The Gadfly's attempts to maintain ("The problem with nuance," March 1, 2007) that it has not done a flip-flop about the control of education in the various states by federal bureaucrats, e.g., its present approval of the NCLB Act, is much like a woman arguing that she is only partly pregnant.
If there was the slightest doubt that Steve Jobs is one of the most courageous men of our time, it was dispelled dramatically on February 16th. There he was at a high profile education conference when, in what I believe was a spontaneous outburst, he decided to take on teacher unions.
Passionate classroom debates over Nietzsche and Proust are not every student's cup of tea. And for too long, those who struggled with such approaches to learning found their way to auto shop or wood shop, and abandoned math, science, and history along the way. But some schools are wising up and using vocational ed to reconnect students to higher-level learning.
Sergeant Joe Friday of Dragnet fame was content with "just the facts"; the Department of Education's Inspector General is not so humble. How else to explain his animus toward the Reading First program, recently found by OMB to be one of only four "effective" programs in the entire Education Department?
National Center for Education StatisticsFebruary 2007 The Nation's Report Card: America's High School Graduates--Results from the 2005 NAEP High School Transcript StudyNational Center for Education StatisticsFebruary 2007
Last August, Mike Antonucci's Education Intelligence Agency reported the findings of an internal AFT "communications audit." Chief among members' gripes was their union's "nuanced" position on No Child Left Behind.
When Tom Vander Ark left the Gates Foundation at the end of last year, the edu-world curiously awaited his next move.
The South Florida Giant Underground Weirdness Magnet is at it again. How else to explain the events that brought Miami resident Dalila Rodriguez together with a copy of Vamos a Cuba? Seems Ms.
As if Catholic schools didn't have enough worries of their own (and their Church's) making (see here), now they are fretting over competition from charter schools. In New York City, some parochial school principals are greeting Gov.
“At every word, a reputation dies,” wrote 18th century poet Alexander Pope in his epic parody The Rape of the Lock. Too bad Princeton High School assistant principal Sean Yisrael failed to heed Pope’s words.
Though most Ohioans are still thawing out from weeks of frosty weather, Columbus has been bustling with activity as many elected officials considered (or proposed themselves) a number of education initiatives--all claiming to improve Ohio’s education system.
Prachi Srivastava University of Sussex2007
For as long as we can remember, certainly for the past decade, K-12 education in Ohio, as in many other states (see here), has been defined by intermittent, piecemeal reforms and initiatives. Much of it has been partisan and self-interested.
Lynn OlsonAspen InstituteFebruary 2007
What's the surest path to raising smart children? Tell them how smart they are, all the time, because it raises their self-esteem and motivates them to succeed. So believe many parents and far too many educators.
There is an old adage among lawyers that says, "If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the table."
The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. The self-destructing St. Louis Public School District seems unable to take this step, so the Missouri State Board of Education is staging an intervention. In a 5-2 vote, the board created a three-member committee to oversee the chronically troubled district.
Apple users are famously loyal, many teachers among them. So Steve Jobs's sudden bout of teacher-union bashing deserves at least brief notice.
One nose-bloodying is enough for most of us. Not the brainy, pugilistic Charles Murray. He has resurrected his flawed Bell Curve argument in a three-part series of articles for the Wall Street Journal to try and convince us--again--that a person's IQ says all we need to know about what he can learn in school. Skeptical?
Amy Waldman's long and richly detailed account of New Orleans education reform, post-Katrina, follows the efforts of businessmen (such as James Huger, who opened a new charter school), longtime education bureaucrats (such as Robin Jarvis, who was put in charge of the Recovery School District), and outsiders (such as Daniel Hudson, an RSD principal).
Once a self-proclaimed "true believer" in NCLB, Mike Petrilli has come to the conclusion that it's "fundamentally flawed and probably beyond repair" (see here).
Title IX has inspired many an imbroglio since 1972, but the law's latest controversy is truly daffy.
Education SectorMarguerite RozaJanuary 2007
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg looked slightly presidential yesterday, calling for major tax relief for Big Apple citizens while forwarding an ambitious, thoughtful education reform plan.
Gov. Crist, you've no doubt seen the latest headlines: Florida education stinks. You've no doubt read the articles citing Education Week's recent study that ranked the Sunshine State 31st in the nation.
Julie Kowal, Emily Ayscue Hassel, and Bryan C. HasselCenter for American Progress2007
Frederick M. HessShow-Me InstituteFebruary 6, 2007
An expansion of parental options in education is a wonderful thing. But before we break out the champagne (or, for good Mormons, fruit juice) to fete the recent school choice victory in the Beehive State, let us raise a few concerns. Instead of a well-funded program that targets needy kids, Utah's new voucher law is both universal and cheap.
