Roland Fryer on Colbert Report

Harvard economist Roland Fryer made an appearance on The Colbert Report last night to discuss his new system of incentivizing students to learn more by paying them for good grades

Lou Gerstner: Nationalize education

Former IBM head Lou Gerstner, no doubt building off his appearance at the

Rhee's moment in TIME

It's hard not to root for Michelle Rhee, the butt-kicking, straight-talking, no-nonsense Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools.

Chances are, the next education secretary will be from Chicago

It's week four of Fordham's name-the-next-education-secretary-daily-tracking poll, and yes, Arne Duncan is still in the lead. By a lot. Which means, according to one colleague of mine, that he probably won't get the job. If not, maybe another Chicagoan will: Oprah Winfrey.

Arne Duncan soars in ed secretary poll

Arne Duncan carries nearly 40% of our Insiders' votes, soaring high above even his closest competition - Klein, Sebelius, Canada, and Darling-Hammond. But which one of these contenders will dare to pluck his wings? It might be Klein, given that our Insiders increased their support for him today, changing his percentage from 6.3% to 9.8%.

Happy Thanksgiving from Fordham!

The Thomas B.

Walking the walk: Fordham's charter school sponsorship report

From Emmy Partin, Fordham's writer and researcher in the Ohio office:

"A Byte at the Apple" event Nov. 17, 2008: Panel 3

Mike's on CNN!

Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video" mce_href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a>

Lou Gerstner: Joel Klein is a hero

And so are the folks leading the Washington, DC and New Orleans school systems (hint: Michelle Rhee and Paul Vallas), said the former head of IBM in a recent CEO forum sponsored by the Wall Street Journal

Obama's delicate dance

Oh sure, the economy is imploding and the President-Elect is considering a stimulus at least as large as what America's spends on schools in an entire year, but what we education wonks can't help but wonder is which way Obama will go on??k-12 policy.

Portfoliogate figure to head the DPC

Melody Barnes, whose comment on the Diane Rehm show sparked much speculation about Team Obama's position on testing and portfolios, is going to direct the Domestic Policy Council.

A slam dunk for Duncan?

It's week three of Fordham's name-the-next-education-secretary daily tracking poll, and Chicago schools CEO Arne Duncan has moved into a commanding lead, with better odds of getting the job than the next five candidates combined.

The big picture on high school reform

Education Trust and Achieve have it, and share it, here.

"A Byte at the Apple" panel highlights

Catch highlights from last Monday's panel discussions on Fordham's latest book, "A Byte at the Apple: Rethinking Education Data for the Post-NCLB Era."

Mike scheduled to appear on CNN Tuesday morning

Joanne Jacobs is a nag, and so are David Whitman's schools

Joanne Jacobs, whose eponymous blog is among the most dominant in the edusphere, pens a

Eye opening

Speaking of David Whitman's schools, I recently had the chance to visit a charter school of the kind he describes in Sweating the Small Stuff, and it was sobering.

Michael Lomax moves into second place, while the Bill Richardson balloon deflates

Arne Duncan's lead is bigger than ever in the quest to replace Margaret Spellings. One friend of mine urges me to just accept that he's the guy. Well, that's probably true. Meanwhile, United Negro College Fund president Michael Lomax is working his way up the ladder, and now appears to be the pick as the Arne-alternative.

Weighted Student Funding does more than rearrange "inputs"

Nebraska amends Safe Haven Law

Hallelujah!?? We've already made it quite clear how we feel about this??here and here. I will refrain from commenting further.

Obama chooses Sidwell

Seems the Obamas finally decided where Sasha and Malia will go to school: Sidwell Friends. Since it's in Maryland, its elementary school, at least, does not participate in the DC voucher program... which means breathing room for the President-Elect on that front.

Janet Napolitano out of the running for education secretary job

It looks like she's going to lead the Department of Homeland Security instead. I've said it before and I'll say it again: keep your eyes on Bill Richardson.

It's the states, stupid (part II)

There's a growing consensus among conservative smarties that the key to the GOP's renewal is getting t

Reader contest: Name the right backdrop for Margaret Spellings's portrait!

I'm still waiting for my invitation, but a source passed this along to me: Please Save The Date The Portrait Unveiling of Secretary Spellings Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008

Bill Richardson bounds into third place in the race for the education secretary job

I may have been the first person to predict that the ed sec job will go to Bill Richardson, but I'm no longer the only one who thinks it's a real possibility.

"A Byte at the Apple" event Nov. 17, 2008: Panel 1

"A Byte at the Apple" event, Nov. 17, 2008: Panel 2

Gates' self scrutiny

Fordham Board member Diane Ravitch takes to the (web)pages of Forbes.com to discuss the Gates' small schools movement. It was a well-intentioned effort, she argues, but ultimately not the "silver bullet" the Gates Foundation had hoped.

Brain dead

Isn't the show over when the fat lady sings? Not for these four chronically failing schools in Miami-Dade. The story goes something like this: four schools that have consistently earned "F's" on Florida's state report card were slated to close at the end of last year.