Reforming education with blinders on

The Obamas' visit to a charter school: Red Hot!

Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel

January 2009

Governor's education plan: great politics/mixed policies

Gov. Ted Strickland's hot-off-the-presses education-reform plan is nothing if not audacious. Gutsy, even, in its way, and wider-ranging than most people expected, it tackles a multitude of topics-sometimes in incompatible and contradictory ways-and picks up on dozens of ideas, some of them sound.

Education voucher data misleading

In 1975, the United States went metric with the signing of the Metric Conversion Act by President Gerald Ford. Despite this federal law and millions of dollars spent on conversion efforts, Americans never bought into the metric system. More than 30 years later we still use miles per hour as opposed to kilometers per hour.

Energy, economy, and STEM concerns top state science survey

Alternative energy, the economy, and STEM education are the three top science-and-technology-related worries according to an Ohio Academy of Science survey of state and local public officials, including those in the governor's office (see here).

Fordham's national Flypaper blog

In the last week, on Fordham Institute's Flypaper blog (see here), Terry Ryan blogged about front-loading compensation for new teachers; Emmy Partin discussed Gov.

Reinventing teacher recruitment

Ohio's history is rich with inventors: The Wright Brothers and Thomas Edison were born here, and the National Inventors Hall of Fame is located in Akron.

Is that a wocket in Ted Strickland's pocket?

The Ohio governor released his biennial budget yesterday, and there's a colorful surprise lurking inside.

Carmel Martin gets the Reform-o-Meter treatment

Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that President Barack Obama intends to nominate Carmel Martin to be Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.

Charter school gets a special visit

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The best time to teach '21st century skills' is after school

That's the gist of this Washington Post column by Jay Mathews, and was also the gist of a Gadfly

Reading Team Obama's temperature

My composite rating so far is "luke warm."

President Bush left behind

There's a lot of talk about bipartisanship right now, what with the stimulus bill making its way through Congress and President Obama obviously yearning for Republican support.

The future of Catholic schools.....

.....is the main focus of these two recent write-ups.

"Front-loading" compensation for new teachers

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Not quite as shameful as Wall Street bonuses

But this is close: 2 Miami-Dade legislators push bill to protect teacher raises.

Is the stimulus spending spree "dialable back"?

That's what House Appropriations Chairman David Obey has been saying, but

Getting to know Arne Duncan

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sat down for a series of one-on-ones with the national education press yesterday, and their stories are starting to paint a picture of the man, his policy leanings, and his priorities. What do we know about him?

Getting to know Arne's team

Earlier we looked into Arne Duncan's eyes and got a sense of his soul. But what about his team? Who is likely to get jobs in the new administration?

Going head-to-head with Arne Duncan

Well well. Look who's going head-to-head with the new education secretary. Our own Mike Petrilli! Check out this USA Today piece about the stimulus and its big payday for schools.

Amusing...

So, just a funny Friday-afternoon tidbit.

Education reform and the gloomy economy

Checker and Mike tackle the bleak question "Will the recession kill school reform?" in a commentary just published on Forbes.com. They write:

Congress's proposed spending on schools should be linked to reforms

So says the Washington Post's editorial board.

Ostrich Syndrome

According to the New York Daily News this morning, NY Chancellor Joel Klein is making some big cuts for next year--15,000 jobs, specifically, and most of them teache

Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy

National Endowment for the ArtsJanuary 2009

Grading the graders in the Sooner State

Last week, when Barack Obama said that "those of us who manage the public's dollars will...do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between and people and their government," he must

2009 Annual Letter from Bill Gates

Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationJanuary 2009

A new (Bos)tone on charters

Has Governor Deval Patrick done a 180 on charters in Massachusetts? If you were to believe the latest coming out of Boston, that's certainly how it sounds.

Batter up, Colorado

Sounds like Colorado heard Obama's clarion call for responsibility loud and clear. Centennial State citizens and lawmakers spent the better part of last week debating the merits of a bill to promote parental and community involvement.