Principal quality

The NYT raises questions about the New York City Leadership Academy, the much-publicized principal training programs.

What to do about "zombie" schools?

Sotomayor and the schools

The Massachusetts Miracle and the teachers unions: The last word

All good things must come to an end, including our illuminating, sometimes raucous, usually respectful debate about whether the Massachusetts Miracle proves teachers unions to be not such a barrier to school reform that some reformers claim.

Some traditions are not worth keeping

And this is definitely one of them. NY Times Magazine reports that in many southern states, proms are still segregated. Yes, you read that correctly.

Odds and ends...

This has to be the biggest head-scratcher in the ongoing saga of the ARRA (hence this nudge from ED).

Dropping the bribe vibe

A few weeks ago I experienced an inexplicable

Bob Costrell jumps into the "Massachusetts Miracle" debate

Robert Costrell, currently the "endowed chair of education accountability" in the University of Arkansas's Department of Education Reform (Jay Greene's shop), and formerly an advisor to three Republican Massachusetts governors, weighs in on our ongoing de

Did you know RNC Chairman Michael Steele was kicked out of Johns Hopkins?

I didn't. But the story's true and Steele himself tells it to students at H.D. Woodson Senior High School in his native D.C. as part of C-Span's "Students & Leaders" program. Ever the public speaker with his "hip" verbiage and unfortunate use of the verb "ain't," the chairman actually paints a compelling story about perseverance.

NEA bails out Indiana teachers' union

We've been lamenting the poor (literally) state of teachers' pension funds but what about the union-run health insurance plans? Alas here's a story that had me beat.

The Massachusetts Miracle and teachers unions: Sol Stern's 2nd round comments

The Massachusetts Miracle debate is back for its sixth round! Sol Stern returns to comment on other debaters' points.

Reform, we don't need no stinking reform!

In March, President Obama told a Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter that ???????the number of children going to the Cleveland Public Schools who are actually prepared to go to college (is) probably one out of seven or eight or ten. And that's just not acceptable. It's not acceptable for them.

The blogosphere noticed our debate about Massachusetts and teachers unions

Mike's post about teachers unions and education reform in Massachusetts really seems to have struck a nerve; we have run four follow-up posts, each highlighting other people's opinions on this issue. Missed the debate?

Pity the state superintendents

With the news that

Keeping poor math performance at Bay

It's no great secret that math is not the archetypal elementary teacher's forte. In fact, among the many subjects taught by all-in-one primary instructors, math is usually their weakest. Massachusetts, following in its laudable tradition of rigorous standards, is taking matters into its own hands and separately grading the beefed-up math portion of the elementary teacher licensure exam.

New Millennium Schools: Delivering Six-Figure Teacher Salaries in Return for Outstanding Student Learning Gains

Matthew Ladner, Mark S. Francis, and Gergory E. StoneThe Goldwater InstituteApril 2009

Get it write

Any good writer knows that rigorous editing is essential to a polished product. Graffiti artists, take note. English teacher Beth Biskobing has had enough of the (often) obscene graffiti in her neighborhood. What galls her most? The poor grammar employed by these artistic vandals.

High rollers in the Big Easy

Some charter school principals in New Orleans are making big bucks. Critics howl that no principal should get this kind of money--$200,000 a year in one case--from taxpayers.

Slow the preschool bandwagon

President Obama has pledged to spend $10 billion more a year on "zero to five" education, and his 2010 budget makes a $2 billion "down payment" on that commitment. (Billions more are already in the "stimulus" package.) Any number of congressional leaders want more preschool, as do dozens of governors.

A squishy skill worth celebrating

Perhaps the only confection to make it from campfire to laboratory, the marshmallow is an intellectual giant of the candy aisle. Stanford psychology professor Walter Mischel has been using this squishy sugary treat to study the correlation between delayed gratification and future success.

Schoolhouses, Courthouses and Statehouses: Solving the Funding-Achievement Puzzle in America's Public Schools

Eric A. Hanushek and Alfred A. LindsethPrinceton University Press2009

Free To Teach: What America's teachers say about teaching in public and private schools

Greg Forster and Christian D'AndreaThe Friedman Foundation for Educational ChoiceMay 2009

The Massachusetts Miracle and teachers unions: Sol Stern jumps into the fray

The debate continues. I started it with this post arguing that Diane Ravitch is wrong to say that the Massachusetts Miracle proves teachers unions to not be such the bad guys after all when it comes to education improvement.

The Massachusetts Miracle and teachers unions: Jay Greene returns

It all started with a post of mine that argued that??Diane Ravitch is wrong to say that Massachusetts's situation proves teachers unions to be a non-factor in education reform.

"Money's nice, but a good boss is better"

The bi-annual survey of federal workplaces, which evaluates the quality of support, leadership, and the like, shows that the Department of Education comes in the bottom of the pack--the bottom five, to be exact. The Washington Post explains:

The Massachusetts Miracle and teachers unions: Stuart Buck's comments

Please see our previous posts about the Massachusetts Miracle and related issues -- Part 1, Part 2,

The losses continue

Sadly, new data from NCES shows the loss of faith-based urban schools continues.

The Massachusetts Miracle and teachers unions: The debate continues

Yesterday I argued that Diane Ravitch is wrong to say that Massachusetts proves teachers unions to be a non-factor in education reform.

Diane Ravitch on "The Massachusetts Miracle and the Teachers Union"

Guest blogger Diane Ravitch responds to Mike Petrilli's recent post, "The Massachusetts Miracle and the Teachers Union"

Peering into the classroom

Two fifth-grade students work on math in the common area (filled with desks for testing) at KIPP Journey Academy , a charter school sponsored by Fordham in Columbus.