Wherein I become an education realist

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Barack Obama and John McCain get schooled

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Heavy meta

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An inky distraction

Woe to the Maori pupil in Louisiana's St. John the Baptist Parish, the school board of which is embroiled in a bit of a tattoo controversy. It all began when Principal Patricia Triche banned (visible) tattoos in her high school, East St. John.

A year to remember

It's been more than twelve months since Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty named a relative unknown as the city's schools chancellor. Hard to believe, considering the tremendous amount of change that Michelle Rhee has wrought in that time.

Blame game

The story goes like this. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev hands his successor two letters and tells him to open them when he, the successor, encounters a tough situation. The first such situation arises, the first letter is opened, and it reads, "Blame everything on me." Works like a charm.

Randi's "pissed"

Political conventions, it must be said, have lost their brio. (Nielsen reports that television ratings for them have declined unremittingly since 1980.) Which is not to say nothing interesting will happen this week in Denver; indeed, something already has.

Same rift, different place

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd seems to have learned a lesson or two from the education policies of his conservative predecessor, John Howard. Rudd is moving toward a transparent accountability system that will show parents how their children are faring academically and show the state how schools that enroll similar student populations fare against one another.

What to do about mediocre teachers?

If there's one idea that unifies education analysts on the left, right, and center, it's the almost-religious belief that "improving teacher quality" is the surest way to boost student achievement. So it was music to many reformers' ears when, in 2007, McKinsey & Co.

Class of 2008 SAT scores: Press release, data sets, and analysis

College BoardAugust 2008

Edu-blather

If this sort of empty rhetoric is the most we can expect to hear about education for the rest of the campaign, it's time to declare the

Kahlenberg gets whiny on old news

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Joel Klein, my personal stalker

I suppose we'd been warned, weeks ago, that the New York City Department of Education was watching us.

David Whitman sweats the small stuff

Check out his ednews.org interview here, and get a quick and helpful overview of his book,

Washington Post misses bigger picture

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Not exactly brain food

Core Knowledge in NYC: 1,000 kids now, 1,000,000 to go

Kudos to New York City for launching a new pilot program to put Core Knowledge in ten city schools.

One size fits all?

"Senator wants all schools to open on same day" According to the AP article:

Self-righteous

Kevin Carey treats Charles Murray unfairly. Carey, reviewing Murray's new book Real Education, writes:

Better

Ben Wildavsky's Wall Street Journal review of Real Education is much better than this.

No more 'breaded bread with bread sauce"

The website of one of the leading education trade journals, Gourmet magazine, has a feature on Tony Geraci, who's been charged with making Baltimore's school lunches more nourishing. Replacing sugary snacks and processed entrees will be whole grains and fresh fruits and veggies.

Mission accomplished

There's a lot for conservatives to dislike about the Bush Administration when it comes to education and the No Child Left Behind Act. But they should give the President some credit: he certainly split the Democratic Party on the issue.

Paternalismo: Si se puede!

"Cuando los progres no quieren paternalism," por George Will

Pot calls kettle black

CATO's Neil McCluskey, at the end of a long post arguing against my call for national standards and tests, says of the idea that "harsh reality just seems to??eclipse impossible dreams."

Has NCLB generated a new breed of education leader?

I'm working on a piece about the Bush education legacy, and I'm thinking about the notion that these years have seen a flourishing of reform efforts and leaders.

Final day of the 2008 Education Olympics!

They waited until the last second, but the Americans finally won a medal in this year's games--and a gold, no less. Pandemonium ensued on the set of Education Olympics Today. Get the full story at edolympics.net.

A lesson simply not learned

Just when New York says its cash incentives program for good grades isn't working (original article here), DC decides to go ahead

Re: Waterloo sounds rough. Can we just attack the Irish?

Liam implicitly made a point in his post yesterday that's worth making explicit.

Murray reviewed

The Kauffman Foundation's Ben Wildavsky reviews the new Charles Murray book in today's Wall Street Jour