Commentary
State Teacher Policy Yearbook: Progress on Teacher Quality
National Council on Teacher QualityJune 2007
Commentary
Information Underload: Florida's Flawed Special-Ed Voucher Program
Sara MeadEducation SectorJune 2007
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Memphis jazz, Boston blues
Incoming Boston school chief Carol Johnson boasts an impressive track record. But will she be able to translate her Memphis victories into a Beantown success story? Not if the local teachers union has anything to say about it.
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Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After One Year
Institute of Education SciencesJune 2007
Commentary
Going upscale
In the introduction to his book Crash Course, Chris Whittle calls himself "a renovation man." He's done a lot of renovating, too: "a Depression-era two-room log cabin," a "rambling apartment in one of New York's oldest apartment buildings." Now, it seems, he has moved on to mansions.
Commentary
Exasperated
Yale computer scientist David Gelernter is, like many parents, tired of public schools declaring war on deeply held moral and religious values, not to mention common sense. So he wants to abolish them. Gelernter is one of the smartest people alive and what he writes deserves to be read.
Commentary
A ten-point plan to eradicate white guilt (oh, and actually help minority students)
Today's Supreme Court decision striking down Louisville's and Seattle's race-based student assignment plans will surely lead to much gnashing of teeth, recriminations, and accusations that America is slipping back to the era of Jim Crow.
Commentary
Bad news 4 school leaders
It's amusing to find phrases such as "BONG HITS 4 JESUS" amidst the stiff legalese of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion. But unfortunately, the recent ruling in Morse v. Frederick has turned Gadfly's laughter to disappointment.
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Reflections on the year now ending
With so many schools in session well into June and others starting early in August, it sometimes feels like July is all that remains of yesteryear's three-month "summer vacation." Heading into the 7th month, therefore, and with Gadfly looking forward to an Independence Day break, some reflections on the 2006-7 school year seem fitting. Here are ten such:
Commentary
Can't touch this
Is it some new form of abstinence education? Or does the principal of Kilmer Middle School have a Howard Hughes-like aversion to touch? No one knows for sure, because no one can get close enough to Deborah Hernandez to find out why she won't permit physical contact of any kind on school grounds.
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Church and charter
Can states fund religious charter schools without stepping all over the Constitution's anti-establishment clause? We think it's possible. And in the current issue of Education Week, Lawrence Weinberg and Bruce Cooper show how it's happening near Minneapolis.
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Federalism in the Land of Oz
The United States isn't the only land where primary-secondary schooling was traditionally the responsibility of the states or provinces, while the national government played a minor, even peripheral role.
Commentary
Laboratories of Reform: Virtual High Schools and Innovation in Public Education
Bill TuckerEducation SectorJune 2007
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The Cost of Teacher Turnover in Five School Districts: A Pilot Study
Gary Barnes, Edward Crowe, Benjamin SchaeferNational Commission on Teaching and America's Future2007
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Breaking up is hard to do
The relationship between Philadelphia's former superintendent, Paul Vallas, and the district's School Reform Commission (SRC) survived a bit of a rough patch about this time last year.
Commentary
Young guns
America is a youth-worshipping nation. Except, it seems, in the field of education, where gray hair and experience are frequently valued above all else. Hence the backlash against Michelle Rhee, who, at age 37, is seen by some as too young and green to head Washington's 55,000-student district.
Commentary
Closing the Teacher Quality Gap in Philadelphia: New Hope and Old Hurdles
Research for ActionJune 2007
Commentary
Mapping 2005 State Proficiency Standards Onto the NAEP Scales
Institute of Education Sciences, Research and Development ReportJune 2007
Commentary
How to spell 'illogical'? S-p-e-l-l-i-n-g-s
In left-wing enclaves such as my current home of Takoma Park, Maryland, ridiculing the illogic of the Bush Administration (on Iraq, on global warming, etc.) is something of an official sport.
Commentary
Impoverished thinking
Last Sunday's New York Times Magazine was devoted to the income gap, the monetary expanse that separates the have-a-lots from the have-nots. One article in particular caught our eye: "The Poverty Platform." It was a detailed examination of John Edwards's current presidential campaign and its focus on eliminating poverty in America.
Commentary
"Earned autonomy" comes to Washington
"Earned autonomy" is an education-reform idea whose time has come--and should come to federal policy. Increasingly, superintendents (in places like Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, etc.) are allowing schools with a track record of improving student achievement to gain more freedom from central office control.
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A public school by any other name
United Teachers Los Angeles has decided that instead of fighting charter schools they'd rather chase their teachers. "We have come to the realization that we need to look at organizing teachers at charter schools," said UTLA President A.J. Duffy.
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Diplomas Count: Ready for What? Preparing Students for College, Careers, and Life After High School
Editorial Projects in EducationJune 2007
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We're shaken and stirred
Maybe it's because of the Queen's recent visit, or the steely blue gaze of the newest James Bond, but gin is experiencing something of an American renaissance these days.
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Rheeclaiming D.C. schools
After an arduous process, it finally happened: Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty took control of the city's schools. And his first act was ousting Superintendent Clifford Janey and appointing Michelle Rhee, founder of the New Teacher Project.
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Survey Do's and Survey Don'ts
Last month, Fordham published its biennial survey of Ohioans' views on education (see here). Who knew it would be the start of a trend?
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Gem City Blues
As schools across Ohio adjourn for summer vacation, officials at the Dayton Public Schools (DPS) still face some tough decisions and serious challenges before they can enjoy it. In May, the district failed to pass a 15-mill levy, forcing $30 million in cuts.
Commentary
Weeds Have STEMs, Too
Ohio's education system has reached a crossroads--at which it can either transition to a dramatically different and more productive model (as outlined in the recent McKinsey/ACHIEVE report here), or it can continue to tinker with incremental adjustments that render the system more complex and costly without producing substantial i
Commentary
Slipping Standards, Serious Consequences
The growing number of students scoring "proficient" on Ohio's battery of K-12 state assessments (and a slew of tests in other states) may, in part, be attributed to some weak-kneed tests and low cut scores for passage. A new report from the U.S.