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Commentary
Nothing says "gifted" like "Welcome Back, Cotter"
If you want to get re-elected, whatever you do, don't follow Rick's advice
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Commentary
The qualities of a good teacher: A student's perspective
One Cristo Rey student explains her peers' views on solid teaching
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Want less fed in your ed?
Join us on June 15 for a discussion of Uncle Sam???s future role in edu-accountability
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Are Bad Schools Immortal? The Scarcity of Turnarounds and Shutdowns in Both Charter and District Sectors
Stubbornly resistant to significant change
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Charter Schools
Charter start-ups are 4 times as likely to succeed as district turnarounds* (Note big asterisk)
An analysis released in today's Education Gadfly finds that new charter schools in disadvantaged communities are almost four times as likely to reach above-average rates of student achievement as the closest district school.
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PODCAST: Nothing says ?gifted? like ?Welcome Back, Cotter?
After some good old-fashioned low-brow fun, Mike and Rick launch into an erudite conversation on teacher evaluations and Race to the Top, the political perils of tough-love school reform, and the correct role of education philanthropies. Amber finds benefit in gifted-education programs, and Chris tells overbearing parents to get off Facebook?and get a life. [powerpress]
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Quotable & notable
?I can't imagine in America where you're going to have a White House, Republican or Democrat, or a Congress, a Republican or a Democrat, laying out what our kids have to be taught. That is unacceptable.'' ?Mitt Romney, Former Massachusetts Governor
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Charter start-ups vs. district turnarounds: Attempting to settle the debate
Come September, Celerity Educational Group will start a new K-5 charter school, to be christened Celerity Sirius, in a neighborhood church in Compton, CA. It will open its doors just a few blocks from McKinley Elementary, a K-5 school, famous for being ground-zero in the “parent trigger” wars.
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The ends of education reform
Laying out some "stretch" goals - those that are challenging but attainable
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Commentary
Something's got to give
Across metro Detroit (from the wealthy Grosse Pointe School District to the perennially struggling Detroit Public Schools), school systems are having to dip further into their general-education budgets to cover their unfunded special-education costs. This predicament has an extensive root structure, starting with Michigan’s unique special-ed funding set-up.
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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An American Agenda for Education Reform
Forget Finland, look at Ontario's governance structure
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Diplomas Count 2011: Beyond High School, Before Baccalaureate: Meaningful Alternatives to a Four-Year Degree
Putting the "career" back in "college and career" readiness
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Curriculum & Instruction
Assessment blues: Bad news on test-based incentives
The new report from the National Research Council (with its come-hither title, Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education) is sure to add fuel to the anti-accountability fires. It concludes, pretty shockingly, that all these tests haven't made kids any smarter.?
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Don't Punish Principals for Doing More With Less
It goes without saying that school officials are doing everything in their power to cope with the quickly dwindling budgets of their districts. But a certain policy enacted by the New York City DOE leaves me scratching my head.
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Quotable & notable
?When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children.'' ?Albert Shanker, Former Teachers Union Leader
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Charter Schools
Questions about a charter network in Texas
The Harmony Charter school opus in today's Times is a great read.? It's very long, over 4,000 words, starting on the front page and covering two full pages on the inside of the paper.
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The ends of education reform
Diane Ravitch's New York Times op-ed seems to have stuck in the craw of many a reformer, including Arne Duncan himself.
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Quotable & notable
?It used to be the idea that if everybody completed preschool, they were going to be fine. But that may not cut it. It's like a 30-cylinder engine. All the parts have to work.'' ?Paul Cordero, Carpenteria, CA superintendent
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Winerip: Another missed diss
The New York Times' education columnist Michael Winerip spoils another good story today.?
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Quotable & notable
?I can honestly say my high school didn't prepare me for college. I was getting my butt kicked in college. I didn't have a proper background.'' ?Richard Mohammed, Recent Graduate of Bucks County Community College
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The qualities of a good teacher: A student's perspective
The following blog post was written by Penelope Placide, a ninth grader who works for Fordham one day a week through her school's Corporate Work Study Program. Not only is Penelope a wonderful asset on a daily basis, she possesses invaluable insider knowledge as a current student immersed in the everyday realities of American schooling.
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Charter Schools
Forget Finland: What Ontario can teach us about good governance
Though American education has taken few actual steps to pattern itself on other countries, in recent years we've displayed a near-obsessive interest in how we're doing in relation to them (e.g. on TIMSS and PISA results), and in what they're doing and how they do it.