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Wilcox resigns
Clayton Wilcox, superintendent of Pinellas County Schools (Florida), the 22nd largest district in the country,?? today??announced his resignation.
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The rubber room
A year ago today the Village Voice published a lengthy article on the New York City public schools' so-called "rubber rooms," where teachers accused of misconduct are held while their cases are pending. The story is so outrageous it seemed worth revisiting.
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Asleep in Seattle
If you're a school administrator and you want to purchase HDTVs, home-theater equipment, iPods, camcorders (you name it) for personal use on the taxpayer's dime, then I've got a place for you: The Northshore School District in Seattle.
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Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits
Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather McLeod GrantJossey-Bass2008
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The next decisive step: A multi-state strategy for global competitiveness
Pop quiz. Which level of public school governance is most responsible for funding, standards, student assessment, teacher and principal quality, and data management systems?If you guessed "states," you win. But why, then, does the spotlight so neglect states, which are these days the wallflower at the school-reform dance?
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Segregate this
Those who divvy up by race strain to justify it. The newest wrinkle comes from Fairfax County, Virginia, where the school board is struggling to rationalize a report that it commissioned to evaluate the "Essential Life Skills" of its students.
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Diplomas on the cheap
Food, gas, overnights at the Mayflower hotel--all grow steadily pricier. Meanwhile, the New York City high school diploma is cheapened, and that city's oft-challenged reputation as a dogged pursuer of higher educational standards is again called into question.
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Failing schools usually are
Washington Post reporter Jay Mathews has performed a useful service for folks dissatisfied with NCLB's accountability system, which often penalizes schools that enroll significant numbers of disadvantaged students even if those students are making academic progress. He has located and highlighted Barcroft Elementary in Northern Virginia.
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Leaving Las Vegas (schools)
According to the Las Vegas Sun, principals in the Clark County schools have in recent weeks "been recommending up to 100 students for expulsion each day." Some of these pupils end up in special "behavior" schools, where they do nine-week stints before returning to their home campus.
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A helpful addition
I am just now beginning to read your recent report, Who Will Save America's Urban Catholic schools? I'm finding many of the ideas, results, and recommendations a great resource for us here at the Diocese of Allentown in Pennsylvania.
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Two wings down
Ally, a middle-school drama queen, starts tormenting her friend Selena after catty Holly and Chrissy (teeny-bopper Iagos, both) conspire to charge Selena with a crime against Ally that Selena did not commit.
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Welcome, Benedict
Catholic school teachers may feel called to their profession by a higher power, but??they're also called to??higher salaries.
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Diversity is great, if...
The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that almost "nine in 10 public elementary school parents in Jefferson County [Kentucky] say it's important to bring together students from different races and backgrounds to learn." (The Supreme Court ruled last year that Jefferson County may v
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Wistful Whitmire
USA Today's Richard Whitmire turns in a provocative thumbsucker at Politico on John McCain, his (still to be fleshed out) education platform, and his top education aide (and
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What makes Catholic schools Catholic?
Today's "daily article" from First Things--one of the preeminent Catholic journals in the country--provides a great write-up of
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HBO's next smash hit?
It might not be The Wire (apologies to our friends at Quick and the Ed), but yesterday
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Too simple
Ben Bernanke and some around our office suggest that teaching more about finance in American public schools may have prevented our current economic crisis.
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AP allowance
Looks like the fine citizens of Waterbury, Connecticut, are not yet flitting through Flypaper. Otherwise, I'm sure district leaders there would have thought thrice before doling out dollars to students who pass AP tests.
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AP pay shows promise
Liam thinks that if paying students to pass AP tests worked, "wouldn't we know it by now?" Yes, we would, and we do, and it
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Not so fast, my friend
Mike shouldn't??assume that??paying kids for AP scores (as in Waterbury) is??always a??slam-dunk.
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Does the pope have a radio?
Don't miss Mike talking about the stressed state of American Catholic schools on today's??edition of NPR's All Things Considered.
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Go MO
It looks like Missouri will be the next state to adopt the big daddy of alternative certification programs, the
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Fordham Fellows deadline is approaching
Would you or someone you know love to work in education policy? Are you confused about where to start?
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"The unthinkable"
From a column in today's Detroit News : The teachers at Alain Locke Senior High School in south-central Los Angeles' troubled Watts neighborhood were fed up.
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Toward a colorblind America
Today, Liam turns in a nice NRO piece on Fairfax County, Virginia's, recently published report that finds that the "'moral character and ethical judgment' of its white and Asian pupils is m
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John McCain's education rodeo
Senator McCain's wife Cindy was a teacher and a "rodeo queen." One of his key education advisors,