Head of the Class: Characteristics of Higher Performing Urban High Schools in Massachusetts
Carolyn ConnerCenter for Education Research and Policy at MassINCFall 2003
State-Funded Pre-Kindergarten: What the Evidence Shows
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Department of Health and Human ServicesDecember 2003
Creating a Network of Charters in Buffalo: Report to the Buffalo Board of Education
Eric OsbergEducation Innovation ConsortiumFall 2003
The nightmare of Cuban education
At the holidays, it's traditional to count your blessings. This essay in the Houston Chronicle reminds us that, whatever its flaws, America remains a bulwark of freedom, a blessing, and a shining ideal. The author, a Cuban mother, is pained when her five-year-old son returns from school singing the praises of five Cuban spies imprisoned in America for espionage.
Southeast Asia: Short on cash, long on reform
Southeast Asian countries seem to be learning a lesson that's taking Americans longer to understand: bureaucracy should not get in the way of needed education improvements and the most important reforms are grounded in new forms of accountability, not larger budgets.
Straight talk across the pond
A recent report from the British government's Office of Standards in Education attributes the schools' continued failure to meet proficiency targets in math and English to "a stubborn core" of badly trained teachers with a poor grasp of subject knowledge
Good, bad, and troubling
Chester E. Finn, Jr.There is good news, bad news, and troubling nonsense associated with the 2003 big-city NAEP results (for 4th and 8th grade reading and math) released yesterday by the Department of Education.
Mo' achievement, mo' money
In 1995, Texas philanthropist Peter O'Donnell started an incentive program aimed at improving the quality of Dallas public schools. Unlike most school reforms, this one was aimed at raising the bar for the highest achieving students in the school by awarding $100 rewards to all students who passed an Advanced Placement test, and $150 teacher bonuses for every student that passed.
Twas the day before vouchers
Chester E. Finn, Jr.'Twas the day before vouchers, and all through the landThe foes of school choice had a further demand.The bus routes were planned with extraordinary care,Though Congress had acted with no time to spare.The children were nestled all snug in their beds,While visions of better schools danced in their heads;Rod and Gene in their office, and Nina by phone,Had reviewed
Union charges after charters
In October, Mike Antonucci and his invaluable Communiqu?? drew our attention to news that the California Teachers Association planned to spend $250,000 to organize teachers in Golden State charter schools.