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McKeon's replacement wants to overhaul NCLB
Though this WaPo headline says that the "GOP [is] Leaving ???No Child' Behind," the rise of Representative John P. Kline to ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee might be more nuanced.
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PSA: National Council on Teacher Quality looking to pay you money
We heard through the grapevine that the The??National Council on Teacher Quality,??a national research and advocacy organization based in??Washington,??D.C., is hiring! They're on the prowl for a??project manager and multiple research analysts to work on teacher preparartion studies.
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Of interest...
Very interesting article about Judge Sotomayor's Princeton education. I appreciate her hard work.
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Appropriations action on TIF
According to the good folks at Ed Week, there are some interesting happenings on the Hill today. The House subcommittee in charge of education appropriations decided to provide a big boost to the Teacher Incentive Fund (a program that supports innovative teacher compensation systems).
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Potential charter hit has big implications
When I read this appropriations article earlier, I assumed that the number listed at the bottom for the federal charter schools program was a typo. But maybe not. I'm hearing the????same thing from other sources: an approximately $100 million reduction for charters.
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Good personnel news
Barrett Karr has been named staff director to the new GOP leader of the Labor/Ed committee.
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Read your Gadfly
Gadfly is here and it's great! First, Checker considers the speech topics of Secretary Duncan.
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An opportunity to learn from Australia's example
A plan unveiled today in Australia tackles a popular suggestion that's been thrown around in the US: putting "super teachers" (as the Aussies call them) in the worst schools, and compensating them with higher pay, a smaller class load, and the opportunity to mentor other teachers.
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How does Wendy Kopp choose her staff?
Find out in this NYT interview with the founder of TFA: "Corner Office: Charisma? To Her, It's Overrated."
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Go to the principal's office!
Overheard in DC is a feature of DCist.com, a blog about all things happening in our nation's capital. Each week, readers email in snippets of funny conversations they "overheard in DC" and every Friday, DCist picks a few they think take the cake. Take a look at one of this week's winning entries:
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Video: Fun Fact Friday!
Enjoy the first video in our summer "Fun Fact Friday!" series. Each week we'll present an interesting education fact in a fun visual format. This one takes on the myth that class size is inversely related to student achievement.
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Trying to do charters without doing charters
What is going on in Massachusetts? There are so many kinds of charter-lite options up there my head's spinning. First, what really makes these schools different from one another? At least from what I can tell, very little, save who came up with them and take credit for doing so.
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Trivia travails
It's Trivia Night on a lazy summer evening and the MC bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr. Jones, he of 6th grade science and big baby blues. Wonder why? Because it is Mr. Jones, and he's gotten himself a second gig. Central Massachusetts is seeing an influx of teachers moonlighting for extra cash on their summer vacations--as trivia moderator at the local tavern.
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Talking tough
To the occasional consternation of colleagues and friends who are more interpersonally sensitive and politically correct, I've been known to define "consensus" as an agreement or state of affairs that leaves all parties equally unhappy.
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Empty districts
School-less school districts? There are more than 285 of them across the land; but as of fall 2010, that number will decline by 26, thanks to New Jersey. Governor Jon Corzine has just signed legislation that would close down the twenty-six in an effort to "[reduce] the size of government," "[develop] greater efficiencies over time," and ease tax burdens.
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Patrick's puzzling proposal
We were lukewarm on Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's "Readiness Project" last summer, but it seems that a year's time has made some of its elements slightly warmer.
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When failing is passing
Around this time last year, schools in Texas were waiting with bated breath for their state report cards. This year, the pressure's a little less intense. That's because, under Texas's six-month-old revamped accountability system, some students who fail statewide tests will still be counted as passing--so long as they're on track to pass at some point before they graduate high school.
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Mapping the Landscape of Charter Management Organizations
Joanna Smith, Caitlin Farrell, Priscilla Wohlstetter, and Michelle NayfakCenter on Educational Governance, University of Southern CaliforniaApril 2009
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Checker Finn talks with John Merrow
Checker discusses national standards with John Merrow in this interview on the Taking Note blog. The conversation covers the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), No Child Left Behind and includes Checker's judgment on the direction of U.S.
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NEA's Chanin has choice words for conservatives
It's got to be a good story when the sub-head reads thusly: "Editor's Note: Some of the language in the following story may be offensive."
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Which experiences matter?
If you're interested in what Judge Sotomayor's likely elevation to the land's highest court could mean for school choice, take a look at my article in AEI's journal.
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From over the weekend
MA moves to take control of failing schools NYT editorializes about failing schools (not sure what their point is though...)
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