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School Choice and State Constitutions: A Guide to Designing School Choice Programs
Richard D. Komer and Clark NeilyInstitute for Justice and the American Legislative Exchange CouncilApril 2007
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A Possible Dream: Retaining California Teachers So All Students Learn
Ken FuternickThe Center for Teacher QualityCalifornia State University2007
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Potter's appeal
It is with bittersweet anticipation that Hogwarts disciples await the final installment of the Harry Potter series, to be released across the land at midnight on July 21st. Young readers such as Ithaca, New York, sixth-grader Marcus Weathersby won't be the only ones sad to witness the dynasty's end, however; lovers of learning should be just as disappointed.
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Seize the day
Education reformers around the nation are keeping an eye on Massachusetts, which this school year implemented an "Expanded Learning Time" initiative (ELT), putting into practice the much-ballyhooed idea of longer school days. The Bay State's program awards an extra $1,300 per student to ten high-need schools that volunteer to extend their day by at least 25 percent.
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Stuck in the gate
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of floppy-hatted revelers will descend upon Churchill Downs to watch the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby.
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Education Trust or bust?
Is it possible that the greatness and longevity of a social movement are determined more by the excesses it avoids than the successes it achieves? That to stand the test of time, reforms need to embrace mid-course corrections and shun the temptation to overreach?
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Union "ad" ons
Teachers' unions have long used their members' money for political goals--but it's getting out of hand. Consider Newark, New Jersey, where the local AFT affiliate has put up billboards that read "Help Wanted.
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Innovation in Indianapolis
In spite of the contentious debate over charter schools in Columbus, there are emerging opportunities for cities in the Buckeye State to pursue and implement innovative strategies and practices made available by the charter option (see above).
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Charter Schools and Strange Bedfellows
Who knew that National Charter Schools Week could bring President George W. Bush and Senator Hillary Clinton together? President Bush issued an official proclamation designating April 29 - May 5, 2007 as National Charter Schools Week.
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A Bargain for the Dayton Public Schools
With the Dayton Public Schools (DPS) levy vote just a week away, there is still a fair amount of uncertainty surrounding its fate (despite ours and other organizations’ endorsements). Like Ohio’s other big urban school districts, DPS’s efforts are complicated by history.
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Performance-Pay for Teachers: Designing a System that Students Deserve
Center for Teaching QualityApril 2007
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Expressing International Educational Achievement in Terms of U.S. Performance Standards: Linking NAEP Achievement Levels to TIMSS
Gary W. Phillips American Institutes for ResearchApril 24, 2007
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The parents' party
For decades, Republicans have had trouble figuring out what they're for in K-12 education, especially at the national level. Until about twenty years ago, they were far more adept at saying what they opposed: a bigger federal role.
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Counting heads
According to the Indianapolis Public School system, 94 percent of its students are in class each day. Sounds pretty good, right? But a four-part report this week by the Indianapolis Star, while not exactly disputing that number, tells a very different story.
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Education, the new healthcare
The Gates and Broad Foundations are pumping $60 million into a campaign called "Strong American Schools," designed to boost consciousness and foster debate about three big education reform ideas during the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, and more fundamentally, make sure that candidates don't ignore the issue (see
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Kindergarten flop
There was Ahnold, on the cover of the April 16th Newsweek, expertly balancing a photo-shopped globe on his right index finger, a knowing smile on his face. And why wouldn't he smile? In climate change, Schwarzenegger has found an issue that he can attack with impunity, and one that will garner him significant praise from all corners.
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Where's the evidence on "autonomy"?
When the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation issued a manifesto about principals a few years ago, I was asked to sign it and I declined. I did so because I don't believe that anyone from any field can be "trained" to be a good principal, and I thought that this was a logical outcome of the views expressed in the manifesto about opening up the job to outsiders.
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America, The Last Best Hope
Volume II, From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom William J. BennettThomas Nelson Publishers2007
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Beating the Odds VII, An Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments, Results from the 2005-2006 School Year
Council of the Great City SchoolsApril 2007
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Ravitch gets it wrong
Diane Ravitch uses selective data to tarnish the achievement of New York City students under the Bloomberg administration ("Progress report on mayoral control in NYC," March 22). At the heart of Ms. Ravitch's argument is a claim that Mr.
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Ravitch responds
David Cantor's response only goes to show how bad things are in New York City these days, and demonstrates the need for an independent assessment agency to evaluate test scores and graduation data.
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Rescue 911
Education reformers have long argued that school choice is already widespread--among the well-to-do. Foes counter that choice programs are nothing but a "life raft" to save a few while letting the ship sink. Here's a new twist: St. Louis firefighters--union members all--are steamed that state law requires them to reside in the city of their employ.
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Go clean
Noam Scheiber, senior editor at The New Republic, is none too pleased about what he calls the "cleverness problem" bedeviling top economic graduate schools.
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Have mercy!
A couple months ago, it looked like the Boston Archdiocese was actively cooperating with charter schools. No more. With enrollment in Catholic schools flagging (in part because charters are tuition free), Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley decided to take off the gloves.
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How to improve Reading First
Tomorrow, the House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing to consider the future of the much-discussed Reading First program, a key component of NCLB.
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Viva la school trip!
Manhattan's Upper West Side may be the most liberal neighborhood in the United States. So who's surprised that a public school there wanted to show kids real Communism, up close and in-person? In 2004 and 2005, students from the area's Beacon School took school-led field trips to Cuba, in violation of federal law.