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More on Debbie Phelps
We discovered last week that not only is Debbie Phelps the principal of Windsor Mill Middle School in Maryland, but that Windsor Mill didn't make AYP last year.
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Bad career move
Since the blog has taken a more serious turn as of late, I proffer you this: "Ga. Schools superintendent to appear on ???5th grader'"
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Big D gets a big F
The Dallas school district has decided it cannot grade students by academic benchmarks because, evaluated thusly, the pupils have a tendency to fail.
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State High School Exit Exams: A Move Toward End-of-Course Exams
Center on Education PolicyAugust 2008
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Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality
Charles MurrayCrown Forum2008
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Snug as a teacher in tenure
The Associated Press, which has been a little blue of late, tells us that the nation's trepidatious economy is affecting youngsters in the worst ways: "Children will walk farther to the bus stop, pay more for lunch, study from old textbooks, even wear last year's clothes. Field trips?
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Guns 'n' classes
Author Charles Edward Chapel writes in Guns of the Old West, "Considerably cared for and used with skill, a gun would argue loud and persuasively for you against man and nature when both were hell-bent on your immediate personal destruction." Perhaps the chaw-spittin' school board in Harrold, Texas, has recently been reading Chapel--it just voted to allow the town's teachers to carry p
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In denial
Washington Post writer George Will is sharp as a tack, which is why he ends today's column, about David Whitman's new book, thusly: "Today's liberals favor paternalism--you cannot eat trans fats; you must buy health insurance--for everyone except children.
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Education Olympics: The games in review
With the 2008 Summer Olympic Games nearing its endpoint, there's consternation in the air about the likelihood that China will best the United States in the gold medal count, and might catch the U.S. in medals overall.
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Just as sweet, by any other name
David Whitman's new book, which George Will wrote about today in his Washington Post column (see above), contains the word paternalism. Whitman uses it to describe a particular type of urban school that succeeds in teaching its poor and minority students largely because it focuses on discipline and hard work (and takes pride in both).
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Day Nine of the 2008 Education Olympics
Just weeks after the loss of one if its leading literary lights, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russia took two golds and a silver in three PIRLS reading events. Team USA, meanwhile, has two days left to secure its first medal. Can they pull it out? Stay tuned at edolympics.net.
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The Washington Post goes bolder though not broader
The usually sensible Washington Post editorial board sizes up the presidential candidates' education platforms in
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The Democratic Party: Back to its regularly scheduled programming
Earlier this month I argued that the Democratic Party was no longer a fully-owned subsidiary of the NEA and the AFT.
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Of rights and wrongs
The New York City program that pays students for good scores on AP exams yielded "mixed results," according to the New York Times. Education Trust President Kati Haycock, commenting on the program's philosophy,??gets the article's last words:
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Autism scholarship program hits 1,000-student milestone
More than 1,000 preschool and K-12 students with Autism are now using an Ohio state-sponsored scholarship program that provides an educational option for parents dissatisfied with the services their child is receiving in a traditional public school.
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Studies provide insight into the concept of longer school days
Expanded Learning Time in ActionTaking Stock of the Fiscal Costs of Expanded Learning TimeCenter for American ProgressJuly 2008
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Is a high-school diploma worth the paper it's written on?
Next week the state will release its school-district report cards-although districts are leaking their data already (see here), detailing how well Ohio's public schools are meeting academic standards, including how many high-school students passed the Ohio Gr
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Commission: We are all responsible for the education of our children
The Public-Private Collaborative Commission delivered this week its report, Supporting Student Success: A New Learning Day in Ohio (see here).
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Don't blame unions, blame the legislature
Invisible Ink in Collective Bargaining: Why Key Issues are Not AddressedNational Council on Teacher QualityJuly 2008
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Writing skills lagging for young STEM kids
Writing is the most difficult challenge for students participating in a two-year, pilot, after-school science program being conducted in nine schools in central and north-central Ohio.
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Romer interview on Education Olympics Today
Today Roy Romer--formerly governor of Colorado and superintendent of Los Angeles Public Schools, and currently chairman of the Ed in '08 campaign--joins us to discuss Team USA's heretofore dismal performance in the 2008 Education Olympics.
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Will John Kasich be John McCain's VP nominee?
Politico is reporting that Senator McCain will announce his vice presidential pick on August 29th in Dayton, Ohio (Fordham's hometown). We can't help but wonder whether that means that McCain is going with an Ohioan.
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Lay of the educational research land this week
Once in awhile, I take the time to sniff around and find an education study worth talking about in this blog. I wish I had the time to do it more often, but judging from my quick look-see this afternoon, the research terrain isn't overflowing with milk and honey these days anyway.
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Day Seven of the 2008 Education Olympics
The Education Olympics resume after a weekend hiatus--for some competitors, that is. Students from Finland and Hong Kong were spotted engaging in some last-minute cramming, while the Americans played Nintendo Wii. The outcome was predictable. Complete results at edolympics.net.
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Does the shoe fit?
Jay Mathews thinks David Whitman's new book, released by Fordham on Friday, is "splendid," but he doesn't like the subtitle.
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Less love for Camilli
Introducing Monday's uber-wonk special: Tom Loveless vs. Gregory Camilli on high-achieving students in the era of NCLB! This one has it all: "straw man" accusations; differing interpretations of NAEP; and, rest assured, a happy ending on "common ground."
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Stop with the stupid questions
During Saturday's "Saddleback civil forum" with candidates Barack Obama and John McCain,