Quotable and notable
?Our Regents diploma doesn't mean college-ready.? ?Meryl Tisch, Chancellor of the Regents Exam ?Revaluing Regents,? The Wall Street Journal
?Our Regents diploma doesn't mean college-ready.? ?Meryl Tisch, Chancellor of the Regents Exam ?Revaluing Regents,? The Wall Street Journal
Deborah Gist continues to make important progress in Rhode Island. The state has a new student-driven funding formula. Projo praises it here.
Good Sawchuk article on Pittsburgh's new teacher contract, which includes several differentiated compensation elements. It's a pretty confusing agreement, but that's probably the result of lots of district-union negotiation.
Editorial Projects in EducationJune 2010
James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Nicholas S. Mader, University of Chicago National Bureau of Economic Research June 2010
Paul L. KimmelmanCorwin Publishing2010
Edward Wiley, Eleanor Spindler, and Amy SubertUniversity of Colorado at BoulderApril 2010
It’s no secret among education reformers, and among keen-eyed observers of the reform scene (in which select population we brazenly include the Education Gadfly and his Fordham pals), that the two national teacher unions are the largest, richest, shrewdest and most dogged foes of nearly all the most urgently-needed changes in American K-12 education.
Journalist and Atlantic blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates is troubled by a paradox: Why was he a failure as a student, but remarkably successful as a professional writer? A college dropout, Coates says that he just needed to learn differently—his own way, and at his own pace—than other students.
Ever been told to “read between the lines”? Turns out you do so more than you think—in fact, every time you read anything, from a menu to a philosophical treatise. That’s the premise of this piece by curriculum gurus E.D. Hirsch and Robert Pondiscio.
What do Rogers & Walker Gun Shop, First Baptist Church, McDonald’s, and The Tennessee Credit Union have in common? They’re picking up the tab for a local school facing budget problems—in return for naming rights, ad space, or a branch on school property.
If only we could attract effective teachers to high-poverty schools, we could zap the achievement gap. That’s the thinking, at least, behind a slew of reassignment programs that use everything from financial incentives to blunt force to get more top-notch teachers into lower-performing classrooms. But is the thinking itself misguided?
According to the New York Times, cheating in schools is on the rise. It’s not among students, though, but teachers, who feel increasingly pressured by yearly testing cycles to raise student achievement.
Monday on Flypaper Terry examined charter school accountability and why the charter school bargain hasn't always worked out.
?A wholesale ban on books with religious content conflicts with established U.S. Supreme Court precedent.? ? David Cortman, Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund
Denise Juneau had an interesting op-ed in last week's Missoulian regarding the Race to the Top. The key paragraph:
Facebook may not just be a distraction instead it could be keeping kids safe, according to the PTA.
?Indeed, given that the unemployment rate among health and education workers is only half that of the work force as a whole, you could argue that it's the teachers' turn to absorb some of the pain that they have been spared to date.? ? Charles Lane, Washington Post Editorial Writer
?It's ridiculous in that the people that make the decision on the cut scores are not political operatives.? ? Robert Scott, Education Commissioner
For all you die-hard futbol fans out there, you probably saw the World Cup special last Thursday prior to this year's kickoff. And if your timing was right, you saw this inspirational clip on the Ivory Coast Soccer Academy. If you missed it, take a minute to watch it. Not a fan? No excuses ?
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been all over the news recently, exhibiting his ravenous desire to learn l
If you're following Race to the Top developments, make sure to read Michele McNeil's latest in Ed Week. It's a very good analysis of how second round applications differ from those in round one. There were interesting developments on union and district buy-in, side deals, and more.
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers recently issued its latest annual report on the policies and practices of the nation's charter authorizers (see Kathryn's review
I just happened to be reading the latest Metlife Survey of the American Teacher, and came across this fascinating chart:
A few weeks ago the edu-documentary The Cartel had a showing here in Columbus.
Feel like walking out, as New York students recently did, on the National Standards debate?
Usually when we talk about the ?international? side of education, it's to bemoan that we're slipping behind our foreign competitors. PISA! TIMSS! Our students aren't learning any math or science! I'm kind of bored with this line of reasoning.
?Educators feel that their schools' reputation, their livelihoods, their psychic meaning in life is at stake.? ? Robert Schaeffer, Public Education Director for FairTest, a non-profit group critical of standardized testing
Watch the latest news video at video.foxnews.com Mike appeared on Fox & Friends this morning to talk about districts cutting the school week in the face of budget shortfalls. What do you think?