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Riding into the Sunrise: Al Quie, A Life of Faith, Service & Civility
Mitch PearlsteinPogo Press2008
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Report of the Commission on the Use of Standardized Tests in Undergraduate Admission
National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)September 2008
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It now takes more to pass in Mass
How we love Massachusetts: its patriotic history, wind-swept shores, and, of course, sky-high standards. While other states take cues from NCLB to walk to the middle, Massachusetts keeps raising the bar.
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Knuckle abrasions
Faculty bathroom graffiti. That's what some are calling teachers' latest past time. Unlike its aerosol cousin though, this graffiti is of the digital variety and something Gadfly sure knows a thing or two about. But unlike our blog's ideas that stick, these educator scribbles are slimy and slick.
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Inflatable LA
LAUSD may have lost six percent of its students from 2001 to 2007 but you'd never know it down at headquarters. That fashionable office--replete with flat screen TVs and on-site dry-cleaning service--has in fact grown by 20 percent during the same period.
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What's in a grade?
The red pen. In our still largely decentralized public school system, it's no big surprise that this old-fashioned instrument of ill repute gets starkly different treatment from district to district and state to state.
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Wanted: Smart feedback on smart regulation
Last spring, when we released our Catholic schools study just days before Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States, it was a case of good timing.
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Smell test
There's a fishy odeur emanating from the Bayou these days. The source? A "re-routing" plan that would count the scores of gifted students at magnet schools towards the results of their "home school" (the school they would attend based on school catchment areas).
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A look at the numbers: non-traditional supes and innovation
Today on Forbes.com , Checker explains why he finds reforms in LA, NY and Denver promising instances of thinking outside the box. It's all about the numbers--of the test score and dollar variety. When the old ways aren't working, shouldn't we try something new? Absolutely.
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The cram-dustry: how does education gain respect?
Cram schools seem to be popping up everywhere. Korea has them as does Flushing, Queens. The newest market?
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Both ends against the middle: That's NCLB's problem, too
Now that the financial markets have steadied themselves a bit, and Congressional leaders have started putting Humpty-Dumpty together again, it's easier to look at the demise of the bailout bill on Monday with cool detachment. And what's clear is that three factions were responsible for the bill's defeat: liberals, conservatives, and members from swing districts, particularly freshmen.
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Is Sarah Palin channeling Fordham?
Last night: "Science should be taught in science class."--Sarah Palin August 2005: "Science class is for science"--The Education Gadfly
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Calling for independent research
Economist Roland Fryer's Educational Innovation Laboratory is off to the races, thanks to the Broad Foundation, experimenting with new ways of incentivizing kids to learn in three big cities (New York , Chicago,