Jacques Barzun—A personal remembrance
Guest blogger A. Graham Down remembers the cultural critic and author of "From Dawn to Decadence"
Guest blogger A. Graham Down remembers the cultural critic and author of "From Dawn to Decadence"
The lessons of Fordham's new study, How Strong are U.S. Teacher Unions? A State by State Comparison.
This timely study represents the most comprehensive analysis of American teacher unions' strength ever conducted, ranking all fifty states and the District of Columbia according to the power and influence of their state-level unions. To assess union strength, the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now examined thirty-seven different variables across five realms: 1) Resources and Membership 2) Involvement in Politics 3) Scope of Bargaining 4) State Policies 5) Perceived Influence The study analyzed factors ranging from union membership and revenue to state bargaining laws to campaign contributions, and included such measures such as the alignment between specific state policies and traditional union interests and a unique stakeholder survey. The report sorts the fifty-one jurisdictions into five tiers, ranking their teacher unions from strongest to weakest and providing in-depth profiles of each. Download the report: http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/how-strong-are-us-teacher-unio…
A first look at education news from the weekend and this morning
New Study Examines Strength of Teacher Unions Nationwide
This timely study represents the most comprehensive analysis of American teacher unions’ strength ever conducted, ranking all fifty states and the District of Columbia according to the power and influence of their state-level unions.
My introduction for Teach for America Founder Wendy Kopp at yesterday's White House Fellows Annual Leadership Conference
A first look at today's education news: A new edu-agenda in Florida, caps on superintendent pay in Jersey, and more
The plight of low-performing students dominates our education news and policies. Yet America's high flyers demand innovative, rigorous schooling as well, particularly if the country is to sharpen its economic and scientific edge. Motivated, high-ability youngsters can be served in myriad ways by public education, including schools that specialize in them. In a new book from Princeton University Press, Exam Schools: Inside America's Most Selective Public High Schools, co-authors Chester Finn and Jessica Hockett identify 165 such high schools across America. In this Fordham LIVE! conversation, they and others will examine some of the issues that selective-admission public high schools pose. Who attends them? How are their students selected? Are such schools the future of gifted education or do they unfairly advantage a select few at the expense of most students? Just how different are they, anyway? Authors Finn and Hockett will be joined by a pair of educators instrumental in the creation of two of the "exam schools" profiled in the book: Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus of George Washington University and a key player in the establishment of D.C.'s selective School Without Walls, and Geoffrey Jones, founding principal of Alexandria's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Setting the record straight on the Hoosier State
What the Common Core may mean for accountability
A first look at this morning's most important education news: Teachers in the foreign-policy debate, school-funding suits in Texas, and more
The challenge of sharing responsibility while preserving responsibility
A first look at the most important education news from the weekend and this morning: Education op-eds abound, from Tom Friedman's to Wendy Kopps'
A first look at today's most important education news: A teacher-evaluation suit in L.A., "Smart Drugs" under fire, and more
The membership of the Chicago Teachers Union approved a new contract last week but the legacy of the rancorous strike is far from settled. Did the experience prove Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker right? Will unions continue to impede reform—and add to costs—so long as state law gives them expansive collective bargaining and striking rights? To answer these and other questions, the Fordham Institute is bringing together two voices on teacher labor issues, Democrats for Education Reform's Joe Williams and the Hoover Institution's Terry Moe, for a debate on the future of American teacher unionism.
A first look at today's most important education news: Common Core enters the debate, Rick Scott weighs in on Florida's proficiency goals, and more
Why everyone needs to read Kathleen Porter-Magee's Common Core Watch blog
Two Fordham Institute authors have new books out this fall and a pair of recent articles provided previews of these page-turners
A first look at the top education stories from the weekend and this morning
How John Chubb navigates the Homeric challenges education governance poses to digital learning