When Schools Stay Open Late: The National Evaluation of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program
U.S. Department of EducationApril 2005
Choosing a School for Your Child
United States Department of Education, Office of Innovation and ImprovementMarch 2005
The Birth of Head Start: Preschool Education Policies in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations
Maris A. Vinovskis, University of Chicago Press2005
Can Family Socioeconomic Resources Account for Racial and Ethnic Test Score Gaps?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Greg J. Duncan and Katherine A. Magnuson, The Future of Children, pp. 35-54Spring 2005
Readin', writin', politickin'
In the current Policy Review, David Davenport and Jeffrey Jones discuss the politics of literacy and its transformation from a local education issue to its current role in national public policy.
Charters news redux
Two great charter school stories this week. In New York City, recent tests that showed increases in proficiency rates citywide (see here) also showed charter schools outscoring their traditional public school peers.
Everything's fine in Finland!
This week, the Washington Post looks at Finland's highly-ranked public school system, which "graduates nearly every young person from vocational or high school, and sends nearly half of them on to higher education," and gained national attention after a first place ranking on PISA (see here for m
More money! Wait, maybe not
The Washington Unified School District in Sacramento wants to attract high-quality teachers to work in its worst schools. So it plans to pay those teachers more. (Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed something similar statewide.) This is a rather pedestrian practice in the real (meaning, non-education) world. So, of course, the local union is outraged.
Always blame standards
Chester E. Finn, Jr.As everyone knows, last week the Yale Child Study Center issued a report indicating that pre-schoolers are three times more likely to be "expelled" from their programs than K-8 children are to be expelled from school.
Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary and Secondary School Students: 2002-03
J. Carl Setzer, Laurie Lewis, and Bernard Greene, National Center for Education StatisticsMarch 2005
Bible Literacy Report: What Do Americans Need to Know and What Do They Know?
Bible Literacy ProjectMay 2005
Restoring the Balance Between Academics and Civic Engagement in Public School
Eric OsbergBruce O. Boston, America Youth Policy Forum and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development2005
State of the Charter Movement 2005: Trends, Issues and Indicators
Eric OsbergGregg Vanourek, Charter School Leadership Council May 2005
Scopes, part deux
The Kansas State Board of Education has just wrapped up its evolution trial. Proponents of "intelligent design" have pushed the state to present a "more critical" view of evolution in Kansas classrooms and to move away from the definition of science in the state standards as a search for "natural explanations," which they say represents an endorsement of naturalism and atheism.
Small jumps in the Big Apple?
Given Gadfly's many doubts about Mayor Michael Bloomberg's education efforts (see "A rush to judgment?"), we pondered how to present the news that proficiency scores for Big Apple fourth graders have jumped 10 percent this year (accompanied by a slight dip among eighth graders).
Graduation or bust?
Much has been said about the specious nature of official high school graduation rates promulgated by states, districts, and the feds (see here for Jay Greene's February 2005 report on the subject). The message is beginning to take hold.
D-U-H
The Christian Science Monitor reports a resurgence of interest in spelling in American classrooms, a subject which, according to author and spelling zealot Richard Gentry, was dealt a setback by whole-language instruction in the 1980s.
Tossing the terror tots
A new report from the Yale University Child Study Center (see here) finds that pre-Kindergarten students are being expelled from their programs at rates much higher than students in K-12 are expelled from school.
Whither tenure?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is bent on ending teacher tenure as we know it. If legislators won't budge, he's gathered signatures to put it on the ballot and let voters decide. "If they don't do their job," quoth the Gubernator, "then we go to special election without any doubt."
On Course for Success: A Close Look at Selected High School Courses That Prepare All Students for College
Jim FedakoACT and The Education TrustFebruary 2005
Survey of School Choice Research, Spring 2005
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Gerard Robinson, Institute for the Transformation of LearningApril 2005
The testing blues
Michael Moore is the master of the subtle conspiracy charge, wherein a cabal is alleged with winks, nods, and innuendos without actually being stated. CNN has learned the lesson well. The cable network is airing a special on high-stakes testing (it premiered May 8 and will be shown again May 14).
Ravitch reviews the record
In Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, Diane Ravitch criticizes Big Apple Mayor Michael Bloomberg's education policies and chronicles his tumultuous tenure.
New schools and old
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Energy, enterprise, and ardor overflowed the hotel at the annual hootenanny of the New Schools Venture Fund, held last week near Silicon Valley.
News flash! Students unchallenged, apathetic
Anyone who has seen a student suffering from senioritis could have predicted the findings of this latest survey of high school students. An Indiana University study shows that a majority of high school students (55 percent) spend no more than three hours a week studying yet are still managing to maintain good grades (65 percent).
Bush-whacked
No matter what you think of Florida's package of school reforms over the past several years (See here for our analysis of the latest piece, the Voluntary Pre-K program) one has to be astonished at the deftness with which Governor Jeb Bush has moved his schools agenda (which seems to be working, see
Time is on our side
An article in this week's Time accurately lays out the crucial battle taking place between the Feds and the states over NCLB.