Displaying 1-30 of 69 results
Commentary
8.28.2002

Summer school for new principals

Almost half of New York City's 1200 principals have been on the job for less than three years, and principal retirements are expected to grow in the next few years.

Commentary
8.28.2002

Great principals are key to keeping good teachers in poor schools

It has often been noted that high-poverty schools tend to be staffed by less experienced teachers. In an online piece at WashingtonPost.com, the always-thoughtful Jay Mathews examines some of the reasons for this and some of the proposed solutions.

Commentary
8.28.2002

High stakes testing not linked to dropouts

The dropout rate for Massachusetts high school students in 2000-2001 stayed steady at 3.5 percent, possibly disappointing critics of the state's new high-stakes graduation exam (MCAS), who had predicted that making the test a graduation requirement would cause dropout rates to skyrocket. In Boston, the rate declined from 9.4 percent in 1999-2000 to 8.5 percent in 2000-2001.

Commentary
8.28.2002

Bearish on public school choice

The public school choice provision of the No Child Left Behind act isn't all that different from a federal choice program created two years ago, writes Alexander Russo in this month's Washington Monthly, and the lesson of that Clinton-era program is that providing viable transfer options for children in failing schools is far harder than it sounds.

Commentary
8.28.2002

Which high schools send the most kids to top colleges?

This month's Worth magazine ranks the public and private high schools with the best records of placing graduates at the most elite colleges. Roxbury Latin, Brearley, and Collegiate top the list: at all three schools, at least 20 percent of graduates over the last four years attended Harvard, Yale or Princeton.

Commentary
8.28.2002

Whither vouchers?

In an essay in this month's Commentary, Paul Peterson reflects on whether the Supreme Court's Zelman decision will be a turning point in how Americans think about education, akin to the Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision half a century ago.

Commentary
8.28.2002

September 11th returns to the classroom

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

As America readies itself for the "anniversary" of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks, innumerable education groups and experts are again bestirring themselves to tell schools and teachers what to teach their students on this topic. Unfortunately, much of that advice is bad and some is awful.

Commentary
8.28.2002

Standards-based reform boosts scores in LA

Test scores in Los Angeles elementary schools are rising nicely and many view such gains as evidence that state and district reforms in math and reading are working. Turning its back on a hodgepodge of exploratory math programs, L.A.U.S.D. standardized its math program and now uses only two textbooks in the elementary grades, both of which stress fundamental skills.

Commentary
8.28.2002

SAT math scores up, verbal scores down

The average math score on the SAT rose two points (to 516) this year, while the average verbal score dropped two points to 504, according to figures released this week by the College Board.

Commentary
8.21.2002

Leaving many children behind

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Don't think for a minute that June's Supreme Court decision upholding Cleveland's school-voucher program has opened the floodgates of education choice for American families.

Commentary
8.21.2002

California threatens home schoolers

A memo issued by the California Department of Education last month warned parents that they may not home-school their children unless they have professional teaching credentials, the Washington Times reports.

Commentary
8.21.2002

CliffsNotes for education statistics

The Heritage Foundation's Krista Kafer has compiled an education "CliffsNotes" of sorts, drawing from data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics and others.

Commentary
8.21.2002

Teachers exploit loophole in law to qualify for extra pension money

In many states, teachers (and other state or local government employees) are prohibited by federal law from collecting "spousal retirement benefits" from the Social Security system when they retire if they have state or local government pensions. But a loophole in the law allows them to receive such benefits if they spend a single day-their last working day-in a different job.

Commentary
8.21.2002

Teachers reject NEA's September 11 curriculum

The American Federation of Teachers and some other educators are scrambling to distance themselves from the "blame America" lesson plans produced by the National Education Association for use on and around September 11, 2002. The NEA's lessons urge teachers to discuss instances of American intolerance but avoid suggesting that any group is responsible for last September's terrorist attacks.

Commentary
8.21.2002

The new and improved SAT

While many are suspicious of the changes that the College Board and ETS are planning for the SAT (changes made largely to placate the University of California, which had threatened to stop requiring the test), college admissions counselor John Harper argues in the cover story of this week's Weekly Standard that the new test is a big improvement.

Commentary
8.21.2002

Florida school puts a positive spin on failure

Teachers and administrators at a Florida elementary school hope to convince students that the "F" their school received from the state's accountability system really means "fantastic" and "fun." Pep rallies and t-shirts declaiming "F = Fantastic" are just some of the strategies this failing school is using to boost everybody's sense of self-esteem and complacency.

Commentary
8.21.2002

The Class Size Debate

Terry Ryan

edited by Lawrence Mishel and Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute2002