Baltimore's "New" Middle Schools: Do KIPP and Crossroads Schools Offer Solutions to the City's Poorly-performing Middle Schools?

The Abell FoundationSeptember 2006

Getting Farther Ahead by Staying Behind: A Second-Year Evaluation of Florida's Policy to End Social Promotion

Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. WintersManhattan InstituteSeptember 2006

College Rankings Reformed: The Case for a New Order in Higher Education

Kevin CareyEducation SectorSeptember 2006

Keeping Watch on Reading First

Center on Education PolicySeptember 2006

The brothers Bush

Brotherly spats are not uncommon, and fraternal one-upmanship is a time-honored tradition. It is a rare case, however, when one brother governs a state and the other governs a nation, and the two disagree, not over lawn maintenance, but over educational accountability systems.

Reading last

The brouhaha over the federal Reading First program illustrates everything that's wrong with government today--not the alleged improprieties, but a twisted government culture that prioritizes "proper procedures" over actual results and that looks for scapegoats and fall-guys when the going gets tough.  

Ethical education

I enjoyed your recent article on faith and reason in education. Although it's true that science cannot inform us of what values to hold, reason can. Reason is larger than just science. Values, morality, and character are not inseparable from religion. A broadly acceptable philosophy of conduct and character (i.e., ethics) based on reason can be taught.

Fat chance

When the lights flood Vaught Hemingway Stadium on Saturday nights, and Ole Miss fans raise the Rebel Yell from the stands, gentle Michael Oher is there savoring every moment. He never misses a game, though by all rights he shouldn't even be in college. Growing up homeless on the streets of Memphis, he was one of the lost.

Fig leaves and frescoes in Frisco

The Texas Education Agency's fine arts curriculum framework for fifth graders describes a model lesson from a real classroom: the teachers "replicate painting on the ceiling as the Renaissance painters did by taping butcher paper to the bottom of students' desks and asking students to lie on the floor to paint." It's a clever idea (at least for classrooms with clean floors

A "niche" case for the core

When "core curriculum" supporters like E.D. Hirsch, Jr. do their advocating, it goes something like this: "In order to gain power in our democracy and economy, children must develop ‘cultural literacy' in a common core of knowledge so they can function in a world where interactions and understandings are greased by shared reference points and allusions."

They know something "aboot" education

Had our attempted conquest of Canada in the War of 1812 succeeded, the U.S.

The privilege of choice

Here's a less-than-shocking headline for you: Parents in leafy suburbs have a wealth of high quality schooling options. That's the gist of a recent Wall Street Journal story that highlights several affluent areas where parents are moving their students out of private schools and into the local public institutions.

Bugged out

The science teachers at Broken Arrow Elementary in Lawrence, Kansas, originally ordered from Carolina Biological Supply Co. a shipment of ladybugs. What they actually received in the mail was a shipment of fear. Instead of sending the delightful Broken Arrow children some harmless coccinellids, Carolina Supply botched the order and sent the youngsters a strain of E. Coli.

Education at a Glance 2006

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentSeptember 12, 2006

Educating School Teachers

Arthur LevineThe Education Schools ProjectSeptember 2006

School Restructuring Under No Child Left Behind: What Works When? A Guide for Education Leaders

Emily Ayscue Hassel, Bryan C. Hassel, Matthew D. Arkin, Julia M. Kowal, and Lucy M. SteinerThe Center for Comprehensive School Reform and ImprovementSeptember 2006

On faith and reason

Last week, Pope Benedict XVI sparked a firestorm in the Islamic world with a speech in which he quoted (but did not endorse) a 14th Century emperor who said that Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things.

Over the top on overachievers

Before applying to MIT, the Associated Press reports, one young man "built a working nuclear reactor in his garage." While no doubt intriguing to terrorists around the world, MIT's Dean of Admissions, Marilee Jones, was unimpressed. She finds such applicants just a tad run-of-the-mill.

Charter confusion: What they know just ain't so

Buried in the findings of the recently issued 38th annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools are some useful eye-openers for the charter school community.

Paradise Lost (in the School Cafeteria)

"They eat, they drink, and in communion quaff sweet immortality and joy," wrote poet John Milton of Adam and Eve's life before the fall. But high school students in Lafayette County, Indiana don't have to read Milton to feel the progenitorial couple's loss.

Replicating High-Performing Public Schools: Lessons from the Field

Think creating high-quality schools is difficult? Try replicating them.

Sub-Standard Math Standards Get Help

After 17 years of promoting "fuzzy" math, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has finally found clarity.

Charter School Growth Fund Opportunities

The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF), which provides grants and loans for the development and expansion of charter management and support organizations, is now seeking applicants for its first 2007 business planning cohort.

Dubious Solutions

Urban Districts Learning to Compete

Competition from charter schools is spurring one of Ohio's most troubled urban districts, Dayton Public Schools (DPS), to improve.So says a new report by the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), which examined the methods employed by DPS and Wisconsin's Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) to respond to the competitive school markets they are in.

A Vegas star

The superintendent of Clark County schools (Las Vegas), Walt Rulffes, is asking the state legislature for an expansion of his new school autonomy experiment, which has been running for less than two weeks. The program bestows upon Vegas principals more decision-making authority in return for increased accountability--much like Joel Klein's "empowerment schools" in New York City.

No Longer the Only Game in Town: Helping Traditional Public Schools Compete

Christine Campbell, Michael DeArmond, Kacey Guin, and Deborah WarnockCenter on Reinventing Public EducationSeptember 2006

Report on Licensure Alignment with the Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction

Diana W. RigdenReading First Teacher Education NetworkSeptember 2006

Rational numbers

Way back in 1989, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) launched the "math wars" by pushing constructivist, "fuzzy" math onto the nation's schools.

HOUSSE call

Gadfly tries to flutter his wings on the sunny side of issues and therefore resists chiding Secretary Spellings for her recent flip-flop on "highly qualified teachers." It's true, as others