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Why teacher vs. non-teacher pay comparisons are misleading
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a D.C. think tank aligned with teacher unions, has released yet another in a series of reports purporting to show that public school teachers are “underpaid.”
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A response to Chester Finn's critique of California's new school accountability system
I am glad that Finn agrees with my views on the limitations of a single number to report school status. Parents are used to student report cards that have several metrics and do not see the need to oversimplify their child’s performance with a single grade or number.
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Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost’s opening remarks to the Ohio Charter School Summit
On August 11, 2016, Ohio’s elected state auditor delivered the following remarks during the opening of the Ohio Ch
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Advanced Education
Schools should support gifted students, not work against them
Editor's note: This blog was first published as a letter to the editor in the Washington Post on August 7, 2016.
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ESSA
California goes over the rainbow: An accountability farce
No, I’m not referring to the Golden State’s rich palette of ethnic and other minority (and majority) groups, nor to its desire that they’ll live, work, and go to school in harmony, like Monet’s Water Lilies or Matisse’s Fauve masterpieces.
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ESSA
Help shape educational accountability in Ohio
You're invited to join in the conversation and contribute to Ohio’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan.
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Jill Stein quotes about education
Jill Stein is the Green Party’s presumptive nominee for president in the 2016 election.
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Curriculum & Instruction
Project-based learning needs more learning
After almost eighteen years in the field of education, I have become convinced of the need to transform the way our children learn so that they can confront the unknowable challenges of the twenty-first century.
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Undefined
Charter Schools
The virtual charter school edition
On this week’s podcast, Alyssa Schwenk and Dara Zeehandelaar discuss Fordham’s new study of Ohio’s virtual charter schools. During the research minute, Amber Northern examines the effects of school closures in New York City.
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Charter Schools
Three recommendations to improve online charter schools
By Dara Zeehandelaar and Michael J. Petrilli
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Advanced Education
Change the narrow focus on grade-level proficiency
Earlier this year, in his final State of the Union address, President Barak Obama asked, “How do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity in this new economy?” Education is a powerful tool to help do that.
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Charter Schools
Faith, hope, hard work, and results
By Kathleen Porter-Magee This week, results from the 2016 New York State ELA and math test prove just how promising new approaches to urban Catholic education can be.
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ESSA
Is the new federal testing pilot worth the work?
Many education stakeholders see the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as an opportunity to fix the most problematic provisions in NCLB. For many critics, the biggest bogeyman was too much standardized testing and its associated accountability measures.
Report
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Personalized Learning
Enrollment and Achievement in Ohio's Virtual Charter Schools
This Fordham study, conducted by learning technology researcher June Ahn from NYU, dives into one of the most promising—and contentious—issues in education today: virtual schools. What type of students choose them? Which online courses do students take? Do virtual schools lead to improved outcomes for kids?
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ESSA
Two changes to the Department of Education's ESSA implementation rule
Editor's note: This post reproduces a letter sent to Secretary of Education John King on July 29. Dear Mr. Secretary:
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The culture of college is an asset, not a flaw
A few weeks from now, my wife and I will pack our only child and all her gear into the back of our rapidly aging Ford Escape with a big new college decal on the back window. We will drive her across five states and 500 miles to Chapel Hill, N.C. Interstate 95 will henceforth be known in our home as the Trail of Tears.
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Stop failing the kids helping you most with their rosy test scores
It’s no secret that principals are pretty stoked when students who transfer into their schools have a history of high scores on required annual tests. School leaders feel great pressure to perform in the public eye, and having a few more kids to bump those numbers up is certainly a welcome surprise.
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Send in the change agents: The leadership-development approach to school reform
As readers may recall, I’m in the middle of a series of posts
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Curriculum & Instruction
Let's re-introduce competition into our classrooms
By Frank C. Worrell and Rena F. Subotnik
