Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Advanced civics for U.S. history teachers
The importance of making history an academic priority once again. By Robert Pondisico
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Charter Schools
Education posts I wish I'd written this year
The best compliment I can pay a fellow education blogger is to confess professional jealousy. By Robert Pondiscio
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
How to solve Scalia's race problem
There is a fast track in American education. And we’re getting far too few African American students onto it. By Brandon L. Wright and Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Governor Cuomo's task force looks to bury higher standards
Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. But if you’re pressed for time and want to end all intelligent life quickly, nothing beats a task force.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
What I saw at Success Academies
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of visiting Success Academy Harlem 1 and hearing from Eva Moskowitz and the SA staff about their model. I’m not going to venture into the thorny stuff about SA here. What I will say is that their results on state tests are clearly impressive, and I doubt that they’re fully (or even largely) explained by the practices that cause controversy.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
The effect of public and private schooling on anti-Semitism
Attending a religious school might reduce bigotry. Kevin Mahnken
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Charter Schools
If you build it, they will come
The creation of Brooklyn Ascend charter school, textbooks in Texas, and substitute teachers in impoverished schools.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
How five states are boosting college readiness in twelfth grade
As states have implemented college and career readiness standards, it has sometimes been assumed that most of the work and attention has occurred at the elementary grades. In truth, many states have been working for some time to ensure that grade twelve prepares all students for post-secondary success.
Report
Charter Schools, Governance, Private School Choice
America's Best (and Worst) Cities for School Choice
More than twelve million American students exercise some form of school choice by going to a charter, magnet, or private school——instead of attending a traditional public school.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Parents: Children's first math teachers
We’ve seen a lot of hand wringing over math achievement in this country. Our students continue to underperform against their peers in other countries, lighting a fire under educators and politicians to push new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programming in schools. While these panicked efforts have admirable intentions, they are mostly barking up the wrong tree.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Do "Response to Intervention" practices work for elementary school reading?
A new study suggests that they don’t. But mind the details. Kevin Mahnken
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The condition of STEM 2015
STEM interest doesn’t necessarily translate into STEM aptitude. Robert Pondiscio
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Scaling up the "Success for All" model of school reform
An affordable model that helps students who are already behind become better readers. Robert Pondiscio
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Don't mess with NAEP now!
Remember that past changes were controversial and probably unwise. Do not stir this pot again now. Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Report
Charter Schools, Governance
Is Detente Possible? District-charter school relations in four cities
Whether you think the end game of the current “mixed economy” of district and charter schools should be an all-charter system (as in New Orleans) or a dual model (as in Washington D.C.), for the foreseeable future most cities are likely to continue with a blend of these two sectors. So we wanted to know: Can they peacefully co-exist? Can they do better than that?
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Aligning K-12 and postsecondary career pathways with workforce needs
State efforts are uneven, but some are on the right track. Stephan Shehy
Commentary
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction
Doing the right thing
Pell grants for dual college enrollment and Nevada’s early returns on education savings accounts.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The problem isn't testing, it's short-term thinking
Last week, in the wake of President Obama’s pledge to reduce the amount of time students spend taking tests, my colleagues Robert Pondiscio and Michael Petrilli weighed in with dueling stances on the current state of testing and accountability in America’s schools. Both made valid points, but neither got it exactly right, so let me add a few points to the conversation.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Pell grants should go (only) to needy students who are ready for college
What if federal aid for college students were focused exclusively on those who are truly ready for college? What if we stopped subsidizing remedial courses on campuses and insisted that students pursuing higher learning be prepared for college-level courses (none too strenuous nowadays in many places)?
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
President Obama's meaningless pledge to reduce school tests
The time spent testing isn’t the issue; the problem is the sky-high stakes attached. Robert Pondiscio
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The hidden value of curriculum reform
What’s it going to take to get curriculum taken seriously as a reform lever? Robert Pondiscio
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Down and out in Jackson and Selma
Is LAUSD railroading Rafe Esquith? Also: the value of lectures, and a sad tale of wasted promise.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
America's abandoned smart kids
Intel cuts the cord on its Science Talent Search sponsorship and drives another nail into the coffin of U.S. gifted education. Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Brandon L. Wright
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Finland's "joyful, illiterate kindergarteners"
Beware the snake oil. The fact is that early learning produces long-term gains. Tim Shanahan
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Curriculum: The great divide among education reformers
Writing in his always-entertaining blog a few weeks ago, Whitney Tilson gave a nice nod to Dan Willingham’s New York Times
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Rethinking the high school graduation age
The “godfather of charter schooling” pushes us to reimagine adolescence. Kate Stringer
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The bright children left behind
We mustn’t let other countries surpass us in producing tomorrow’s inventors, entrepreneurs, artists, and scientists. Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Brandon L. Wright
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Early childhood interventions—a slow fade and a strong comeback?
When trying to improve educational outcomes, it is hard not to feel the need for urgency. We want to figure out what works now and implement changes immediately—because if we wait, kids who are in schools now will miss out.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
How test-based retention affects student outcomes
Mixed results, at least in the short term. Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
On Constitution Day, in search of the public mission of schools
When school boards describe their missions, they often overlook citizenship. Robert Pondiscio and Kate Stringer
