Toward smarter education philanthropy
The New York Times is gaga once again over America's "new philanthropists" and the giant "wealth transfer" that is said to be transforming American philanthropy.
The New York Times is gaga once again over America's "new philanthropists" and the giant "wealth transfer" that is said to be transforming American philanthropy.
Kariane Mari Welner, Teachers College, Columbia UniversityMarch 2002
Bill Hangley, Jr. and Wendy S. McClanahan, Public/Private VenturesFebruary 2002
Boston Municipal Research BureauMarch 2002
Christopher W. Hammons, Milton & Rose D. Friedman FoundationFebruary 2002
David Monk, John W. Sipple and Kieran Killeen, New York State Educational Finance Research ConsortiumSeptember 10, 2001
Opponents of high-stakes testing in Massachusetts are running out of time to convince a public that has largely accepted testing and academic standards, according to reporter Ed Hayward of the Boston Herald.
President Bush introduced the 2002 teacher of the year-a retired Army colonel from southern California-at a Rose Garden ceremony yesterday.
Both standards-based and market-style reforms come from outside the system but they follow different theories and many people believe they are incompatible.
What effect do charter schools have on school districts as a whole? Do they inspire improvements in regular district schools or merely drain money from the district's budget?
Vi-Nhuan Le, RAND Corporation2002
Devotees of professional development for teachers will be interested in this thoughtful paper by Harvard education professor Richard F. Elmore, published by the Albert Shanker Institute.
Lynn Cornett and Gale Gaines, Southern Regional Education Board2002
National Education Association2002
Charter Schools Institute, State University of New YorkMarch 2002
San Francisco made headlines last year when it announced that it would begin integrating some schools on the basis of income. This year, the school board in Cambridge, Massachusetts voted to do the same thing. Many experts are excited about this new strategy for diversifying schools, particularly since courts have begun to limit the use of race in student assignments.
I'm not prone to paranoia but lately I see an awful lot of folks bent on stopping the charter movement dead in its tracks and I also see them making much headway. I don't think it exaggerates to say that a war is being waged against charter schools. As with many wars, however, both sides have something to answer for.
Researchers believe that teenagers who feel "connected" at school are less likely to be violent or suicidal, to abuse drugs or to get pregnant. A major study released last week tried to identify features of schools where teenagers are likely to feel connected.
Mass Insight EducationMarch 2002
National Center for Education StatisticsMarch 2002
Brian Gong, Council of Chief State School OfficersJanuary 2002
edited by Richard J. Shavelson and Lisa Towne, National Research Council Committee on Scientific Principles for Education Research, National Academy of Science2002
General Accounting OfficeApril 2002
James Traub visits the front lines in the class war over standardized testing in a cover story in this week's New York Times Magazine. First he reports from a low-achieving school in Mount Vernon, New York, where he observes "test preparation with a vengeance," but, he notes, test prep that seems to work.
Over the objections of parents and local officials, the Japanese government announced last week that the school week would be scaled back to five days, with the curriculum pared back as well. See "Public Schools Start 5-day Week," Yomiuri Shimbun, April 6, 2002.
Which are in worse shape, high schools or middle schools? Jay Mathews writes that one thing he has learned from talking to parents for the past 20 years is that "there are no good middle schools," even in the wealthiest neighborhoods. But a small group of schools being launched under the KIPP banner may be changing that.
High school Advanced Placement (AP) classes have long been viewed as the gold standard for secondary education, something that more high schools should offer and more students, especially disadvantaged students, should avail themselves of. But this respected program has taken some hits in recent months, according to an article in Sunday's Los Angeles Times.
There's wide agreement that U.S. high schools urgently need reforming, due to their dismaying drop out rates, paltry test scores and the testimony of employers and college professors that their graduates are ill-prepared for adult challenges. There is also wide agreement that the sprawling "comprehensive" high school devised by James B.
Amy M. Hightower, Center for the Study of Teaching and PolicyJanuary 2002