive spin on failure
Teachers and administrators at a Florida elementary school hope to convince students that the "F" their school received from the state's accountability system really means "fantastic" and "fun." Pep rallies and t-shirts declaiming "F = Fantastic" are just some of the strategies this failing school is using to boost everybody's sense of self-esteem and complacency.
Leaving many children behind
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Don't think for a minute that June's Supreme Court decision upholding Cleveland's school-voucher program has opened the floodgates of education choice for American families.
Algebra for everyone?
Currently about 25 percent of 8th graders complete algebra or a higher-level math course, but students who don't complete first-year algebra by 8th grade are seldom able to take calculus in high school, which colleges like to see on transcripts.