How Well Are American Students Learning?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Tom Loveless, Brown Center on Education Policy, Brookings InstitutionSeptember 2002
Who Should We Help? The Negative Social Consequences of Merit Scholarships
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Harvard Civil Rights ProjectAugust 23, 2002
The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College
Allison ColeJacques Steinberg2002
Postsecondary Progression of 1993-94 Florida Public High School Graduates
Chester E. Finn, Jr.John Wenders, Idahoans for Tax ReformAugust 2002
On being an American
September 3, 2002I just finished reading a sampling of the essays contained in your report on September 11 and can only hope that the report gets the wide circulation that it deserves.
Spelling bee mania
This week's New York Times Magazine contained a fascinating profile of the quirky Goldstein family of West Hempstead, NY-the von Trapps of the spelling bee world.
New York bishops demand school choice
Cardinal Edward Egan and other New York bishops have charged state politicians with violating poor parents' "fundamental rights" by condemning kids to failing public schools and denying them the option to attend parochial schools.
Declining graduation rates masked by official statistics
While the National Educational Goals Panel and others have reported high school graduation rates remaining essentially stable (around 86 percent) over the last decade, the graduation rate has actually fallen if students receiving GEDs are not included in those numbers, according to an article by Duncan Chaplin of the Urban Institute that appears in the new issue of Education Next.
Fast-track applicants fail Massachusetts teacher test
Aspiring teachers in the Bay State did not do as well on their tests. More than half of the applicants who were accepted into the state's fast-track teacher certification program contingent upon their passing the Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure failed the test, according to an analysis by a critic of the fast-track program.
MCAS scores improve, achievement gap narrowed
One year after pass rates on the MCAS exam rose significantly-a gain which was dismissed as a fluke by opponents of Massachusetts' high-stakes testing program-scores on the test have risen yet again, though this round of gains is smaller than last year's.
New hope for urban schools
Terry RyanContrary to many people's glum assumption, urban school systems are not all education disaster zones. Nor are they all alike. Some, in fact, are far more effective than others at educating children-and we're beginning to understand why that is and what might enable other urban school systems to turn themselves around.
A mini-history of the school choice movement
As he ends his tenure as president of Children First America, a private scholarship program, school choice icon Fritz Steiger offers some closing remarks and thanks to his allies. His final "Voice for Choice" statement reads like a mini-history and who's who of the school choice movement. "A Voice for Choice," Fritz S.
Why aren't there more suburban charter schools?
Why haven't charter schools taken greater hold in suburban areas in most states?
September 11: What Our Children Need to Know
Lynne Cheney, William J. Bennett, William Damon, John AgrestoOur report features timely advice on what schools should teach and children should learn about September 11 and about history, civics, heroism and terrorism. Featuring 23 statements by leading educators and experts, plus an extensive bibliography, the report is a constructive, hard-hitting alternative to the 'diversity and feelings' approach that many national education groups have taken to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Approval Barrier to Suburban Charter Schools
Pushpam JainWhy haven't charter schools taken hold in suburban areas in most states? In this report, Pushpam Jain takes a close look at three states with high proportions of charter schools in the suburbs to see how they managed to introduce charter schools, and then compares them to one state with only a few charter schools to see what is blocking the spread of charters there. His conclusion: if a state sets up a system for authorizing charter schools where the only authorizing body doesn't want charter schools, there won't be many charter schools!
School Vouchers: Settled Questions, Continuing Disputes
Pew Forum on Religion and Public LifeAugust 2002
Bearish on public school choice
The public school choice provision of the No Child Left Behind act isn't all that different from a federal choice program created two years ago, writes Alexander Russo in this month's Washington Monthly, and the lesson of that Clinton-era program is that providing viable transfer options for children in failing schools is far harder than it sounds.
Teachers' Compensation in the US and Idaho or When Does $47,087 Equal $36,375?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.John Wenders, Idahoans for Tax ReformAugust 2002
The Politics of Remediation: Institutional and Student Needs in Higher Education
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Mary SolidaySeptember 2002
Unraveling the "Teacher Shortage" Problem: Teacher Retention is the Key
Marci Kanstoroom, Ph.D.National Commission on Teaching and America's FutureAugust 2002
Measuring What Matters: An Update on Educational Assessment and Accountability
Kelly ScottCommittee for Economic DevelopmentAugust 2002
All Talk, No Action: Putting an End to Out-of-Field Teaching
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Craig Jerald and Richard Ingersoll, Education TrustAugust 2002
Searching for a Superhero: Can Principals Do It All?
Terry RyanEducation Writers AssociationJune 2002
SAT math scores up, verbal scores down
The average math score on the SAT rose two points (to 516) this year, while the average verbal score dropped two points to 504, according to figures released this week by the College Board.
September 11th returns to the classroom
Chester E. Finn, Jr.As America readies itself for the "anniversary" of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks, innumerable education groups and experts are again bestirring themselves to tell schools and teachers what to teach their students on this topic. Unfortunately, much of that advice is bad and some is awful.
Standards-based reform boosts scores in LA
Test scores in Los Angeles elementary schools are rising nicely and many view such gains as evidence that state and district reforms in math and reading are working. Turning its back on a hodgepodge of exploratory math programs, L.A.U.S.D. standardized its math program and now uses only two textbooks in the elementary grades, both of which stress fundamental skills.
Summer school for new principals
Almost half of New York City's 1200 principals have been on the job for less than three years, and principal retirements are expected to grow in the next few years.
Great principals are key to keeping good teachers in poor schools
It has often been noted that high-poverty schools tend to be staffed by less experienced teachers. In an online piece at WashingtonPost.com, the always-thoughtful Jay Mathews examines some of the reasons for this and some of the proposed solutions.