Tax credit to stay in the Buckeye State?

By guest blogger and Ohio policy and research intern Matthew Walsh

Today's 'Quotable and Notable'

Quotable

On the Front Lines of Schools: Perspectives of Teachers and Principals on the High School Dropout Problem

John M. Bridgeland, John J. Dilulio, Jr., and Robert Balfanz, Civic Enterprises with Peter D. Hart Research AssociatesJune 2009

Why We're Behind: What Top Nations Teach Their Students But We Don't

Common CoreJune 2009Are you smarter than a 5th grader? In Hong Kong, probably not.

Sometimes symbolism isn't subtle

If this story were part of a high school reading comprehension assessment, I think 100 percent of students could identify the intended symbolism.

Stimulating

This morning AEI released an issue brief I wrote about the education components of the ARRA, the federal government's massive stimulus legislation. It takes a look at how the law's push to save jobs and fill budget holes has erected serious obstacles to reform.

Speaking of....

Sometimes we bloggers here at Flypaper have something to say and we literally want to say it, not write it. So today we introduce "Speaking of...," our new, occasional vlog (video blog) series in which we spend a minute or two opining on recent education news and issues. In this first video, Mike Petrilli talks about Education Secretary Arne Duncan's school turnaround plan.

A blast from the past

Several of us at Fordham (and some of our friends and associates in the larger ed policy world) have heard recently from James Garner, the former director of Research and Training Associates in Belleville, New Jersey.

Arne Duncan's school turnaround gambit

At first blush it didn't make any sense: Why was Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speaking about school turnarounds at the big National Charter Schools Conference this morning?

Duncan on turnarounds

As Mike just wrote, Secretary Duncan was at the National Charter Schools Conference today, and he spoke about turnarounds. While I continue to be thankful that he is focusing on America's worst schools, I'm disappointed by his direction--especially in one critically important area.

In defense of conferences

Years ago, when I was just entering the education reform world, an old hand heard that I had registered for a big conference and dismissively replied, "Conferences are for the uninitiated." Ouch.

Bullish on turnarounds?

For those of you optimistic about our ability to fix broken schools via "turnarounds," please consider the following. It's a single sentence from a journal article explaining what government and non-profit leaders ought to know about turnarounds in the private sector:

Cutting back in Los Angeles

An interesting bit of school news in the Los Angeles Times today. Seems that due to tough financial times the LA Unified School District won't be hiring any new Teach For America teachers next year!

End of schoolyear blow-out!

This week has provided a nice natural experiment about which kinds of studies the media finds newsworthy. Four major reports, each of which might normally lead the news in a typical week, battled it out for attention.

Andy, there you go again

Andy wonders if he's being naive again to think that a rise in test scores is a bad thing.

Oh no, test scores are up!

A new report from CEP shows consistent gains on state tests for all groups of kids in the NCLB era.

National charter conference

Lots of interesting stuff at next week's national charter schools conference, including speeches by Secretary Duncan, Michelle Rhee, and Joel Klein. Check out the massive agenda here.

Best. Charter. Dashboard. Ever.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, my old stomping grounds, has just done us all a major service and itself proud.

Here's a story...

We hear that USA Today's Greg Toppo met a lovely lady today--"Brady Bunch" Mom Florence Henderson. Apparently she joined other celebs and music groups outside the Department of Education to push for more music education in schools.

Another smart call to cull the charter school herd

Over at????U.S. News & World Report, Andy Rotherham and Richard Whitmire make the case for closing underperforming charter schools and rewarding successful ones.????

Understanding and Reporting on Academic Rigor: A Hechinger Institute Primer for Journalists

Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, Columbia UniversityJune 2009

Say Shalom to another quasi-religious charter school

Can you really take religion out of a religious school? That was the question on many minds when seven D.C. Catholic schools went charter last fall (and when NYC Catholic schools pondered a similar strategy this spring).

Setting the record straight

To the Editor:The Gadfly review of NYC Schools Under Bloomberg & Klein: What Parents, Teachers and Policymakers Need to Know was perfunctory and unfair. As one of the editors and a contributor to the volume, I would like to set the record straight.

Summer bummer

If there's a riot in the Chino, California schools next month, blame it on...an accounting error? The state requires that pupils spend at least 54,000 minutes in instructional time each year and no fewer than 180 minutes on any one day.

Global grades for U.S. states

How much more "international benchmarking" does American education actually need? Gary W. Phillips's inspired new study of how U.S. states and (some) districts are doing vis-à-vis the rest of the world suggests that we already have a heckuva lot of performance information available right under our noses.

Charlotte's lemons get squeezed

The Charlotte-Mecklenberg school district blazes another trail: making teacher lay-off decisions based on performance evaluations, not seniority. If that raised your eyebrows, prepare to have them meet your hairline.

Forty-five thousand students. Four lessons. Two Years. One Woman.

"Michelle, why would you agree to be photographed with a broom on the cover of Time magazine?" That was D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray's top query when he sat down with the no-nonsense schools chancellor a few months ago.

On scaling-up and turning-around

Progress in Charm City

Big things are underway in Baltimore's schools, despite a hiccup during in the last week. Here's my take in a Baltimore Sun op-ed.

If I were in charge of the Reform-o-Meter

Jazz clinic for students + White House = Red Hot