I have been tough on Maryland's governor for his state's startlingly anemic Race to the Top performance. ??Whereas other governors have supported bold reforms, he has professed contentment with the status quo. That has been regrettable. But I have to give credit where due.
Ze'ev Wurman was one of my favorite colleagues at the US Department of Education, a kind, worldly, and smart guy. But he also had a trait that lots of similarly kind, worldly, and smart folks lack: he does details.
Introducing the latest Education Gadfly, now on Flypaper in a new format: From Checker's Desk
???We clearly could have gone with a smaller number???we wanted it to be as inclusive as possible.?? I thought it was the right thing to do.??? ???Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education
Along with others, I am surprised that Ohio was named a finalist in the federal Race to the Top sweepstakes.???? Not because of the caliber of the state's application ????????
Is there something about "private public schools" that breeds this sort of behavior? -Mike Petrilli
The news that 15 states plus the District of Columbia qualified as finalists in the first round of the "Race to the Top" is sure to anger many reformers, and for good reas
A perceptive reader pointed this out to me. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation originally provided 15 states with $250,000 planning grants to help them prepare their Race to the Top applications. After a firestorm of controversy, Gates made similar grants available to the other states. But note this: Original Gates States:
I've written previously about Maryland's curiously disappointing participation in the Race to the Top.
The news is worse than I expected. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is closing 13 schools, including 10 in the city of Baltimore. That represents more than 20 percent of the system's schools.
The US Department of Education had the opportunity today to send a clear signal--that the Race to the Top is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, that very good wouldn't be good enough, that only the biggest and boldest plans would merit consideration. Instead, the administration accepted 15 states and Washington, DC--nearly 1/3 of all applicants--as finalists.
If you're not sold that Duncan's RTTT "high high bar" wasn't so mountainous after all, here's NEA prez Dennis Van Roekel's take on the announcement:
???In a way, UTLA is the dog that caught the car.?? I think they are going to be under tremendous pressure both from t heir own members who came up with these plans, and from the district, to follow through on this.??? ???Charles Kerchner, Claremont Graduate University professor
Ze'Ev Wurman and Sandra StotskyPioneer Institute and Pacific Research InstituteFebruary 2010
Achieve, Inc.American Diploma Project NetworkFebruary 2010
Though viewpoints on how to reform American public education are numerous and discordant, they tend to converge on one key premise: teachers matter. A lot.
Gadfly occasionally grumbles about the Obama Administration’s policies and actions, but it’s hard to find fault with the
New teamwork is visible in New Orleans and it’s not on the football field. Ten NOLA charter schools will participate in a collaborative effort led by the Achievement Network (ANet).
Diane Ravitch’s important new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, has already
How to eat your cake while claiming it’s disgusting, unhealthy, and philosophically bankrupt, too? Republican governors are quickly becoming savvy gourmands, as they attempt to balance their rhetorical opposition to federal stimulus funding with their growing reliance on it to fill gaping budget holes, a.k.a.
An unnamed communications “staffer” in Utah’s Alpine School District is hoping a fire he (she?) ignited is soon extinguished by the nearby Great Salt Lake. The luckless employee posted a link to an essay which presumably elaborated on the district’s mission to “educate all students to ensure the future of our democracy.” So, what’s the problem?
On Tuesday, North Carolina’s Wake County school board narrowly (5-4) decided to replace its four-decade-old policy of integrating schools via busing. The latest iteration of that policy, now one decade old, aimed to ensure a middle-class majority at each school in the system; the district was able to do this because it was big and relatively affluent.
In today's thoughtful article on Diane Ravitch's "school reform u-turn," the New York Times' Sam Dillon writes about her longtime (and continuing) friendship with Checker
"It's a bill that actually finally for the first time will reward teachers who actually demonstrate they are achieving student achievement in the classroom." ??? Sen. John Thrasher, merit pay bill sponsor
We're days away from learning the names of the Race to the Top finalists. Most governors will be thrilled if they make it through the first round. But what about Charlie Crist of Florida and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana? [quote]
Here are three more predictions I have about RTT finalists: No Rural States: Some of the weakest applications I've seen are from rural states. They way they are thinking about reform doesn't mix so well with RTT priorities. Whether that implicates the RTT application or the rural-state mindset is an open question.
