Yesterday's Education Daily carried the headline, "Experts: Uniform standards could gain ground in 2009." Consider this quote from uber-pundit Jack Jennings of the Center on Education Policy: "Two years ago, I wouldn't have given nation??al standards much of a chance at all, but I think the atmosphere is changing.
I know driving a school bus can be tough. Screaming kids, early hours, perhaps an empty stomach... unfortunately, none of that means one should make a stop at the liquor store to buy some booze. Guess this school bus driver from Billings, Montana totally missed that memo.
If any American is in any way skeptical of placing education atop the nation's urgent priority list, they should read this article by USA Today's Greg Toppo.
That's what I would have titled this new National Review Online piece penned by me, Checker, and Rick Hess.
It was quite a dry spell, wasn't it? Hopefully the holidays distracted you in your Gadfly-less state of depression. We're back and better than ever for 2009.
The Obama economic stimulus plan comes under a bit of fire in this bold op-ed by Checker, Mike and Rick (Hess), posted on National Review Online.
A guest post from a Fordham Research Intern, Hannah Miller. Hannah attended the Quality Counts release event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC yesterday.?? Education Week and Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) made a smart choice when deciding the order of events for the release of their 13th annual education report card.
Susan SclafaniEducation and Society Program, The Aspen Institute2008
National Governors Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, and AchieveDecember 2008
Gadfly has previously noted the flaws and weaknesses inherent in "21st Century Skills" (here, here and here, for example) and
If it weren't enough that the "21st century skills" crowd is bent on distracting American educators, they've made a splash on the other side of the pond, too. Faced with complaints that the British primary school curriculum is too traditional (20th century if you will), the government has decided to give it a facelift.
Education, welcome to the party; Wall Street is over by the bar and Detroit is shaking it on the dance floor. Indeed, with Uncle Sam handing out money like education professors hand out As, it was only a matter of time before schools got in line for a piece of the pie.
While we're all in a lather over 21st century skills, the elegant, practical skill known as cursive handwriting appears to be going the way of the horse-and-buggy. The problem is two-fold. First, the advent of technology and its requirements--typing and text messaging--means students are using pen and paper much less than in days of old (you know, the 1980s).
As President-Elect Barack Obama and his Congressional allies shape--and debate--their big economic-stimulus package, governors are pleading with them to include hundreds of billions for state governments that face whopping deficits.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's announcement that he won't run for the U.S.
Reading this Wall Street Journal editorial about Florida Governor Charlie Crist's unwillingness to defend the state's alternative charter authorizer, which was created under Jeb Bush but recently declared unconstitutional, I couldn't help but wish Bush were still governor. As the Journal explains:
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) ended the year down $157.5 million after a third round of spending cuts announced in December lopped another $30.4 million from its budget (see here). Ohio Gov.
Todd Jones is president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (see here), which represents 49 private Ohio institutions of higher learning. Before coming to Ohio, Jones was associate deputy secretary for budget and strategic accountability in the U.S.
Ohio educated 1.7 million public school students in 2008, a year marked by the continued decline in urban enrollment (falling 19 percent from 2003 to 2008). The state's ailing economy also continued to show its fangs with 37 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, up from 31 percent five years ago. Students with limited English ability have doubled since 2003.
Like many of you, I'm still getting back into the swing of things after a nice??New Year's??break. One of the joys of this holiday season was visiting good friends and??their kids--and watching my son Nico (14 months old, adorable, brilliant, did I mention adorable?) play with them too.
Fordham experts (and our many studies) continue to garner excellent media hits. As previously mentioned, many journalists turned to Checker and Mike for comment on the nomination of Arne Duncan to be Ed Sec.
