This week we’d like to start of Editor’s Extras by giving a warm welcome to our newest intern, Dan Woolf, who will be working on reviews, research and creating these wonderful Editor’s Extras. Dan is a graduate from Miami University, where he double-majored in philosophy and American studies. Welcome to TBFI!
Diane Ravitch’s important new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, has already
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) is seeking to close a troubled charter school sponsor (aka authorizer), blazing new territory for the nation’s charter school program.
None of the more than 500 people attending last week’s statewide STEM meeting in Columbus needed to be convinced of the importance of science-and-math education, although many might wonder exactly what it really means for their schools.
Is America’s civil-rights leadership looking out for the essential interests of African-American children? Former education secretary Rod Paige says no.
Do you have a great example of charter schools and traditional district schools working together? Then the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools wants to hear from you!
Caprice Young, CEO of Distance Learning, has been elected to the board of trustees of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Foundation. Young has been CEO of the California Charter Schools Association and president of the Los Angeles Board of Education.
A Thomas B. Fordham Institute analysis indicates consolidating just a few administrative roles in Ohio school districts with fewer than 1,700 students might save as much as $40 million a year.
I was just starting to write a post reiterating the problems with Arne Duncan's "civil rights" announcement yesterday when the phone rang.
We may live in a digital world, but that doesn't mean you can have your laptop in class.
Newsweek's Thomas and Wingert with a very good write-up of the Rhee-Weingarten saga Very good i3 analysis from Tom Vander Ark
I believe the Department's decision to set a low bar for RTT finalists sent precisely the wrong message. Instead of pushing states to continue making big changes to their policies and propose bigger, bolder plans in their applications, the Department's stance lowered states' sense of what is required to compete. From the Lincoln Star Journal:
On Monday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that his department will expand its efforts in civil rights enforcement.?? Its civil rights division will monitor racial disparities in enrollment in college prep classes, school discipline, and teacher assignment.
???We're not trying to dummy-down the curriculum.?? The whole [educational] system is focused on trying to move kids in a path to get a four-year degree in college, but a number of kids don't want that.??? ??? Mississippi State Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson
I'm not as sanguine as Andy about the Department of Education's forthcoming announcement on civil rights enforcement. I mean, sure, nobody can be against enforcing civil rights. But using civil rights laws to pursue a policy agenda is something else.
Andy Smarick's not slacking with a 4-day week; he's been quoted all over the place in the news lately (see here,
For a while now, Secretary Duncan has been saying that he wants to get the Department out of the business of compliance and into innovation. Many of us have applauded because there's not a whole lot of evidence that merely following federally assigned input rules necessarily leads to better students learning.
I believe that persistently failing schools should be closed and replaced by expanded high-performing schools and new schools that have the DNA for success. Some cities are going about this process thoughtfully, slowly rebuilding their portfolio of schools with quality in mind.
The DC charter school market is strong and growing. It has a number of outstanding schools and already comprises nearly 40 percent of the entire public education sector in the nation's capital. In just a couple years, chartering could become the primary mechanism for delivering public schooling in DC.
The Department just released the final application for the "Investing in Innovation" fund or "I3". This is the $650 million sister program to the RTT. I3 grants will go to non-profits, districts, and networks of schools. Prospective applicants now have 60 days to apply. --Andy Smarick
I've made my way through Secretary Duncan's civil rights speech, and there's much in it to admire (final version now available here).
I've finally made it through the 377-page final application for the ???Investing in Innovation??? fund (i3) and several long supporting documents.??
"This is just a gimmick that the governor is throwing out. It's reform for the sake of reform." ??? Tom Dooher, President, Education Minnesota, the state's teachers' union
Very good article in Sunday's New Orleans Times-Picayune by very good reporter Sarah Carr.
Amidst the Race to the Top excitement this week, an important story may have gotten lost in the buzz.
I have been tough on Maryland's governor for his state's startlingly anemic Race to the Top performance. ??Whereas other governors have supported bold reforms, he has professed contentment with the status quo. That has been regrettable. But I have to give credit where due.
Ze'ev Wurman was one of my favorite colleagues at the US Department of Education, a kind, worldly, and smart guy. But he also had a trait that lots of similarly kind, worldly, and smart folks lack: he does details.
Along with others, I am surprised that Ohio was named a finalist in the federal Race to the Top sweepstakes.???? Not because of the caliber of the state's application ????????
