Not a g'day
It seems the Outback isn't the only barren locale down under. Test scores, too, have found the Australian environment arid. Faced with an achievement gap of their own--between indigenous and non indigenous students (i.e., aborigines and later immigrants)--the Aussies sought to bring their lagging performers up to par. This went reasonably well.
Gates 2.0
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation summoned 130 or so education heavies (many of them grantees) to Seattle this week to attend the foundation's gala unveiling of its long-awaited education strategy, the culmination of an intense rethinking process spearheaded by new education director
Doing hard stuff in the Big Easy
Bravo, New Orleans. Having given charter schools room to grow, local and state education officials are now hammering out the details of an oversight system--and not a moment too soon. Since roughly 60 percent of students in New Orleans attend charters, ensuring that these are quality learning venues is an essential next step.
Learning and e-learning
Economic meltdown notwithstanding, sometimes good ideas do leap from the marketplace. Exhibit A? Virtual schools, which are popping up nationwide like hybrids in San Fran. Typically founded under existing charter laws, these online learning arrangements have grown quickly and quietly to fill holes in the education market.
Measures of success
Diana Anaya came to America to get an education, and she's not doing so well--at least according to the new No Child Left Behind regulations, which base graduation rates on four-year diploma earners. By that metric, Ayana, who should have graduated last year, is lagging.
Ed Next Book Club: Sarah Carr on Hope Against Hope
In this installment of the Education Next book club, host Mike Petrilli talks with Sarah Carr about the successes and failures of New Orleans-style reform
First Bell 6-18-13
Pamela TatzA first look at today's education news: The NCTQ issues a scathing review of colleges' teacher-education programs, NYC's graduation rate holds relatively steady after the implementation of tougher diploma requirements, and more
Quotable & notable
?These reforms must be taken up now; we cannot ask children in failing schools to wait any longer while these reforms sit untouched in Trenton''* ?Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey
Join our team: Apply to be Fordham's "school choice czar"
Would you like to work at the forefront of national education policy? Are you passionate about school choice and knowledgeable about education reform? A brilliant writer? Energetic, organized, imaginative, and outgoing? A leader as well as a team player? If so, you might be perfect as the director of Fordham's new program on parental choice.
Where will the next generation of charter school leaders come from? Find out at "Driving Quality"
Excellent schools require excellent leaders, but as the charter movement expands where will the next generation of charter school leaders come from? Across the country, organizations are recognizing the potential of charter incubators to recruit, train, and support the charter principals and CEOs of the future.
Another education mayor for Gotham?
Peter MeyerThe headline in the Daily News was a shocker: ?New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl? Tisch blasts Mayor Bloomberg's school reforms: Calls some schools `warehouses' for poor-performing students.?
Why track on the sports field, but not in the classroom?
Tyson EberhardtThe performance of America's top students was a hot topic on Wisconsin's WSAU radio this morning, as Mike appeared to discuss the findings of Fordham's recent High Flyers study.?
On Abolishing the Department of Education
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Maybe it never should have been carved out of the old Department of Health, Education and Welfare in the first place, but the fact is that Jimmy Carter, politically indebted to the N.E.A. for his election (and unable to get out from the commitment he had made to them in return), winkled it through Congress in 1979.?
Quotable & notable
?At first, I was trying to get the kids to not talk. But then I took a step back and let them socialize and work together on projects. That's when things started to really happen. Someone would do something different, all would gather around, see it, and then go back to their own.'' *
Ed Next Book Club: Paul Peterson's Saving Schools
Listen to the latest edition of the Ed Next Book Club, as Mike sits down with author Paul Peterson:
Podcast: This soapbox has a great view
Mike and Janie bite off big topics in this week's podcast?from the repeal of SB5 to racial imbalances in gifted-ed programs to online learning. Amber wants CRPE to name names and Chris starts subbing for the pension benefits. You're gonna want to sit down for this.[powerpress]
Progress on IL pensions?
Chris TessoneIllinois may finally be addressing its dysfunctional teacher retirement system with meaningful, bipartisan reform:
Quotable & notable
?This bill that we have will not solve every problem in elementary and secondary education. ... No bill has everything everybody wants'' * ? Tom Harkin, United States Senator from Iowa
Tennessee's report card on teacher prep programs even cooler than TFA results
Jamie Davies O'LearyA new report from Tennessee's Higher Education Commission shows that Teach For America teachers outperformed traditionally trained teachers (regardless of experience level) in reading, science, and social studies.
The secret to good parenting? Good schools.
Peter MeyerI'm not so sure Mike is right that ?we have a parenting problem, not a poverty problem,? and I'm even less sure that he is right that educators should ?start talking about the problem."
Quotable & notable
?It's not money in a vacuum. What they do with it is buy more academic programs, more technology; they pay more to teachers and attract better students.'' * ?Ralph Martire, executive director for the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability
Quotable & notable
?Under the status quo in most school districts, good classroom teachers are not only undervalued in pay, but as professionals generally.'' * ?Michelle Rhee, Founder of StudentsFirst
We have a parenting problem, not a poverty problem
Michael J. PetrilliI glimpsed a quote from Kati Haycock yesterday, kicking off the Education Trust annual conference, saying that we can't let "bad parenting" be an excuse for poor educational results. She's absolutely right, of course. It's not like our schools are running on all cylinders (especially schools serving poor kids), and if only parents were doing their jobs too, achievement would soar.