Quotable & notable
?If a kid gets out of school hungry and the first thing he sees is pizza on the side of his bus, he's going to ask for pizza when he gets home.? * ? Limor Baum, Dietician
?If a kid gets out of school hungry and the first thing he sees is pizza on the side of his bus, he's going to ask for pizza when he gets home.? * ? Limor Baum, Dietician
As you know by now, Fordham is on a mission: to find the reformiest state in the country!
The following is a guest post from Tony Bennett, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, on why Indiana should be considered the reformiest state at our Ed Reform Ido
Education Sector is one of my favorite groups in K-12 policy, and not just because I have lots of friends who work there. Since its creation five years ago its analysts have produced a steady stream of thoughtful, thought-provoking papers and posts on the most important issues facing education policymakers today.
Jon Stewart wasn't able to make it to the Save Our Schools rally last weekend, but at least Reason was there. Some of us D.C.
?We understand schools have taken cuts over the past two years, and they've made tough decisions as a result of that. But we always said there was going to be a brighter day and we're hoping that day is not too far off.? *
The following is a guest post from Robin M. Steans, Executive Director of Advance Illinois, on why Illinois should be considered the reformiest state at our Ed Reform Idol event next week.
If there is a silver lining to the cheating scandals, it is the increased scrutiny being paid to the testing industry, including the education systems that administer the tests.
The more I read RiShawn Biddle ? he of Dropout Nation -- the more I like him (even though I don't know anything about him). ?He wrote a wonderful short essay last week on Bruce Baker of Rutgers, whom he called the ?poor man's Diane Ravitch?
Answering the phone falls into the wide range of duties I perform as the staff assistant here at Fordham. I've received some peculiar calls over my tenure, but perhaps none as hostile as one that came through today. I thought I'd share the paraphrased transcript: Me: Thomas B. Fordham Institute, this is Chris
? I wept when Barack Obama was elected president, but this isn't the type of history I thought he'd make. Funding is driven based on test scores. That puts all the focus on the test scores.
The following is a guest post from Patricia Levesque, Executive Director of the Foundation for Florida's Future, on why Florida should be considered the reformiest state at our Ed Reform
Friends don't let friends believe lazy LA Times articles about education budget cuts:
The answers to your most burning questions: Question 1: How can you really intimidate Arne Duncan? (A: Give him a doll)
It's been a busy week in the capitol: the onion reports that middle-school civics teachers have been dispatched to resolve the debt crisis and Jon Stewart will be making a televised appearance
?I never went to any student who didn't call me to help them cheat. But if somebody asked me a question, I wasn't willing to say, ?Just do your best.' They were my students, and I wanted to be there for them. ?*
We're looking at a long weekend for politicians, journalists, and finance professionals as the debt ceiling fight goes into extra innings. The House leadership has delayed a vote on the Boehner plan due to dissension in the Republican rank and file, and odds for a major deal don't look great.
The following is a guest post from Bill Tucker. Bill regularly blogs at The Quick and The Ed and is the managing director of Ed Sector.
?We're kind of building the airplane as we fly because we know we need to get something done and turned into the state?*
After his podcast sabbatical, Rick Hess is back?and he doesn't disappoint. After explaining his new Fordham paper on digital learning, he and Mike discuss the charter-voucher rivalry and what the debt ceiling means for education.
Jeff Smink's New York Times essay, ?This is Your Brain on Summer,? about summer learning loss, makes me think of my childhood summers in Oregon's fertile Willamette Valley, where I am now vacationing.
David Cohen of the University of Michigan complains at the Shanker Institute blog that "niche reforms" like DC's (substantial) overhaul of its teacher evaluation and retention practices under Michelle Rhee are a distraction. Cohen dismisses IMPACT and similar reforms, saying we need to "fix the system" and build "infrastructure" instead.
Regardless of your views on the pros and
In other news, President Obama reminds David Brooks of his junior high principal and lazy high school students still have swag.
?We stress performance on state tests, even in first grade. We don't have time to teach science and social studies.?* ?Kirsten Holtje, first grade teacher in Fairfax County, VA
This is a guest post by Tom Vander Ark that was originally posted on EdReformer.
Today we've published the first of six papers, commissioned by the Fordham Institute, on the topic of digital learning/virtual schooling. The rest of the papers ? each exploring a different angle of this issue ? are set to be released on a rolling basis later this year.