Topics

The New Kindergarten

Douglas J. Besharov and Douglas M. CallWilson Quarterly Autumn 2008

Minorities in Higher Education 2008, Twenty-Third Status Report

Mikyung RyuAmerican Council on EducationOctober 2008

Impoliticking

It's no military step routine for sure, but the recent federal suit filed by the New York City United Federation of Teachers is certainly out of step. At issue is a city policy that makes political buttons and signs verboten in schools.

Improvement is for everyone?

Here's a riddle. You're the Secretary of Education. A deeply unpopular law is starting to label even good schools as failures. What do you do? Think positive! "Pretty much every organization needs improvement," Margaret Spellings told the New York Times this week. That's certainly true as far as it goes; even Gadfly tries to muscle-up his wings from time to time.

ISO vigorous research chief and feisty stats head

Oceans of ink and big chunks of cyberspace and the radio spectrum will be consumed, starting a few weeks hence, by speculation about who will or should or mustn't occupy key roles in the Presidential administration of John McCain or Barack Obama.

Historical change

Everyone knows that this year's is a "change" election, and everyone also knows that our education system could benefit from some real change, too. I vote for reinserting history and related subjects back into the curriculum. 

Since tonight's debate won't talk education...

...I will. It's a safe bet that education won't be a big part of tonight's presidential debate, so if you need to ponder what an McCain or Obama administration should or could do, two NY Times blog entries from earlier this week have some interesting thoughts.

Live: From Brown to "Bong Hits"

Wide-ranging presentations and lively discussion today at the AEI/Fordham conference on judicial involvement in education!

Re: Re: Priceless

I admire Stafford's passion, in joining Mike's anti-Ed-in-???08 crusade, but I think she puts way too much stock in the

And NCLB wasn't a dramatic expansion of the federal role in education, either...

"Bush: Partial Nationalization Not An Abandonment of Free Market"

Shame on the Washington-knows-best crowd (myself included)

Conventional wisdom in Washington, circa 2001, was that states and schools were not to be trusted. Give them an inch, they'll take a mile--that was the sentiment when it came to devising NCLB's accountability system. We all knew that devious states would try to game the system and make schools look better than they really were, and that schools themselves would find loopholes and abuse them.

Re: Re: Re: Priceless

Ok, Eric caught me. I used the Washington Post-ABC News poll just to poke fun at??Ed in '08 again. With our current situation, someone would have to be off their rocker to list education as their top priority over the gazillion other things that are plaguing this country and the world.

Have they no shame?

Will Obama have a mandate on education?

Let's assume for a moment that the current trajectory of the presidential election remains the same and Obama wins by a significant margin, maybe even a landslide.

Don't blame it all on the tests

Sam Dillon has a great article in today's New York Times which illustrates the wide variation in the number of schools making "adequate yearly progress" under No Child Left Behind. He writes,

Doug Mesecar and Kelly Scott: Please steal this idea

Richard Whitmire, who wrote this USA Today editorial in support of single sex schools, wants those of us at Fordham to send a video crew to the Excellence Charter S

Re: Priceless

Two weeks ago, I had a bit of fun at Ed in 08's expense. One of our readers accused me of unfairly picking on the poor initiative (get it?). Well, we could feel sorry for Ed in 08???

Re: Pity the $30,000 a year teacher

Readers are lighting up the comments section on this one regarding a comment made by "that one." (Note to John McCain: please try to remember your opponent's nam

Wherein I take a scalpel to my own blog post

A few weeks ago I introduced Barack Obama's scalpel to a list of what I referred to as "ineffective" Department of Education programs worthy of elimination.

From Brown to "Bong Hits": Assessing a Half-Century of Judicial Involvement in Education

With a title like that, we already know you RSVP'd (if you didn't, what are you waiting for?). More good news! The ten papers being presented at this stupendous conference are now posted online. Your weekend reading is all taken care of--you're welcome.

What's your Rheesoning?

Fordham staff received an email this afternoon from D.C. parent Jean Hoff and decided to post it (in part, and with her permission):

Introducing the new director of Brookings's Brown Center

Alexander Russo reported earlier today that Institute for Education Sciences director Russ Whitehurst is heading to Brookings. That's true--I hear that he is replacing Tom Loveless as the director of the ??Brown Center on Education Policy.

Introducing the new director of Brookings's Brown Center

Alexander Russo reported earlier today that Institute for Education Sciences director Russ Whitehurst is heading to Brookings. That's true--I hear that he is replacing Tom Loveless as the director of the ??Brown Center on Education Policy.

Wherein an unobservant Jew prays for the salvation of Catholic Schools

On this Yom Kippur, Checker Finn atones for his Nixonian associations by highlighting the dire straits of America's urban parochial schools. Read it here.

Robert Reich: Short on facts

A friend pointed me to this New York Times column by Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich, wherein he states:

Introducing the new director of Brookings's Brown Center

Alexander Russo reported earlier today that Institute for Education Sciences director Russ Whitehurst is heading to Brookings. That's true--I hear that he is replacing Tom Loveless as the director of the ??Brown Center on Education Policy.

Introducing the new director of Brookings's Brown Center

Alexander Russo reported earlier today that Institute for Education Sciences director Russ Whitehurst is heading to Brookings. That's true--I hear that he is replacing Tom Loveless as the director of the ??Brown Center on Education Policy.

The Gadfly is here

Stop what you're doing. Put down the casual over-lunch newspaper. The Gadfly is up. What do we have this week?

Let me tell you a bit about teamwork...

CER's Jeanne Allen writes an open letter to Jay Mathews at the Washington Post. Amber disagreed with his assessment that merit pay will undermine teamwork--and Jeanne does too.

Welcome to Michelle's neighborhood

Three cheers for DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. After a grueling attempt to bribe the Washington Teachers' Union into accepting a generous new pay scale accompanied by teacher accountability, she has decided unilaterally to remove ineffective teachers without waiting for the WTU to assent.