Every Child Learning: Safe and Supportive Schools
Kelly ScottLearning First Alliance, November 2001
Federal Bilingual Education Programs in Massachusetts: "But Do They Help the Children?"
Kelly ScottDon Soifer, Lexington Institute, September 2001
The War Against America's Public Schools: Privatizing Schools, Commercializing Education
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Gerald Bracey, 2001
Houston gives principals budgetary autonomy
While there are increasing calls for principals to be held accountable for producing results, in few places are principals given much power over staffing their schools or spending school budgets.
Creative reform efforts stymied by unions in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Unified School District's ambitious plan to reform secondary education and boost literacy in the upper grades has been derailed at least temporarily by the objections of teacher and administrator unions.
Appraising state standards, tests & accountability systems
Chester E. Finn, Jr.On November 2, the American Federation of Teachers released a hefty (235-page) report entitled Making Standards Matter 2001. It's an ambitious effort to appraise academic standards, curriculum, assessments and accountability arrangements in each of the fifty states and for the country as a whole.
A radical experiment: tuition-free private schools
Thanks to a black minister and a retired marine, roughly 450 students in St. Louis are attending private schools financed by public dollars this fall - without vouchers. Determined to do something about the number of kids they encountered who couldn't read or write, Bishop Laurence Wooten and Marine Lt. Col.
Training program for nontraditional superintendents
A program aiming to place talented leaders from government, business, non-profits, higher ed, and the military as superintendents in urban school districts has been launched by the Broad Center for Superintendents, an organization established by the Broad Foundation and Michigan Governor John Engler.
Will Edison be able to turn around Philadelphia's schools?
With Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker on the verge of transferring control of the Philadelphia's school system from local officials to his own appointees, who would then put its management in the hands of Edison Schools, a pair of articles in The Philadelphia Inquirer examines two questions: Do state takeovers of school systems work?
Building Tests to Support Instruction and Accountability: A Guide for Policymakers
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The Commission on Instructionally Supportive Assessment, October 2001
How Community-Based Organizations Can Start Charter Schools
Lauren CollinsFrank Martinelli, Charter Friends National Network, September 2001
Origins of the term "gadfly"
If you feel amused or provoked by anything you read in the Education Gadfly, write us at [email protected].
How New American Schools became old school
Launched a decade ago by reform-minded corporate CEOs, the New American Schools (NAS) initiative was meant to kindle a revolution in American education. Ten years later, however, rather than igniting change, it has largely reverted to the norms of the education establishment, according to a new report by historian Jeffrey Mirel which was released by the Thomas B.
Can a national test save the Bush accountability plan?
The education bill that Congress is likely to pass is a disaster in the making, and the White House and Capitol Hill insiders have known this for months, asserts veteran education journalist Tom Toch in this month's Washington Monthly. Still, the administration continues to press Congress to pass a bill by year's end - and Chairman Boehner says that this will indeed happen.
Education in Dayton
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Begging your leave, this week I shall acquaint you with a new report from the wing of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation that's chiefly concerned with education reform in Dayton, Ohio, where Mr.
What mothers - and America - get out of homeschooling
Homeschooling is hot and a new book, Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement, by Mitchell Stevens takes a fresh look at where the movement came from and what it means for American education and culture. Stevens, a professor of sociology at Hamilton College, spent ten years interviewing and observing homeschooling families and reading their publica
Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 1999-2000
Chester E. Finn, Jr.National Center for Education Statistics, October 2001
Evaluation of New Jersey Charter Schools
Kelly ScottNew Jersey Department of Education, October 2001
How Has Teacher Compensation Changed?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Dan D. Goldhaber, from Selected Papers in School Finance 2000-01, National Center for Education Statistics, August 2001
The good news behind the good news in Massachusetts
Last Monday, Massachusetts announced that 82% of its class of 2003 passed the state's English test and 75% passed the math test. On Wednesday, Achieve, Inc. released an evaluation of the state's standards and tests.
Parents get objective evaluation of school systems for the first time
Parents in two states finally have the information they need to evaluate their school systems, thanks to the analytical skills of Standard & Poor's and the willingness of Gov. John Engler and ex-Gov.
History teachers who don't know history
We've heard a lot about the dire shortage of math and science teachers that has forced educators trained in other disciplines to teach those subjects "out of field." But we've heard much less about shortages in field of history.
What lies ahead for charter schools?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.The charter-school idea is now ten years old. Which is to say, it's completed the "elementary" grades and is ready for "middle school" - and the onrushing storms of adolescence. It's a hopeful but precarious time. And some worrisome issues lie ahead.Meanwhile, expansion continues. The Center for Education Reform reports several hundred new charters this fall.
Will state assessments replace the SAT for college admissions?
A new front has opened up in the battle over the SAT, and the combatants are profiled in a long (14 page) article in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education. The new critics of the SAT don't argue that it's biased; they're upset that it's not based on the school curriculum.