Leadership for Student Learning
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Larry Cuban, Institute for Educational Leadership, September 2001
March Toward Excellence: School Success and Minority Achievement in Department of Defense Schools
Kelly ScottNational Education Goals Panel, September 2001
Changes in High School Grading Standards in Mathematics, 1982-1992
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Dan Koretz and Mark Berends, RAND, 2001
Summits are for mountaineers
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Last week's 24-hour National Education Summit was surely pleasant. IBM's Lew Gerstner is a fine host and his company's conference facility is exceptionally comfortable.
Is National Board certification worth the $200 million that's been invested in it?
In this month's issue of Philanthropy, Michael Poliakoff asks some pointed questions about the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the nonprofit organization created in 1987 to identify and reward "master teachers." First, do the students of board-certified teachers achieve more than students whose teachers have not achieved this "distinction"? Second,
Newest Bracey Report full of rotten apples
If you're a serious education reformer and want to make yourself angry, have a look at the "11th Bracey Report on the Condition of Public Education" written by none other than Gerald W. Bracey. You'll probably agree with nothing in it. It's mostly an anti-testing rant leavened by ad hominem attacks.
A hard case for supporters of religious schools
Marci Kanstoroom, Ph.D.It's getting more and more difficult to generalize about religious schooling in America. An article in last week's Wall Street Journal reports that Catholic, Jewish, and other faith-based schools are seeing a wave of interest from students of other religions. Christian parents may pick a Jewish or Islamic school for their child (or vice versa) for a wide range of reasons.
Vindication for the MCAS: dramatic improvement in student scores in MA
Policymakers in Massachusetts have long faced ferocious testing critics wailing that the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System is harming public education and worsening dropout rates. They endured myriad protests organized by opponents who claimed that MCAS was forcing educators to "teach to the test." They winced at the high percentage of kids who failed each year.
Virginia schools post record gains on SOLs
Another state whose pursuit of standards-and-accountability based reform has been doubted by testing opponents had good news this week. According to results released on Tuesday, Virginia schools nearly doubled their rate of success on the state's Standards of Learning exams this year, with 40 percent meeting this year's state benchmarks and an additional 30 percent of schools reaching tar