Not everyone votes their pocketbook, but if they did, these education leaders would be pulling the lever for John McCain. That's because each one makes $250,000 or more per year: Joel Klein, New York City Chancellor???????????????????????????????? $250,000 (as of 2005) John Wilson, NEA Executive Director?????????????????????????????? $258,000 (as of 2005)
If you think that parsing Obama's portfolio policy is difficult, what to make of the conflicting signals over Teach For America?
That's one heck of a tough question that the next president - whether McCain or Obama - will eventually have to answer. Fordham's Mike Petrilli is trying to help out with a few suggestions.
Lawsuits, Columbine...Election Day? That seems to be the thought process for many a school district contemplating November 4th and worried that their schools can't safely serve as polling stations and learning environments at the same time. That's why Illinois's Indian Prairie school system cancelled classes for the day.
Chapter 3, "Enhancing Educational Performance"Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentOctober 10, 2008
Gary W. Phillips and John DosseyAmerican Institutes of ResearchOctober 2008
If many recent polls are to be believed, Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. And this week we got an important glimpse into the dynamics of his education team that might preview what we can expect in the four years to come.
There may be no Greek columns to back-drop these stump speeches, but they're still promising big change. In fact, the school corridors and cafeteria tables only serve to emphasize the issues of the day: class trips and cafeteria food. That's right, election fever has hit southern Florida elementary schools--election fever for school council elections.
Ending social promotion is a good idea, but merely forcing students to repeat grades--same stuff, same classrooms, often same teachers--has been shown to be an inadequate alternative. Which is why Jefferson Parish, Louisiana deserves kudos for devising a promising "third way": grade 4.5, the destination for fourth-graders who fail to pass the state's LEAP test.
It's no secret that Gadfly and his friends harbor some doubts about the programs now popping up in various cities that pay students for improved attendance, behavior, and grades. But now that these initiatives are in motion, we might as well learn something from them.
It may not have the ring of "The Hammer" but Michelle Rhee's latest appellation is perhaps better suited. As today's rockstar of education reformers and the bane of change-resistant teachers' unions, she certainly has become the country's "Lightning Rod" for all things education.
School accountability is a hot button topic in Ohio and across the United States. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) made school accountability a federal matter when, in 2001, Congress and President Bush reached across the political divide to set ambitious goals and accountability standards for all schools and children.
The National Governors AssociationSeptember 2008
Charter-school supporters are calling a Toledo effort to require every new school to have a cafeteria, gym, and other facilities the latest skirmish in an on-going guerrilla war against charters.
When Deborah Delisle takes the reins at the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) she will face a long list of challenges, not the least of which is getting to know a very large set of new bosses.
Two very important questions face educators in determining when an Ohio high-school senior should become an Ohio high-school graduate. First, how much does that student know? And, second, exactly how should that question be answered?
I had the honor of appearing on the Diane Rehm Show this morning, along with D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, Lisa Graham Keegan of the McCain campaign, Melody Barnes of the Obama campaign, Greg Toppo of USA Today, and Rick Kahlenberg of the Century Foundation.
My post about Obama surrogate Melody Barnes's embrace of student portfolios is causing concern within the edusphere.
Last Thursday, the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program unveiled a new paper by Sara Mead and Andrew Rotherham, Changing the Game: The Federal Role in Supporting 21st Century Educational Innovation .
William Ayers may be getting a lot of attention these days, but the real education radical to keep your eye on is D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee .
Martin West and Ludger Woessmann have published a fascinating study in the winter edition of Education Next. Its conclusion--that there is a positive correlation between the prevalence of private schools and high test scores--is something that is widely argued but not so widely proven.
Sol Stern describes Bill Ayers thusly: "[A]s one of the leaders of a movement for bringing social-justice teaching into our public school classrooms, Mr. Ayers is not a school reformer. He is a school destroyer." Hard to argue with that.
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the cram industry in India and asked a simple question: what will it take to get American students to start respecting education again?
