What do outer space and Appalachia have in common? They're both topics that students could encounter in reading comprehension passages on typical state tests. And they illustrate E.D. Hirsch's big beef with such assessments: they mean to test students' reading abilities, but they really test students' knowledge on randomly-chosen topics.
The trusty Reform-o-Meter has become a little rusty lately; that's because there hasn't been a lot of action at the U.S. Department of Education worth rating. This is particularly true since we still don't know who the picks for Deputy Secretary, Undersecretary, or Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education will be.
The best and brightest among educational entrepreneurs are often called rock stars. Though I can hardly imagine two things more different than, say, a ???????no excuses???????
During last night's prime-time press conference, President Obama was asked about shared sacrifices during these tough times. The president noted that these are indeed difficult times for many Americans.
Voucher opponents often argue that it's unfair to hold public schools accountable for results under the No Child Left Behind Act and various state rules while allowing private schools that participate in school voucher programs to receive taxpayer dollars without similar accountability. In pursuit of a reasonable middle ground, we sought the advice of twenty experts in the school-choice world. This paper presents their thoughts and opinions, as well as Fordham's own ideas.
Washington's "Opportunity Scholarship Program" has gotten a lot of attention lately, what with Democrats in Congress moving to kill it and the Obama Administration seeking
Private schools that enroll students through the Ohio EdChoice Program (the state's school voucher program) should be held accountable for their academic results on a sliding scale, according to a report issued today by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
There was a time when I was generally skeptical, even hostile, towards the views of Charles Murray, at least as they pertained to education.
The Ohio Academy of Science has provided a little reality check to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's evidence-based education proposals and found them lacking--actually, way lacking.
This weekend's Washington Post offered an anecdotal look at DC's Capital Gains Program, aka Washington's own pay kids for performance system. The program has its logistical issues, but one of great significance has cropped up: theft.
As I continue to make my way through the gigantic stack of articles and reports I should've read over the last year and a half or so, I keep finding interesting and timely stuff.
My son Nico was born in 2007, and he wasn't alone. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (and reported by the Times), more babies were born in 2007 than any other year in U.S. history. The 4.3 million births were even more than the number in 1957, which was the height of the Baby Boom.
According to a new report by RAND, charter schools don't produce substantially different academic results than their district peers.
The creative team over at C. Murray Consulting, a web technology company in Rhode Island, has highlighted us on their blog.
Even on a faraway beach, Gadfly turned gleeful at word of the president's speech last week, what with its clear call for states to "adopt world-class standards" and "stop low-balling expectations for our kids." In a recent interview with Newsweek's George Will, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan picked u
On a scale of one to unlikely, this set of bedfellows deserves at least an honorable mention. The National Education Association has joined the U.S.
These are heady times in education policy. The $110 billion in education stimulus spending and tens of billions more in the omnibus budget have launched a frenzy of activity.
With the economy headed south, it should probably come as no surprise that teaching has turned into one desirable profession--especially for mid-life career changers who may or may not have been recently laid off. The trend, however, dates further back than Lehman Brothers' implosion.
Reselling a couple of $60,000 classroom trailers should bring in a nice chunk of change, right? So thought district officials in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Enter anonymous district bureaucrat, charged with selling the costly portable learning spaces on eBay.
We've long known that "last hired, first fired" rules cost districts cash and undermine teacher quality to boot. It's taken him his fifteen-year tenure, but Rhode Island education commissioner Peter McWalters finally agrees.
MetLife FoundationFebruary 2009
Larissa Campuzano, Mark Dynarski, Roberto Agodini, and Kristina RallMathematica Policy Research for the Institute of Education SciencesFebruary 2009
Philadelphia superintendent Arlene Ackerman hopes to reform the city's most troubled schools by converting them into charters--and KIPP's on the short list to help.
High school students who are newly arrived from another country, sans English skills, present a time crunch dilemma for educators. "High schools have to make a pragmatic choice when it comes to these kids," explains Peter B. Bedford, a history teacher at Cecil D. Hylton School in Woodbridge, Virginia. "Are you going to focus on educating them, or socially integrating them?
George Will sits down with Arne Duncan and comes away impressed. Though Will's major takeaway is that "time and talent" are needed to turn around schools, this quote caught my eye: By closing failing schools and opening replacements, Chicago is ensuring that the portfolio of schools is churned and improved.
That's the title of a longish piece on merit pay in the latest Christian Science Monitor. This article, part 1 of 2, takes a look at Denver's ProComp and the difficulty of figuring out two things: how to use merit pay systems to get rid of bad teachers and how to tie bonuses to the results of individual teachers.
There's very little real evidence in Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed "evidence-based" education proposals, according to a review by the Ohio Academy of Science.The Academy, which is particularly interested in science, technology, and engineering education, including STEM, examined the bibliography on which Gov. Strickland's education proposals are based.
Frank Stoy of the Lucas County Educational Service Center Office of Community Schools took issue with a March 4 piece concerning troubles in the Summit Academies.
Bill Wilken, a retired businessman and educational finance expert, responded to a February 18 Ohio Gadfly editorial (and newspaper op-ed) concerning Gov. Ted Strickland's education proposals.
Perhaps the only thing related to K-12 education that Ohio's governor and lawmakers aren't talking about "fixing" is the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) (see here). That's odd, as few things are more out-dated, cost-laden and in need of reform than public pension systems.
