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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:
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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]
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On Abolishing the Department of Education
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.?
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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.'' *
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Progress on IL pensions?
Illinois may finally be addressing its dysfunctional teacher retirement system with meaningful, bipartisan reform:
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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
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Tennessee's report card on teacher prep programs even cooler than TFA results
A 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.
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The secret to good parenting? Good schools.
I'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."
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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
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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
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We have a parenting problem, not a poverty problem
I 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.
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More money to the parents; more power to the people***
Feeling worried for me after reading my post suggesting that Mark Zuckerberg hand out his $100 million to Newark parents, a friend alerted me to a study about a similarly ?crazy idea? ?
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What could ESEA reauthorization mean for high flyers?
The performance of high achievers should give policymakers
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Quotable & notable
?What if you just have someone tell you you're not going to get far in life?'' * ? student at the Galileo Academy of Science and Technology in San Francisco
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Closing underutilized schools is still a good idea
A penny saved is a penny earned, right? Not according to the Pew Philadelphia Research Initiative, which just released a study throwing cold water on the idea that closing underutilized schools can save money in strapped district budgets.
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Podcast: Planking, Tebowing, and more
Everyone's favorite guest host, Dave DeSchryver, joins Mike to discuss the 2011 NAEP results, ESEA reauth, and charter schools in middle-class locales. Amber dissects the Chinese education system and Chris extols the virtues of eating red meat. [powerpress]
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Quotable & notable
?For too many years, our state has spent more and more money on education, without producing the results our students deserve.'' * ? Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York
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Feared teacher layoffs mostly didn't happen
Despite doomsday projections of huge layoffs as a result of the "new normal" of lower or flat education funding, NCTQ found in a recent survey that layoffs in large urban districts were modest ? 2.5 percent on average ? and only affected roughly half of surveyed cities.
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Curriculum & Instruction
Postcard from China: Constructivist Theory in Chinese Classrooms? Good Luck
Amber Winkler, Fordham's VP for Research, recently traveled China as a Senior Fellow with the Global Education Policy Fellowship Program (GEPFP).
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Quotable & notable
?We want to be lean and scrappy.'' * ?Gregory Taylor, president and chief executive of the Foundation for Newark's Future
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Curriculum & Instruction
NAEP 2011: The Reading First effect?
Last night was fun for the kids, but today is every education wonk's favorite holiday: NAEP release day! Kevin Carey is already out with some savvy analysis; let me add some thoughts on the trends in reading.
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A simmering scandal? Gotham cheating won't go away
According to Sharon Otterman, writing in today's New York Times, the New York State education department has been documenting cheating allegations in the state's schools for almost a decade ?
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Are teachers overpaid?
In a new AEI/Heritage paper that is sure to create some buzz, Andrew Biggs and Jason Richwine say yes, teachers are overpaid relative to similar workers based on several different metrics.