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The countdown is on
John McCain is supposed to take the stage in 40 minutes at the NAACP convention in Cincinnati.
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EEP in 08?
Critics of NYC schools chancellor Joel Klein (of which there is at least one important one in this office) and/or Al Sharpton (ditto) may not like reports that the duo is
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Denver developments
This fall, Denver Public Schools will introduce the Mile High Parent Campaign, which encourages moms and dads to devote 5,280 minutes a year to their children's educations. Cities situated at lower elevations are advised not to emulate the plan.
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McCain speaks
A lot of people, and not just Republicans, have been waiting for John McCain to unveil his thinking about education policy. While Barack Obama has made multiple speeches on the subject (most recently to both teacher union conferences) and has elaborate position papers on his campaign website, the Arizona senator said little, except for tantalizing bits about his own education.
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McCain on education
He's supposed to get into the details when he speaks to the NAACP tomorrow, but John McCain didn't leave education out of his speech to the National Council of La Raza yesterday. From the Los Angeles Times :
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A little common sense goes a long way
According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Alabama has announced a revolution in higher educ
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Our neighbor to the north
The Washington Post reports that Maryland has shown huge gains in test scores, particularly a
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Read all about it
Just days after Fordham Institute president Checker Finn wrote in the Education Gadfly that "nobody I know under 30 much bothers either with newspapers or radio/TV news," evidence of intelligent, newsprint-scouring life under 30 has been documented (below) in his own offices.
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Time for a change?
Randi Weingarten, soon to be the head of the American Federation of Teachers, would have us believe that the ideas she proposes as fixes to k-12 public education are new.
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What comes in the mail
On steamy summer days such as this one, when the education news is reduced to a trickle, one must seek other sources by which to slake his eduthirst. The Harvard Educational Review arrived last week in the mail, and today I decided to read it.
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If a tree falls in the forest...
Fun factoid of the day: Neither the ACT nor the College Board/ETS (giver of the SAT) tells colleges or universities why they cancel student scores. Joe Shmoe faints during a test? Joe Shmoe has his pal Freddy take the test for him? All the same in the testing companies' eyes. They'll cancel the score and let the student take the test again.
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Jay on high-achievers
Columnist Jay Mathews writes in today's Washington Post about Fordham's latest report, High-Achieving Students in the Era of No Child Left Behind. Here's a teaser:
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Ed stories in the latest Economist
The Economist reports that Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal apparently struck a deal with state legislators to get his voucher bill passed???a 123 percent pay raise for them in return for an escape from failing schools
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Unequivocal
That's a fair way to describe presidential candidate Ralph Nader's opposition to No Child Left Behind, as presented in this Washington Post
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5, 6, 7, 8, everybody regulate!
That's my synopsis of this E.J. Dionne column about our current economic tribulations.
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The NEA's backward strategy on vouchers
Catching up on the news out of the National Education Association conference earlier this month, I noticed that the union's "representative assembly," in its infinite wisdom, voted against accepting private school teachers and staff as members.
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The sad truth about being happy
I'm always on the lookout for interesting education research, and Natascha (Fordham intern and fellow Wahoo) does a nice job helping me track down studies. She found this one carried out??by researchers from our favorite university.
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Next it'll be new cars
More on yesterday's announcement that D.C. test scores are up. A Washington Post article today says that some principals are attributing their schools' successes to Michelle Rhee.
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Ah, the vaunted "pot of federal money"
While offering advice on how Obama can defend accusations of socialist tendencies, Matt Miller expounds upon the idea of merit pay in the pages of today's Wall Street Journal. Miller writes:
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An excellent question
Editorializing about the recent test score gains in Washington, D.C., under new schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, the Washington Times asks : Why did the city ever let Arlene Ackerman go--the last superintendent to improve so much?
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Unconvential wisdom
"A group of Toronto researchers have compiled a body of evidence showing that bookworms have exceptionally strong people skills."
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Algebra in California
From the Los Angeles Times: "California mandates testing every eighth-grader in algebra--ready or not"
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Beer smear
Re Coby's post: It's worth noting that if frat houses throughout the country substitute video game beer pong for the real kind, then it stands to reason that fewer drunken antics will ensue. And why all this beer bashing, anyhow?
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Compelled to volunteer
Re my post about a national service academy, Jonah Goldberg makes some fine, related points in the Los Angeles Times by arguing against what he calls "national service mania." His piece
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Party liners?
That's how this Investor's Business Daily (IBD) article describes Senators Barack Obama and John McCain when it comes to education. While both senators have tried to build an independent image on other issues, on education they are staunch partisans.
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Re: Party liners?
Mike writes??that merit pay and charter schools are "anathema to the teachers unions." They're not at all anathema to the Democratic Party, though.
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A victory for the good guys
The rigorous-math crowd continues its string of victories in California with this decision to test all eighth graders in algebra.
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Re: Re: Party liners
Yes, Liam, some Democrats like charter schools and merit pay. But the base of the Democratic Party (the teachers unions) doesn't. And most politicians are careful not to alienate their core supporters. (Except on The West Wing.)