On Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reported that more than half of the state's schools failed to meet federal testing targets.?? This isn't a widespread indictment of the performance of public schools, however.??
?No one in the mainstream of the education debate wants segregated schools. But while such schools are not an immutable condition, they are an unfortunate fact of life.'' Andrew J. Rotherham, Co-Founder and Partner, Bellwether Education
A week before the mid-term elections, Arne Duncan and his team have taken a courageous stand: they're against bullying children. ?Bullying is a problem that shouldn't exist,?
We've got a great issue of the Education Gadfly for you this week. To whet the appetite, here's a smattering of the articles and analyses that you'll find within its wings:
October must be the month for manifestos. Earlier this month there was the ?how to fix our schools?
What makes a good school? If you're to believe the Century Foundation, good schools are defined by the number of affluent students they serve. Too few? Bad school. Nearly all? Good school. This is, of course, the idea behind economic integration. Give more poor students the privilege of attending wealthier schools and student achievement will improve.
Or is the fact that charter operator Eva Moskowitz has just won a charter for a new school on Manhattan's upper west side a sign that??rich people (this needs to be checked)?can live with (among?) poor public schools too?
What's worse for students: having a moldy gym or spending too much time texting and browsing Facebook?
That's my random question of the day. It dawned on me that this Big Idea, circa 2005, has all but vanished. Thirty seconds of Googling indicates that Patrick Byrne, the Overstock CEO who spent big bucks pushing the notion, has been embroiled in some controversy in recent years. Is that why it fell off the radar screen?
The latest Education Gadfly Show is now available for download. This week Mike and Rick answer life's mysteries as they pertain to the election, OCR overreach, and publicly-available teacher ratings. And if that's not enough, Amber questions character education and Chris brings in the dogs.
?America needs a high bar so everyone is on a level playing field. Reform can't be led from Washington. It has to be led by state.? Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
It seems that teachers in Buffalo, NY, racked up nearly $9 million worth of taxpayer-covered cosmetic procedures in 2009. This is according to the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority, the state-appointed authority overseeing public school finances. That's right?chemical peels, skin treatments, etc.
Character programs lack social intelligence
Wrong methods for the right ideas
It's hardly newsworthy to say that, across the country, Catholic schools?particularly those schools that serve the neediest children in urban areas?are closing at record pace.
Along with ed school accreditation processes, education professors believe that the entire system of university-based teacher education is in need of improvement, according to our
A?number of years ago (1989 to be exact) I reported and wrote a story for Life magazine called Children of Poverty.
June Krunholz's new report on truancy in Education Next should curl some education reform toes:
NJ teachers don't have very nice things to say about Chris Christie behind closed doors, which Christie's not exactly thrilled about?
Can be summarized by this short passage in today's Ohio Education Gadfly:
Washington, D.C.'s mayor-in-waiting, Vincent Gray, wants to assure private foundations that education reform is high on his agenda. ?Liam Julian, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow
Things are not well at Dartmouth and Cornell: But in an effort to spur gifts among young soon-to-be alumni, students at two Ivy League institutions are trying a different approach: publicizing the names of seniors who don't contribute to their class gift.
The nation's education secretary, Arne Duncan, was talking schools today in Richmond at the Governor's Education Summit. ?Liam Julian, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow
Identifying flaws and hypocrisy and what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about-ness in Diane Ravitch's arguments has become about as easy as taking candy from a particularly enfeebled infant?one with weak little fingers and no resolve?and about as pointless. If anyone can do it, why bother? But sometimes the baby is holding a bar made from Criollo cocoa, and you?simply can't resist.
