Take your meds - or else
The Christian Science Monitor is a somewhat unlikely source for this story, but it recently ran a fascinating account of the continuing debate over medicati
Social change AND school improvement
I know that authors are never quite satisfied with reviews, even ones as respectful and careful as yours, so permit me to respond to some points you make in a recent Gadfly (http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=151#1853).
So, which is it?
Is the new D.C. voucher program half full or half empty? Depends on where one turns for information. According to the Washington Post, "the D.C.
Chartering success
This week, the SEED school (Schools for Educational Evolution and Development) in Washington, D.C. - America's only urban charter boarding school (click here for more) - is celebrating the success stories of its first graduating class.
Florida: Getting it all together?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.During a recent visit, I was, frankly, wowed by the comprehensiveness and courage of Florida's education reforms, and depressed by the crummy coverage they're getting in both state and national press, not least the heat they are now taking for holding their schools to high standards under NCLB and accepting the sanctions meted out to schools for not meeting adequate yearly progress.
Free market education, Malaysian-style
The Malaysian government has recently undertaken a voucher experiment aimed at leveling the education playing field between wealthy and underprivileged students. According to the New Straits Times, the plan's goal is creation of a "social market" in which "parents will be empowered by choice . . .
Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute 2004
Good Ideas: Six Valuable State and Local Education Reforms
Brandy BonesRobert Holland and Don Soifer, Lexington Institute April 2004
Pay Now or Pay Later: The Hidden Costs of High School Exit Exams
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Center on Education PolicyMay 2004
Pay no attention to the bias behind the curtain
Anyone who's ever lived through a tornado knows the provenance of the phrase "calm before the storm." There's that eerie, pregnant moment before the wind picks up, when the sky turns pea-green, the wind dies down, and everything seems muffled, almost pleasant. Then all hell breaks loose.
Steiner on one-sided syllabi
In recent weeks, David Steiner, a professor at Boston University, has roiled the ed school world with his article, "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers: An Analysis of Syllabi from a Sample of America's Sc
High quality education at cut-rate prices
According to the Independent, surveys consistently show that more than 50 percent of British families would like to send their kids to private schools, which cost on average ??7,000 per year, but fewer than 7 percent can actually afford to do so. Does a quality education have to be so expensive?
eRate is eWrong
Back in January, Todd Oppenheimer published a devastating article on eRate, the federal tax on phone service that funds wiring schools for and to the Internet.
Minimum grades, minimum motivation
Every teacher has a story about a smart kid who failed because she just refused to do even the bare minimum to pass. Well-intentioned teachers also learn the hard way that lowering expectations and letting shoddy work slide by only makes things worse. The moral is apparently lost, though, on some school districts.
Money for Nothing: The Failures of Education Reform in Massachusetts
Eric OsbergSanjiv Jaggia and Vidisha Vachharajani, with the assistance of Joseph McCarthyBeacon Hill Institute at Suffolk UniversityMay 2004
Pushed Out or Pulled Up? Exit Exams and Dropout Rates in Public High Schools
Kathleen Porter-MageeJay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, Manhattan InstituteMay 2004
Choosing Better Schools: A Report on Student Transfers Under the No Child Left Behind Act
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Cynthia G. Brown, Citizens??? Commission on Civil RightsMay 2004
Textbook reform in California
Three bills before the California legislature would reform that state's infamous textbook adoption process. Assembly Bill 2455 aims to curb the ever-escalating cost of textbooks.
The old argument on research
The Chronicle of Higher Education has an important article on pushback from the education research community concerning the use of randomized studies of education interventions.
Shuck corn, not standards
Kathleen Porter-MageeGadfly caused a stir in Nebraska when it criticized the state for "doing just enough to keep its federal funds while skirting the spirit of the accountability provisions" of NCLB - and the U.S. Department of Education for playing along.
From the mouths of children&
Uncle Sam isn't the only one who wants to see evidence that schools are adequately educating their students. In Boston, a group of 8th graders caused a stir by creating a guide to the city's high schools based on their average test scores, dropout rates, and attendance records.
Charters making gains in Michigan
New data available this week from Standard & Poor's shows that charter schools sponsored by Central Michigan University have made strong academic gains over the past three years. CMU is the largest university charter sponsor in the country, overseeing a quarter of Michigan's 202 charter schools.
Director tests the bounds of recruitment promises
San Diego City Council member Rocky Chavez is in hot water for the unusual pitch he makes to students considering enrolling in his charter School of Business and Technology.
Making choice work in the Commonwealth
Virginia, a mostly conservative state, would seem a natural environment for school choice and, in fact, polls show that many Virginians support choice as a means of injecting competition into the education system. Yet the Old Dominion has been inhospitable territory for this reform strategy, boasting one of the weakest charter laws on the books.
Teaching Interrupted: Do Discipline Policies in Today's Public Schools Foster the Common Good?
Eric OsbergPublic Agenda, with support from Common GoodMay 2004
Black flight
After Brown v. Board of Education and subsequent Supreme Court decisions ended de jure segregation, critics noted a disturbing pattern of "white flight" from urban public schools. According to Samuel G.
Blowing smoke on NCLB
Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager opined last week that Wisconsin can exempt itself from No Child Left Behind on the grounds that the law is not fully funded and encroaches on state control of education.