First Bell: August 11, 2014

ATLANTA’S TEST SCANDAL

Netflix Academy: The best streaming videos on the history of immigration

Note: This post is part of our series, "Netflix Academy: The best educational videos available for streaming." Be sure to check out our previous Netflix Academy posts on 

First Bell: August 7, 2014

MOBILITYA massive longitudinal study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University followed nearly 800 kids in Baltimore, from first grade through their late twenties, to track who got ahead. (NPR) 

Education reform's most urgent task

Teacher tenure lawsuits and their pitfalls

It’s open season on teacher employment protection laws in U.S. state courts. The watershed moment, of course, was June’s Vergara v. California verdict holding California’s laws unconstitutional. Vergara began back in March of 2012, when nine public school students filed suit against the State of California, arguing that California’s laws violated its constitutional guarantee of an effective education. In the seven weeks since, two high-profile copycat cases have been filed in New York State. Have we reached a point of no return? And if so, is that a good thing—even for those who oppose tenure? Don’t be so sure.

First Bell: August 6, 2014

CALIFORNIA’S SCHOOL-FUNDING SYSTEMCalifornia’s new weighted student funding system has reached the one-year mark—and there are some lessons to be learned. (Hechinger Report)LOUISIANA VOUCHERS

Change and preservation in education reform

Andy's odyssey: Part twoThis series is wrestling with a set of related questions. Is education reform inherently anti-conservative? Are reformers behaving as though it is when it should be informed by conservatism? What have we wrought by stiff-arming conservatism? How might things be better if we sought counsel from conservatism?

Extreme makeover: Redefining the job of the principal

Imagine reading this job advertisement:WANTED: Credentialed professional with at least a master’s degree to run a school. Will work on average fourteen hours per day or more, six days per week, and be on call twenty-four hours a day most days of the year. Must handle pressure and stress well—oh, and the pay isn’t that great, either.

First Bell: August 5, 2014

NYC'S PRE-K EXPANSION

First Bell: August 4, 2014

NORTH CAROLINA BUDGET

CTE bill for career readiness could get lost between state flexibility and proven results

The discourse around college and career readiness has focused primarily on implementation of the Common Core. Notably absent is much consideration of how those programs might serve the needs of students with less direction or discernment about what career paths may be most productive or in demand.

A few reflections on the Common Core Wars

Monday’s Politico story on the messaging battle over the Common Core has kicked up another round of recriminations, particularly on the Right.

Save our data! Protect the integrity of education statistics

The possibility that the 113th Congress might yet reauthorize the Institute for Education Sciences (IES)—the House has passed H.R. 4366 and the Senate HELP Committee is cogitating—means it’s time once again to consider the status of the jewel in the IES crown, namely the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

First Bell: July 31, 2014

CHARTER FUNDINGThe D.C. Association of Chartered Public Schools has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the District of Columbia funds charters unequally. (Washington Post) 

Education Reform in 2014

On August 1, Chester E. “Checker” Finn, Jr., will step down from his role as founding president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, passing the baton to Michael J. Petrilli, Fordham’s longtime executive vice president. Finn will remain on staff as a distinguished senior fellow and president emeritus. Here is his “farewell address” as president.

First Bell: July 30, 2014

COMMON CORE TRANSITION AND SPECIAL EDSpecial-needs students face challenges in the transition to Common Core standards. (Capital) TEACHER TENURE

Is education reform anti-conservative?

Andy's odyssey: Part oneThis is the first of a collection of posts about a recent self-assigned course of study—essentially a bunch of reading and furrowed-brow thinking about a subject that’s been gnawing at me.

First Bell: July 29, 2014

VERGARA GOES BICOASTAL

Pre-Kraziness

Way back in 2000, the United Nations went through an elaborate process of setting “millennium development goals” for the world.

First Bell: July 28, 2014

PLACING DISABLED STUDENTS

Not teacher quality, but quality teaching

I’m looking forward to Elizabeth Green’s forthcoming book Building a Better Teacher. A sneak preview will run in the New York Times

Kathleen Porter-Magee to be superintendent and CAO of the Partnership for Inner-City Education

The Partnership for Inner-City Education announced today that Kathleen Porter-Magee has been named its superintendent and chief academic officer.

For Pete's sake, close low-performing schools

Peet’s Coffee and Tea: We hardly knew you. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Peet’s coffee shop in downtown Columbus will close after less than a year of operation.

Homecoming

Increasingly, the conversation about Common Core is dominated by politics and controversy. It has become so loud and shrill that it’s easy to forget that across the country are countless superintendents, principals, and teachers who are seizing the opportunity to challenge themselves to change the way they work to provide a better education for their students.

First Bell: July 24, 2014

LOW-INCOME KIDS AND COLLEGEYes Prep’s Jason Bernal writes that getting low-income students through college requires more than just creating a culture of high academic expectations. (Hechinger Report) 

We’ll miss you, Michael Gove

Recent revelations suggest that David Cameron’s unexpected move to replace reform-minded education minister Michael Gove (who’s been popular with British conservatives) with Ms. Nicky Morgan might have been triggered by more than crass preelection maneuvering to placate teachers and women.

Close reading: A revolution delayed

For all of the talk about how different reading instruction is meant to be in the Common Core era, and for all of the hand wringing over the critical “instructional shifts” embedded in the new literacy standards, a glimpse at the world of classroom implementation reveals that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

First Bell: July 23, 2014

A PROBLEM OF EXPECTATIONS

The federal government is not a 'state,' and ESEA does not give Arne Duncan 'mandate authority'

Choice and competition: It’s the American way

Competition is healthy in many areas of American life, including education.