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Commentary
12.29.2002

Counting our blessings

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

As readers may have noticed, these "desk" messages tend toward the crotchety and Cassandra-ish. That's because we see plenty still not working well in U.S.

Commentary
12.29.2002

D.C. teachers union leaders alleged to have enriched selves to the tune of $2 million

FBI agents have seized fur coats, alligator shoes, a $57,000 Tiffany tea set, a $13,000 plasma TV set, and hundreds of other luxury items from the homes and offices of the former president of the Washington (D.C) Teachers' Union and her assistant as part of an investigation into the disappearance of over $2 million in union funds over the past several years.

Commentary
12.29.2002

Publicity, training critical to success of NCLB school report cards

I enjoyed Checker's recent piece on school report cards. [See http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=31#438] But he neglected two big issues: First, the need for huge amounts of PUBLICITY to make parents aware that these report cards even exist.

Commentary
12.29.2002

Reinventing education, IBM-style

A recent article in The World & I examines how computer giant IBM's massive Reinventing Education initiative - which seeks to bring classroom-and school-level successes to scale - is transforming not only the company's culture, but also the way teachers do their jobs.

Commentary
12.29.2002

Texas pressured to lower the bar on new high school graduation test

Students in the Lone Star state's class of 2005 - today's 10th graders - will have to pass the new Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) in order to graduate from high school. A report released by the Texas Education Agency earlier this month indicates that more than 53 percent of students will have trouble passing the test and risk being denied a diploma.

Commentary
12.29.2002

What's next for school choice?

This month's issue of "&ize," the Institute for Justice's monthly compilation of media clips - features a case study on the future of school choice. Included are scads of news articles from the past year - many that you've seen but also some you may have missed - that document where the school choice movement has been and where it's going. A handy volume for any reformer's bookshelf.

Commentary
12.18.2002

Massachusetts grants MCAS waivers

Massachusetts has granted appeals to roughly 200 students who demonstrated-via good grades, stellar attendance, teacher recommendations, and having taken part in MCAS tutoring-that they knew enough to graduate despite thrice failing at least one section of the state exit test by a narrow margin.

Commentary
12.18.2002

SOL study tool earns rave reviews from kids

Virginia third-graders are having a blast while studying for the Standards of Learning (SOL) exams thanks to SOLAR, a computer software program designed by Lockheed Martin Corp. When students answer SOL-like questions correctly, the program rewards them with exciting graphics and sound effects reminiscent of a video game.

Commentary
12.18.2002

No alternative diploma in Massachusetts

Your recent report [see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=31#442] on the vote of the Massachusetts Board of Education to endorse standards for a "certificate of attainment" might leave your readers with the impression that we have established an alternative diploma. We have not.

Commentary
12.18.2002

Pennsylvania's education secretary throws in the towel

Charles Zogby has resigned as Pennsylvania's Education Secretary, leaving behind a legacy of controversial but sensible and far-reaching reforms. Among many other accomplishments, Zogby and his predecessor, Eugene Hickok, now U.S.

Commentary
12.18.2002

Philly school system overwhelms top suburban principal

A successful suburban principal with thirty years' experience - a woman hired to work miracles - has crashed and burned after only four months as principal of a troubled Philadelphia elementary school that's now managed by Edison Schools.

Commentary
12.18.2002

Racial distrust and school reform

Step back from the furor over Trent Lott's recent statement and observe how the episode itself opens a window onto the legacy of distrust that has characterized African-American views of conservatives and Republicans since the civil rights era.This distrust has shaped public policy on many fronts but perhaps nowhere as profoundly as in K-12 education.

Commentary
12.18.2002

The twelve years of NCLB

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

In the first year of NCLB, my Uncle (Sam) gave to meA law based on A.Y.P.

Commentary
12.11.2002

Colleges searching for presidents beyond the ivory tower

Although still a minority at roughly twelve percent, college presidents hired from outside traditional academic circles have doubled in number in recent years according to a new study by the American Council on Education (ACE).

Commentary
12.11.2002

DC, New York tackle school transfers

In a move aimed at bringing the Big Apple into compliance with NCLB, Chancellor Joel Klein announced this week that students may transfer from continually failing schools to better ones anywhere in the city instead of being limited to choices within their local districts.

Commentary
12.11.2002

States struggling to comply with NCLB, survey shows

States are edging closer to compliance with No Child Left Behind but are a long way off in some areas, according to an Education Week survey conducted for the paper's forthcoming (January '03) Quality Counts 2003 report.

Commentary
12.11.2002

Rallying the troops for choice in DC

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Sol Stern recently called upon President Bush, come January, to seize his "unprecedented opportunity" to create a pilot voucher program for poor kids trapped in the District of Columbia's dismal schools.

Commentary
12.11.2002

Rural school choice

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Among the predictable questions that arise during just about every discussion of school choice is one along these lines: "We live in a rural community and there's no other school within forty miles. How could school choice possibly benefit our children?