State Test Score Trends Through 2007-08, Part 1: Is the Emphasis on "Proficiency" Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students?
Center on Education PolicyJune 2009
Center on Education PolicyJune 2009
Corinne Herlihy, James Kemple, Howard Bloom, Pei Zhu, and Gordon BerlinMDRCJune 2009
A perennial question: How does the performance of students in charter schools and students in traditional schools compare? CREDO set out to answer this question in a longitudinal analysis of roughly 2,400 charter schools, operating in 16 states and comprising roughly 70 percent of the US charter school population. Let's break it down. Fundamental study design: Sound. Findings: Mixed.
Teachers from myriad Philadelphia high schools are complaining of palpable pressure to pass undeserving students on to the next grade. It comes in the form of memos, meetings, and even personal phone calls. "We have to give fake grades," revealed one teacher. "We're not asked to educate our kids. We're asked to pass them," explained another.
There's some consternation within the education establishment right now with what it sees as Arne Duncan's obsession with charter schools. There he is, warning states that they will lose out on "race to the top" funds if they don't eliminate their charter school caps. There he is, arm-twisting legislators in Tennessee to pass a stronger charter law.
A school in Orlando, Florida, is giving new meaning to the adage "visualize your success." For Mollie Rae Elementary, which went from a F to an A on the state rating system in just one year, focusing on pupil achievement was just one part of the winning formula. Turns out the school needed actual visual help, too, in the form of prescription eyeglasses for many of its pupils' pupils.
While their large neighbor to the south shrinks the teacher pool, Connecticut legislators look to expand it, by creating more paths to get teachers into the classroom.
I hear from friends in Tennessee that the main reason the state legislature strengthened its charter school law recently was the arm-twisting of Democratic legislators by Arne Duncan and the arm-twisting of Republican legislators by Lamar Alexander.
By guest blogger and Ohio policy and research intern Matthew Walsh