Academic growth of high achievers
Janie ScullFordham's new report released on Tuesday, Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude?
Quotable & notable
?We need to start healing. We need to get back to our classrooms.'' * ?Andy Coons, President of the Tacoma Education Association
The unilateral repeal of NCLB and the 2012 election
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The Obama administration's new waiver plan (officially here, and covered extensively here,
Fallen high flyers don't fall far
Janie ScullYesterday, we looked at the first finding of Fordham's new groundbreaking study, Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude?
New York leaps into the middle school trap
Peter MeyerWhat was so odd about Dennis Walcott's announcement that New York City was opening 50 new middle schools is that the most recent research suggesting that a middle school ?grade configuration (generally, 6?8) is probably not the way to go was don
Quotable & notable
?Do I go hat in hand trying to raise money, or find some politicians whose heads I can bang together?''* ? Shelli-Anne Couch, parent, trying to save her children's school library
Tune in to Mike Petrilli on the Jim Bohannon Show
The Fordham Institute's Mike Petrilli stopped by the nationally syndicated Jim Bohannon Show last night to talk about Fordham's newest study,
Podcast: Go Bloo!
Mike and Rick raise the bar this week, discussing high achievers, Duncan's digital promise, and the textbook-company oligarchy. (Oh, and Rick confesses he has a reform-crush on L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa). Amber tackles minority-teacher retention and Chris dives head first into an NCAA lawsuit. [powerpress]
A majority of high-flying students remain that way
Janie ScullYesterday, Fordham released a groundbreaking study examining the achievement of individual high-performing students?or ?high flyers??over time.
Quotable & notable
?Widespread cheating ? whether it's steroids in baseball or false information in mortgage lending ? usually is more a symptom of broken systems than an outbreak of venality''* ? Rick Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
Valuing growth for all students
As part of the release of our new study, Do High Flyers Maintain Their Performance: Performance Trends of Top Students, we are hosting a forum for
Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students
Robert Theaker, Yun Xiang, Michael Dahlin, John Cronin, Sarah Durant"Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students," is the first study to examine the performance of America's highest-achieving children over time at the individual-student level. Produced in partnership with the Northwest Evaluation Association, it finds that many high-achieving students struggle to maintain their elite performance over the years and often fail to improve their reading ability at the same rate as their average and below-average classmates. The study raises troubling questions: Is our obsession with closing achievement gaps and "leaving no child behind" coming at the expense of our "talented tenth" and America's future international competitiveness? Read on to learn more.
Do high flyers maintain their altitude?
Janie ScullIf America is to remain internationally competitive, we need to maximize the potential of our top students. Over the last decade, however, federal and state education-accountability systems?particularly in the wake of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001?have placed primary emphasis on moving low-performing students toward proficiency.
Distressing but not surprising
We asked a few experts to weigh in on our new study, "Do High Flyers Maintain Their Performance: Performance Trends of Top Students," as part of an online forum we'll be hosting on Flypaper over the next couple days.
Quotable & notable
?I want to stress this. All these ideas came from the 'hood'?. We're advocating for our children, the same as in well-to-do neighborhoods.?* ?Woodcrest Elementary School parent
Teachers Breaking Out of the Box
Peter MeyerI gave up bashing teachers years ago, when I realized that, as with soldiers in the trenches, they had their hands full just staying alive.
Guest Post: SBAC Math Specifications Don't Add Up
On August 29, 2011, the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) released its draft of ?Content Specifications with Content Mapping for the Summative assessment of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics? (henceforth, Draft).?
Quotable & notable
?It's Florida's prerogative to apply for the grant. You can't fault a state in the current fiscal crisis for wanting to get Race to the Top dollars.?* ?Amber Winkler, Research Director of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Quotable & notable
?Where you have great performance, you have great principals, period, full stop. Where you have low performance, you have struggling principals. It's not that complicated.'' * ? Cami Anderson, Newark Schools Superintendent
Education Next Book Club Podcast: Peg Tyre's The Good School
In the introduction to her new book, Peg Tyre quotes a Dad frustrated by the process of choosing a school. ?It's absurd. When you purchase a house, you get an inspector's report. When you buy a sports car, at least you get to check under the hood.
Republicans for Education Reform
Michael J. PetrilliFor months?no, years?the ESEA discussion has been nothing short of maddening. While many pundits decry the lack of a ?clear route to reauthorization,? an obvious bipartisan solution has been sitting there, ready for the picking.
Gentrification Generation staying home?
Tyson EberhardtA new generation of affluent, educated, urban Americans is beginning to send its children to school.? Their dissatisfaction with the lack of choice and the status quo of failure in urban education will be far more personal than their elders'?and it represents a golden opportunity for choice advocates able to mobilize these parents.