Success has a handful of admirers
Two weeks ago we noted, "Success has a thousand fathers and many will try to claim credit" for the good news about rising NAEP scores (see here).
Getting "The Mission"
In the latest City Journal, Kay Hymowitz discusses Bill Cosby's parenting-power crusade among poor African-Americans and links it to the failure of government social welfare programs to close the education and economic gaps. A typical Cosby rant: "Proper education has to begin at home. . . .
Mayhem in the middle
Middle schools, like middle children, are just plain misunderstood. There is pretty clear evidence from the recent NAEP results that middle schools are where academic achievement in America falters and begins its accelerating decline, as the Los Angeles Times argues in a cracker-jack editorial this week.
Merit pay: Not so fast, governors!
Kate WalshMerit pay for teachers has gotten a lot of play recently (for examples, see here). Without a doubt, the principle that some teachers ought to get paid more than others has gained political currency around the country.
The Quest for Quality: Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in Philadelphia
Michael J. PetrilliRuth Curran Neild, Elizabeth Useem, and Elizabeth Farley, Research for Action2005
Profile of Alternative Route Teachers
Emily C. Feistritzer, National Center for Education InformationJuly 2005
Still swimming in Lake Wobegon
Chester E. Finn, Jr.It's not easy today even to recall the stir created in 1987 when an obscure West Virginia physician and his never-heard-from-before one-man advocacy organization called "Friends for Education" released a little study titled "Nationally Normed Elementary Achievement Testing in America's Public Schools: How All 50 States Are Above the National Average." Swiftly dubbed the "Lake Wobegon report" af
Success has a thousand fathers
Last week, offering up some "First thoughts on the NAEP" (see here), we noted that "Success has a thousand fathers and many will try to claim credit" for the good news about achievement gains amongst 9-year-olds.
Good news on grad rates
No, the percentage of kids graduating hasn't gone up, but after years of prodding by reformers on the left and right - especially Jay Greene, the Education Trust, and the Urban Institute - 45 governors have committed to a common formula for calculating the rates themselves. Worth celebrating, yes, but turning their promise into reality will be no small task.
How about "deferred intelligence"?
Even the hard-knock Brits are sometimes subjected to the touchy-feely politics of their own education establishment. At next week's annual conference of the Professional Association of Teachers, Liz Beattie, a retired school teacher, will recommend that the word "fail" be abolished from classrooms and replaced with the less offensive "deferred success." Ms.
Less Dewey, more Shakespeare
In the newest edition of MassINC's CommonWealth magazine, Sandra Stotsky elucidates the well-known problems of teacher education (see Arthur Levine's highly-critical piece, "Educating School Leaders") and offers pragmatic advice for Massachusetts policy makers.
Live free and die
It was a bad omen for the Free State when the Old Man of the Mountain fell off, but this is even worse: New Hampshire's very first charter school, Franklin Career Academy, is closing for want of state funding. The state commissioner of education, Lyonel Tracy, explained that there was nothing wrong with the school: "The students were doing well.
Student Voice: West Virginia Students Speak Out About the Achievement Gap
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The Education Alliance July 2004
Black Education: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Joyce E. King, editor, Educational Research Association???s Commission on Research in Black Education, 2005
No Child Left Behind: Where Do We Go From Here?
Eric OsbergKrista Kafer, Heritage FoundationJuly 6, 2004
Special Education Accountability: Structural Reform to Help Charter Schools Make the Grade
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Lisa Snell, Reason Public Policy Institute July 2004
Add and Subtract: Dual Enrollment as a State Strategy to Increase Postsecondary Success for Underrepresented Students
Michael J. PetrilliNancy Hoffman, Jobs for the FutureApril 2005 Remaking Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century: What Role for High School Programs?Richard Kazis, Jobs for the FutureApril 2005
After School Programs: Expanding Access and Ensuring Quality
Eric OsbergChrisanne L. Gayle, Progressive Policy InstituteJuly 2004
Does School Accountability Lead to Improved Student Performance
Eric OsbergEric A. Hanushek and Margaret E. Raymond, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 24, No. 22005
Yecke to American Experiment
Bloodied but unbowed, Cheri Pierson Yecke - whose nomination as Minnesota's education chief was defeated on a party line vote marked by the worst kind of partisan rancor (see Gadfly, Volume 4, Number 17) - has joined the Center of the American Ex
You couldn't pay me to work there
We hear it again and again: Americans aren't learning the skills they need to compete in the 21st century. How to prove this theory? Well, follow the money, or in this case, the yen. Toyota, after months of speculation over the destination of its new plant, this week opted for Ontario, reportedly turning down hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies from several American states.
Off with their poster contest!
In this month's American School Board Journal, Susan Black describes her tenure as director of curriculum and instruction for a Midwestern city school district.
Pay us more? No thanks!
Several years ago, the Florida Legislature created a mandatory merit pay policy for public school systems statewide. At the time, the legislature (naively) allowed districts to set their own eligibility requirements. The St.
Protests and paranoia
One senses mounting desperation among the more vociferous opponents of No Child Left Behind. Consider, for example, the "protest songs" unveiled at the National Education Association's recent convention. What fun for all concerned. What a trip. Oh, for the heady days of revolution, when music could change the world!
School reform moves to the suburbs
Michael J. PetrilliDespite all the talk about improving inner-city schools, the greatest promise of the No Child Left Behind Act was always in America's leafy suburbs. Unfortunately, that promise is in danger of being squandered.
GA standards - real reform or smoke and mirrors?
This year, the Georgia State Board of Education has revised its academic standards in reading, math, science, and social studies - the first major curriculum overhaul in the Peach State in nearly two decades. And last week, the board voted to adopt the new standards for K-12 science, middle school English, and K-8 math.
Ensuring quality
Let's call it failing upward: This year, a South Carolina middle school teacher charged with helping students cheat on the state's standardized test was inadvertently rewarded for her actions with a new job (and $5,000 stipend) teaching other educators how to be effective math instructors.