Swishing the dirt around

Detroit's schools are in a pickle and state-appointed emergency financial manager Robert Bobb is ready to extricate them from the brine.

The great graduation-rate debate

President Obama's attention to high school dropout rates has brought an already-contentious issue to the national scene. The U.S. can hardly be expected to compete in a global economy with so many of its young people failing to make it to and through their senior years, or so the argument goes.

Obama, failing to learn from Bush's lessons?

It appears increasingly likely that President Obama and Secretary Duncan are at risk of doing to charter schooling, merit pay, and school "turnarounds" what the Bush administration did to educational accountability. That's not meant as a compliment.

Patrolling the Apple store

Violent video games are no new addition to the world of electronic entertainment; it seems hardly a jump, skip, or hop, then, to find iPhone apps with those same violent tendencies. But not all material is acceptable for target practice. RetardedArts, developer of the iPhone app "Zombie School," was a bit slow on this realization.

Single-minded and criticism-shy

Gadfly would be the first to admit he's gotten his wings a bit sticky over at Flypaper; the best blogging is provocative, which sometimes provokes angry reactions. Michele Kerr, a recent graduate of the Stanford Teacher Education Program, learned that lesson the hard way.

If a reformer can make it here...

Gadfly couldn't be more pleased that Hunter College ed school dean David Steiner will be moving to Albany in October as the new New York state education commissioner. Steiner brings ample reform credentials to the table.

New report: "The Great Graduation-Rate Debate"

Graduation rates. We all know that defining and measuring them has been the source of much contentious discussion in recent years.

Today's 'Quotable and Notable'

Quotable

Building a High-Quality Education Workforce: A Governor's Guide to Human Capital Development

National Governor's Association, Center for Best PracticesMay 2009Teacher quality has been a major topic in Ohio politics of late. One of the latest installments of Gov. Ted Strickland's Conversations on Education video series features Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut speaking about teacher quality provisions within the governor's proposed education plan.

Fixing Tenure: A Proposal for Assuring Teacher Effectiveness and Due Process

Center for American Progress, with author Joan Baratz-Snowden from the Education Study CenterJune 2009

Stimulating Excellence: Unleashing the Power of Innovation in Education

Center for American Progress, American Enterprise Institute, New Profit Inc., and Public ImpactMay 2009

Tackling the STEM Crisis: Five Steps Your State Can Take to Improve the Quality and Quantity of its K-12 Math and Science Teachers

National Council on Teacher Quality and National Math and Science InitiativeJune 2009Qualified science and math teachers are in short supply and this report explains how state laws and regulations can encourage individuals to teach in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math.

The Nation's Report Card: Arts 2008

Institute for Education SciencesJune 2009

The Schools Teachers Leave: Teacher Mobility in Chicago Public Schools

Consortium on Chicago School ResearchJune 2009Chicago is the third largest city in the country and the hometown of our nation's president and as such, has naturally been playing a much larger role in the political realm. The educational research world must have noticed because Chicago and the Chicago Public School System have also had a large presence in several recent reports.

Here and Now 2, Change We Can Measure: The Need for Performing Schools in Chicago's Neighborhoods

IFFApril 2009

Is the Emphasis on Proficiency Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students?

Center on Education PolicyJune 2009

Moving Beyond AYP: High School Performance Indicators

Alliance for Excellent Education, with author Lyndsay M. PinkusJune 2009

The Widget Effect

The New Teachers Project, with authors Daniel Weisber, Susan Sexton, Jennifer Mulhern, and David KeelingJune 2009

Big George's big revenge?

One of the most striking aspects of the proposed Race to the Top application released last week (

Morning news

New Fordham report out tomorrow

Stay tuned???..tomorrow we will be releasing our next report: "The Great Graduation Rate Debate." It's a very helpful primer on a very complex topic, and it'll be up on our website in the morning!

Today's 'Quotable and Notable'

Quotable "We are determined to continue to fight against the dismantling of our school district, and for real reform and equality for the young people of Detroit." --Heather Miller, former Detroit math teacher who was accused of inciting an unruly student protest regarding school closings.

Not mincing words

After his second attempt to dismantle the state's charter school program was thwarted, Ohio Governor Ted S

Today's 'Quotable and Notable'

Quotable "We used to buy art supplies...now we buy the art teacher." --Bill Williams, executive director of the Washington state PTA, on how budget cuts have made parent contributions fill in budget shortfalls.

RTT application guidelines

If you're following Race to the Top events, you might want to read my take on the big recent developments here .

Fun Fact Friday - U.S. per pupil spending and NAEP scores

The Race to the Top: The carrot that feels like a stick

I'm pleased to announce this summer's latest blockbuster , from the creators of No Child Left Behind, it's: "NCLB 2: The Carrot That Feels Lik

Race to the Top docs

Tomorrow morning, we'll learn a good bit more about what Secretary Duncan has in mind for the Race to the Top. Documents related to state applications will be released by 10am. You should be able to find them here.

Increasing Charter Accountability in the Wild, Wild Midwest

Ohio's charter school program dodged a bullet this recent budget cycle (here).