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Missouri has announced it will merge its state boards of education for K-12 and higher ed. Echoing President Obama and other’s calls for a greater focus on college completion, the Show Me State wants to streamline the primary, secondary, and tertiary education systems. That’s all well and good, but really, Missouri, that’s the best you’ve got?
Tie up your running shoes
Since the U.S. Department of Education named Tennessee and Delaware as the only winners in the first round of the Race to the Top, a battle has raged about the importance of stakeholder buy-in.
Do some great research, win $10,000
Michael J. PetrilliThe National Council on Teacher Quality has launched another National Research Competition on Teacher Quality. Here are the details:
Quotable and notable
?The third party funders reserve the right to reconsider their support for this initiative if there is a material change in DCPS' leadership.? ? Cate Swinbum, President, DC Public Education Fund, in a letter to Michelle Rhee, DC Public Schools Chancellor
Needle in a Haystack: Louisa May Alcott Elementary
Louisa May Alcott Elementary in Cleveland may have caught our eye for delivering a quality education to economically disadvantaged youngsters, but it was its results with special needs students that truly impressed us.
No, send Obama to the Queen City
We appreciate Mike's enthusiasm for Denver's School of Science and Technology but would rather see President Obama give the commencement speech at Cincinnati's
Becoming charters could save Cleveland's most promising schools
Emmy L. PartinThe school board of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District voted this week to lay off 10 percent of its 8,000 employees, including 545 teachers. Particularly hard hit will be the district’s ten “innovation schools”….
Bill Clinton hopes to raise profile of universities
Bill Clinton hopes to raise profile of universities, whose students are tech-addicted, English-fluent, and have already been put on the path to college.
State pension fund execs peering through rose-colored glasses
Mike LaffertyState lawmakers are expected to address the woes of the state’s public pension systems later this year. A recent report indicates they have their work cut out for them. According to the report, published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives by Joshua D.
Hess to rock Cleveland
The American Enterprise Institute’s Frederick (Rick) Hess is coming (back) to the Buckeye State to set Ohioans straight.
Charter School Autonomy: A Half-Broken Promise
Dana Brinson, Jacob RoschThomas B. Fordham Institute and Public ImpactApril 2010
Educating children while living within our means
Terry RyanEducators across Ohio are consumed by two issues – cuts and levies. School districts face brutal budget decisions as they confront falling revenues.
Education Transformation: Doing What Works in Education Reform
Center for American ProgressGlenda L. ParteeApril 2010This report, a product of the Center for American Progress’s Doing What Works project, takes a critical look at the implementation and funding of federal education policies and identifies programs that can be eliminated, consolidated, or restructured.
New education model proposed for school-age offenders
Theda SampsonIncarcerated young adults who are still legally eligible to a free public education would be able to attend classes inside prison walls, and continue coursework after release, if legislation currently under consideration is adopted.
Two well-deserved pats on the back
Fordham’s Director of Charter School Sponsorship, Kathryn Mullen Upton, has been invited to join top practitioners and authorizing experts on the National Association of Charter School Authorizers’ national Advisory Panel that will recommend revisions to NACSA’s Principles & Standar
Another state out of RTT
Today, Vermont announced that it will not compete in round two of the Race to the Top. It was one of ten states to not apply in the first round. State leaders said the program has distracted attention from its own reform initiatives.
Quotable and notable
?As you add all this stuff on, you're going to have to add more people, mentors, librarians?How do we do that?? ?Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa ?Needs of ?Whole Child' May Factor in ESEA Renewal,? Education Week
Send Obama back to Denver
Michael J. PetrilliCandidate Obama gave one heckuva speech in the Mile High City once upon a time; ask him to deliver another one as President Obama this coming June.
Invaluable direction from Secretary Duncan
In a single sentence, Secretary Duncan has multiplied the chances of getting major reforms out of round two of the Race to the Top.
Quotable and notable
?You want to keep a rookie who looks good relative to other rookies, even if it's not that great relative to all other teachers.? ? Douglas O. Staiger, Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College
What goes up must come down
Michael J. PetrilliI've been receiving angry emails from teachers who heard my sound-bytes on NBC Nightly News and Today earlier this week. I said that ?our schools don't just need to go on a diet, they need to adapt a whole new way of life.
Gadfly, gadfly!
Stafford PalmieriYou won't want to miss this week's edition of the Gadfly. On deck? Checker's take on ED's assessment competition, turnaround shenanigans in Iowa (HT to Eduwonk, btw), and a fascinating study that finds that great teachers typically make more money than so-so ones when they leave the classroom! The full shebang is below.
Understanding the Common Core State Standards
Our event on Thursday (by the above name) went very well and was quite informative. Panelists Jason Zimba and David Coleman did a great job of digging into the proposed Common Core State Standards and answering questions that Checker (and later, the audience) posed to them.
Re: Maybe there's no ?teacher quality gap? after all
Michael J. PetrilliUber-reformer (and hedge fund manager) Whitney Tilson had this to say about my earlier post:
Indiana out
Huge breaking news out of Indiana. Because of the state teacher union's unwillingness to negotiate on reform, Indiana will NOT apply in round two of RTT. ?Andy Smarick