In 2005-06, a significantly higher percentage of white teacher candidates in Massachusetts passed the required Communications and Literacy Skills exam than their black and Hispanic counterparts. The state's Educational Personnel Advisory Council--a tasty morsel of bureaucratese, that--has been asked to determine whether this gap reflects bias in the test.
Neal McCluskey's new book, Feds in the Classroom, is the latest "strict-libertarian" contribution to the world of education reform. Which is to say, sadly, not much of a contribution.
Buckeye state policymakers are currently mulling over recommendations from Achieve, Inc. to create a "world-class education system in Ohio" (see here).
Here's a question making the rounds of Ohio education policymakers: What's this "PIE Network" we keep hearing about?
Many students get a little queasy walking into math class so Granville schools are especially happy to have Sue Hoben on the high school teaching staff. Students actually seek out her algebra and trigonometry classes.
Ohio can learn a lot from the United Kingdom. Both are former industrial powerhouses that are experiencing, firsthand, the pain of a shrinking manufacturing-based economy. Both see education as the key to navigating this change and in preparing all children for success in a globe-spanning knowledge- and innovation-based economy.
There is no question that an obesity epidemic is running rampant among Ohio school children-nearly 21 percent of Ohio's third graders are overweight. But what role, if any, should schools have in curbing this disturbing trend?
The most distinctive thing about Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later, a documentary that debuted Tuesday night on HBO, is that it actually adds something valuable to the discussion about race and education. Worthwhile contributions to that discussion are all too rare.
Alison Kadlec, Will Friedman, and Amber OttPublic AgendaSeptember 2007
Nancy Hoffman, Joel Vargas, Andrea Venezia, and Marc S. Miller, edsSeptember 2007
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Directorate of Education September 2007
Sugar Bunny of Spokane, Washington once enjoyed a contented life as the pet rabbit in Lori Peters's preschool class at the Community Building Children's Center. Then some animal rights activists apparently had issues with Sugar Bunny's lifestyle--so they stole him.
When Superintendent Paul Vallas left Philadelphia to take over New Orleans' Recovery School District, he wasn't just changing cities--he was also changing worlds.
The government released the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress scores on Tuesday, and Mark Schneider, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, summed up the news in these words: "We're making slow and steady progress in reading, and we're doing much better in math."
Things are changing at the St. Louis Public Schools. The special administrative board (which now oversees the city's schools; see here) replaced Kenneth Brostron, the district's longtime lawyer. An in-house lawyer--one who is much cheaper than Brostron and his firm--will begin work in October.
Are charter schools the new bargaining chips in parent/school board negotiations? It would seem so. After the Palo Alto school board told parents that, sorry, they weren't going to start a Mandarin-immersion program, the parents threatened to start their own Mandarin charter school.
Ohio taxpayers and school children have been dealt another dose of bad news with the revelation that almost $10 billion in expected health-care costs for retired teachers could be added to the already staggering $19 billion in liabilities of the State Teachers Retirement System.
Joshua S. Wyner, John M. Bridgeland, and John J. Dilulio, Jr.Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic EnterprisesSeptember 2007
Martha Abele Mac Iver and Douglas J. Mac IverNational Center for the Study of Privatization in EducationSeptember 2007
Gareth DaviesUniversity Press of Kansas2007
Michigan's state Department of Education last week finally introduced its proposed curriculum for k-12 social studies. Although the plan has strong points--greater rigor and more focus on preparing students for college--it is also a classic case of political correctness run amok.
If there's one thing Gadfly is not, it's an apologist for bad schools, and he therefore cannot quibble much with Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann's contention that two chronically-failing Buckeye charter schools should be closed.
When it comes to merit pay, Florida's teachers are about as ill-tempered as a gator buzzed by an Everglades airboat. The state legislature launched the STAR (Special Teachers are Rewarded) program in 2006, which gave 25 percent of public-school teachers five-percent bonuses, based primarily on student scores on the Sunshine State's standardized assessment.
At first glance, the explosive growth of "alternative" teacher certification--which is supposed to allow able individuals to teach in public schools without first lingering in a college of education--appears to be one of the great success stories of modern education reform.
Regarding last week's editorial ("The case against comparability") by Kate Walsh: The perfect should not be the enemy of the good. Comparability requirements are flawed.
The Denver teachers union has proposed to end social promotion in the Mile High City schools and instead tie students' progress to their scores on standardized tests in third, fifth, and eighth grades. Opponents of the plan worry that it will harm the self-esteem of students who are held back and could encourage those youngsters to drop out.
At first glance, the explosive growth of 'alternative' teacher certification--which is supposed to allow able individuals to teach in public schools without first passing through a college of education--appears to be one of the great success stories of modern education reform. But, as this report reveals, alternative certification programs have so far failed to provide a real alternative to traditional education schools. In fact, they represent a significant setback for education reform advocates.
