Here's an original (and fallacious) thought: when times get rough, absolve children of the need to learn math. That, at least, is the story coming out of Oregon, where budget woes have allegedly forced the state to drop its brand-new graduation requirements in algebra, geometry, and statistics.
We appreciate Mike’s enthusiasm for Denver’s School of Science and Technology but would rather see President Obama give the commencement speech at Cincinnati’s Clark Montessori Junior and Senio
This week, Mike and Rick talk about big changes in the Big Apple, the rabble-rousing Charles Murray, and the time Mike dressed up as a cheerleader. Our interview is a sign of things to come, and News of the Weird gets medieval on you. Click here to listen through our website and view past editions.
I had the good fortune of attending the National Charter Schools Conference in Sacramento last week with 3,600 other school reformers, including some 80 who hailed from Ohio.
This week, Mike and the New America Foundation's Sara Mead discuss Spellings, Baltimore, and the NIEER. Jeff Kuhner is outraged about Pell Grants for rapists, and Education News of the Weird just can't hold it. Click here to listen through our website and peruse past editions.
Rick is out of retirement! He and Mike discuss the ascension of Senator Harkin to chair of the HELP committee, Philly's proposed changes for charter-school expansion, and the exodus of books from a prep school library. Then Amber tells us about the effects of Katrina evacuee students on the achievement of receiving schools and Rate that Reform disses MTV.
The National Science Foundation is looking to hire a program director to take charge of existing and emerging research programs in the Foundation's research, evaluation, and communication division. The division is responsible for a special program of math and science education research.
The New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, which supports charter schools in the Big Apple, is looking for a CEO. The desired candidate should have lots of experience in charter schools, significant senior management experience, and plenty of political savvy.
Late last week, word leaked that the Obama administration has secretly selected the peer reviewers for its $4.35 billion Race to the Top (RTT) fund but has no intention of publicly revealing the identities of these fifty-eight august personages.
The podcast team comes down with a case of World Cup fever, as Mike and Stafford discuss whether Gates is too powerful, if teachers’ unions should be charter authorizers, and the trouble with dropout recovery program accountability. Then Amber tells us about NCES’ charter impact study and Daniela makes a film in a school bathroom.
This week, Mike and Rick talk about loopholes, middle class whining, and tough love in the City of Brotherly Love. We have a trying interview, and there's something suspect about Education News of the Weird. If you think this podcast is going badly, don't worry: We've commissioned a Study Group.
This week, Mike and Rick discuss polls, polls, and paternalism. Amber talks re-enrollment rates, and Education News of the Weird is less than discreet. Click here to listen through our website and peruse past editions.
After dividing the entire school into subgroups, as demanded by the No Child Left Behind act, officials at Marsteller Middle School in Passaic, New York, discovered that only seventh grader Jimmy Patterson, 13, did not fall wit
This week, Mike and Rick discuss why New York's a mess, try to pronounce Latino surnames, and deride statisticians. We ask Sara Mead why she dislikes boys, and Education News of the Weird is comin' to you straight from the thoroughfares. All this in less than 20 minutes--can you feel the love?
The Policy Innovators in Education Network (PIE-Net) is seeking a Director of Communications and Public Affairs. This media guru would work with the Executive Director to improve the Network’s internal communications and expand PIE-Net’s membership and visibility.
We welcome several new additions to our Ohio and D.C. staffs. In Dayton, Althea Barnett and Kathryn Mullen Upton are managing our charter school sponsorship work and Allison Porch is analyzing education in the Buckeye State. In D.C., Martin Davis, Liam Julian, and intern Michael O'Keefe are toiling away at Gadfly and ushering in a new wave of reports.
Wide-ranging presentations and lively discussion today at the AEI/Fordham conference on judicial involvement in education!
Last week, Laura Pohl (Fordham's new media director) and I had the privilege of visiting our Ohio colleagues. A particularly memorable part of the trip was peering in on two charter schools in Columbus that Fordham sponsors (authorizes). Both schools are in their first year and both serve just one grade at the moment, but will expand.
Teachers in Australia are being told to avoid using red pens to mark their students' work, because the color can be seen as aggressive. Huh? I had to re-read that one, just to make sure I understood.
Anyone interested in what to do about America’s most persistently failing schools--and especially those caught up in today’s turnaround craze--should consider Part II of this report [2009 Brown Center Report on American Education] a must-read.
Jack Kemp, former congressman, cabinet secretary, and VP nominee--and one of my favorite politicos of all time--passed away on Saturday. Kemp had a stellar professional football career and then turned his preternatural energy and good humor
With all of the attention directed toward the DC voucher program, we could be misled into believing that this represents the current and future of the private school choice debate.
Detroit is probably our most battered city...I don't know how things are going to play out, but I suspect that there's a better than even chance that DPS will require a major intervention, whether it's because the system can't make payroll, the school board asks for substantial outside assistance, or something else.
Despite the rainy weather, early morning start, and day-before-Thanksgiving scheduling, the CAP event with Secretary Duncan and NYC Mayor Bloomberg was standing room only. Going in it wasn’t at all clear what the actual purpose of the event was (
As Mike just wrote, Secretary Duncan was at the National Charter Schools Conference today, and he spoke about turnarounds.
Eduwonk has...a charter post up that I need to take issue with—if not with this exact position, then with the issue to which it speaks. His basic case is that district superintendents are district superintendents not superintendents of their cities’ charter sectors.
There are lots of very interesting and very exciting elements in the teacher section of Florida’s RTT application.
Kentucky may have the most maddeningly indecipherable teacher section of any state RTT application. It certainly has as weak a section as any of the finalists.
Possibly the biggest surprise of RTT scoring was that Louisiana came in 11th place (out of 16 finalists). I had them in second.
