Ninety-year-old Eleanor Benz understands better than most that learning is a lifelong process. In the midst of the Great Depression in 1936, she left high school a few months shy of graduation to work and support her parents and six siblings. Then she married. And she had 15 children. And life got a little busy.
Editorial Projects in EducationJune 2009
When it comes to the transformational power of the Advanced Placement program, Jay Mathews is a true believer. Even if students fail the test, at least they had "a chance to accustom themselves to the foot-high reading assignments and tortuous exams they will encounter in college," he explains. And if college is not on the horizon?
The Obama administration has made Judge Sonia Sotomayor's life story a central part of her introduction to the nation. They have focused attention on her inspiring, only-in-America path from public housing through elite institutions of higher education to the top of the legal profession.
Ann Kjellberg and Leonie Haimson, eds.Lulu.comJune 2009
If you're a New Yorker making $500 for nine months' work, you've got a bum gig--if you aren't in elementary or middle school, that is. Indeed, some New York City fourth and seventh graders can earn up to $250 and $500, respectively, for good performance on a collection of 10 assessments.
I finally watched??Charlie Wilson's War last night (we have a toddler at home; we're not in the movie-theater stage of our life
Just in case you weren't aware ??? the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation actually acts as authorizer for six charter schools in Ohio! New Media Manager Laura Pohl and I took a trip out to Ohio last month to meet some of the kids and staff and see the schools. We had a terrific time!
Robin Chait and Raegen MillerCenter for American ProgressMay 2009
Terry M. Moe and John E. ChubbJohn Wiley & Sons2009In their latest book, Terry M. Moe and John E. Chubb complain about the slow pace of promoting technology in America's schools and they lay the blame solely at the feet of teacher union leaders.
Edited by Michael A. Rebell and Jessica R. WolffTeachers College Press2009
Andy Boy received lessons in persistence, patience, and how government can operate in working up to his first day as founder and executive director of the Columbus Collegiate Academy last August.
The Senate passed its version of the fiscal years 2010-2011 biennial budget last week. In K-12 education, it largely maintained the status quo. A legislative conference committee must now marry the House and Senate versions to produce a budget that also plugs at least a $2 billion revenue shortfall by June 30.
Last week, the Ohio Senate largely dismantled Gov. Strickland's Evidence-Based Model of school funding, which had called for new spending on public education of $2.7 billion over the next decade. The Senate has been roundly criticized by the governor, Democrats in the House and Senate and many in the state's educational establishment.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction just released the state's preliminary school ratings under the No Child Left Behind act, and a mere 79 schools were found to be "needin
As part of my book research, I've been looking back on the thinking that led to charter schooling.???? An educator named Ray Budde is often credited with originating some of the basic ideas as well as coming up with the name ???????charter schools.???????
Bees really dislike having their hive disturbed and that's obviously true of universal-pre-school advocates, too.
As you may recall, last week brought news that??math scores were up across the great state of New York.??
Many people know that then-AFT head Albert Shanker gave a speech at the National Press Club in 1988 floating the idea of what eventually became known as charter schooling. But what was the response of the Reagan administration to this new idea? The following quote comes from the New York Times (April 1, 1988):
Those of us in the education world are used to thinking about "competitive effects" thusly: The public education system will do nothing to reform itself unless forced to do so. So we try to force it to do so by threatening to take away students, dollars, and union members by offering parents options outside of the system (via vouchers, charter schools, etc.).
We're fifteen minutes into Fordham's big debate on universal preschool, designed to discuss Checker Finn's latest book,??R
Steve Barnett, the co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, ceded no ground to Checker. He came out of his corner swinging and never stopped. The book is "inaccurate and poorly reasoned," "cherry picks" the evidence, and is full of "errors and exaggerations."
Neal McLuskey from CATO is up and he mostly agrees with Checker. (This is more surprising than you might think. We don't generally agree on much.) But he has two additional points: 1. Over time, programs like Head Start get captured by the people who are employed by them.
Sara Mead of the New America Foundation is taking her turn. She started by holding up Checker's book and commenting (correctly) how similar its cover looks to that of her favorite children's book, The Little Engine that Could. (Still, trust me, don't show Checker's book cover to a small child.
