Joanne Jacobs is a nag, and so are David Whitman's schools

Joanne Jacobs, whose eponymous blog is among the most dominant in the edusphere, pens a

Michael Lomax moves into second place, while the Bill Richardson balloon deflates

Arne Duncan's lead is bigger than ever in the quest to replace Margaret Spellings. One friend of mine urges me to just accept that he's the guy. Well, that's probably true. Meanwhile, United Negro College Fund president Michael Lomax is working his way up the ladder, and now appears to be the pick as the Arne-alternative.

Weighted Student Funding does more than rearrange "inputs"

Gates' self scrutiny

Fordham Board member Diane Ravitch takes to the (web)pages of Forbes.com to discuss the Gates' small schools movement. It was a well-intentioned effort, she argues, but ultimately not the "silver bullet" the Gates Foundation had hoped.

Janet Napolitano out of the running for education secretary job

It looks like she's going to lead the Department of Homeland Security instead. I've said it before and I'll say it again: keep your eyes on Bill Richardson.

It's the states, stupid (part II)

There's a growing consensus among conservative smarties that the key to the GOP's renewal is getting t

Reader contest: Name the right backdrop for Margaret Spellings's portrait!

I'm still waiting for my invitation, but a source passed this along to me: Please Save The Date The Portrait Unveiling of Secretary Spellings Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008

Bill Richardson bounds into third place in the race for the education secretary job

I may have been the first person to predict that the ed sec job will go to Bill Richardson, but I'm no longer the only one who thinks it's a real possibility.

"A Byte at the Apple" event Nov. 17, 2008: Panel 1

"A Byte at the Apple" event, Nov. 17, 2008: Panel 2

A Tale of Two Districts: A Comparative Study of Student-Based Funding and School-Based Decision Making in San Francisco and Oakland Unified School Districts

Jay Chambers, Larisa Shambaugh, Jesse Levin, Mari Muraki, Lindsay PolandAmerican Institutes for ResearchOctober 2008

Disturbing development

New York Times columnist David Brooks began his June 13th piece with a question: "Is Barack Obama really a force for change, or is he just a traditional Democrat with a patina of postpartisan rhetoric?"

What Happens When States Have Genuine Alternative Certification?

Paul E. Peterson and Daniel NadlerEducation NextWinter 2009

Reading First Impact Study Final Report

Abt AssociatesNovember 2008

A byte at the apple

Education data sorely need a transformation.

Brain dead

Isn't the show over when the fat lady sings? Not for these four chronically failing schools in Miami-Dade. The story goes something like this: four schools that have consistently earned "F's" on Florida's state report card were slated to close at the end of last year.

Randi's rewind

Ah, the two faces of Randi Weingarten. Perhaps overcome with election-induced fuzzies, she boldly proclaimed on Monday: "with the exception of vouchers... no issue should be off the table, provided it is good for children and fair to teachers." Reformers, take heart!

School kids with lice--no dice?

Should the louse, that age-old creepy crawly elementary school pest, keep kids out of school? That's what a few school districts in Ohio are pondering. Some have strict "no nit" policies, insisting that kids can only return when all signs of lice are gone. Others take a more live and let live approach, permitting students to stay in class while being treated for their pesky visitors.

Will Obama kill education reform?

It's a good question. When he made Linda Darling-Hammond (cue: Mike groaning) his lead education advisor, we thought the odds were good.

Janet Napolitano, back in the running for Secretary of Education?

Several news outlets are reporting that President-Elect

What to read into the Reading First study

Janet Napolitano moves into second place in the ed sec race

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}

The Republican innovators take on the Democratic innovations

Normal 0 false false false

The Financial Crisis and State/Local Defined Benefit Plans

Center for Retirement Research, Boston CollegeNovember 2008

Former top teacher offers Ed Trust meeting ideas for better teaching

Ohio's worsening economy and powerful teacher unions make tough the prospect of reforming how teachers are trained, hired, paid, and fired in this state. If policymakers are serious about improving teacher quality, however, they'd do well to follow the advice of Jason Kamras. Kamras is a former Washington, D.C., middle-school teacher and National Teacher of the Year who now works as D.C.

about the Obamas' school choices

Chad Aldis, executive director of School Choice Ohio, has some thoughts on the Obama family's considerations concerning where to send their daughters to school in Washington, D.C.

The Year in Review: Big changes in Fordham's charter-school profile

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation became a charter-school sponsor in September 2004 when we signed a sponsorship agreement with the Ohio State Board of Education to serve as a sponsor of no more than 30 schools statewide.

The tragic tale of one harried education researcher's quest for data.</p>

Data-palooza

Fordham's newest book, A Byte at the Apple: Rethinking Education Data for the Post-NCLB Era, is now available for your reading pleasure.