Overruling itself

The Gadfly is required reading for California's appellate court judges.

Relax with stats

Summer's days wane, and you tire of beach reading. Not of reading on the beach, certainly, but of the candy-colored-covered offerings that comprise the genre. No more tales of Upper East Side ne'er-do-wells! You lust for data, for statistics, for meaningful numbers. And you shall have them.

Risky un-risky business

When playground mats grow hot in the afternoon sun and torch the hands and feet of the children whose heads they're meant to cushion, what is to be done? Perhaps nothing, argues Common Good President Phillip K.

Turning schools into prisons?

Or so the post-graduate cram schools in South Korea have been accused. No make-up, no fraternizing with the opposite sex, no iPods, no fun--and classes and studying from 7:30 am to midnight.

Day Four of the 2008 Education Olympics

Over at the water cube in Beijing, Michael Phelps won his fourth and fifth gold medals, for a record eleven total in his career.

Why teach evolution?

A New York Times op-ed answers that question.

"For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time"

So believes Charles Murray. He explains his position in today's Wall Street Journal.

Wow! We Made AYP!

Debbie Phelps's school didn't make AYP

I'm not just following the Education Olympics coverage; I'm also addicted to the regular Olympics as well. And during last night's broadcast I heard for the first time that Michael Phelps's mother is a middle school principal.

Advisor-palooza

Education Week offers a pair of articles about the presidential campaigns' advisors this week.

Ed ideas down under

Australian Education Minister Julia Gillard is taking a lesson from the Big Apple. Having visited with the New York Chancellor of Schools Joel Klein, Gillard wants to start ranking Australia's schools on an A-F scale.

Day Three of the 2008 Education Olympics

We're three days in to the 2008 Education Olympics, and the Finns are firing on all cylinders. Also making some noise today are Estonia, Macao, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The Americans, meanwhile, seem to be stuck in neutral. Follow the action at edolympics.net.

"HISD unable to find spots for 56 out-of-work teachers"

but will keep paying them nonetheless.

New Education Next survey: The nation's sour mood bleeds into education

Support for renewing No Child Left Behind with minimal changes is down from a year ago, from 57 percent to 50 percent, according to a brand new poll by Education Next (where I serve as executive editor).

More on that Ed Next poll

From that Ed Next poll, this caught my eye: Race- and Income-based School Integration

In consideration of Mike's request to consider

Mike links to this fascinating article by Matt Bai in yesterday's NYT and

Day Two of the 2008 Education Olympics

The first medals were awarded today, with Nordic countries--Norway, Finland, and Iceland--stealing the show. The United States--winner so far of 9 golds, 3 silvers, and 2 bronzes in the athletic competitions--has yet to take home a medal in the Education Olympics. Find more coverage at edolympics.net.

Discuss: Is the "end of black politics" good for education reform?

I'm curious what my colleagues think; check out Matt Bai's New York Times Magazine piece on the inter-gener

This explains 99 percent of the NCLB backlash *

"Uptick in 'No Child' failures largely due to suburban schools"

The Democratic Party: No longer a fully owned subsidiary of the NEA and AFT?

Take a look at the text of an invitation that landed in my inbox a few hours ago, and tell me this isn't new and different: JOIN THE ED CHALLENGE FOR CHANGE

Amber's right: The "end of black politics" is good for school reform

My gambit this morning didn't work to spark a full-fledged office debate, but I did

Blood and guts will keep your son away from PlayStation, but...

Are we really this far gone? The Wall Street Journal announced this morning, "Problem: Boys Don't Like to Read.

The 2008 Education Olympics are underway!

The world's greatest athletes kicked off the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in grand style today at the National Stadium in Beijing. Meanwhile, across town, another breed of competitor was celebrating the start of this year's Education Olympics:

Now that's the Olympic spirit

A clink of the five rings goes out to "Doug" and "Nancy," who both had some fun with our Education Olympics Games on Eduwonkette yesterday: First Doug:

Is NCLB-style pressure turning teenagers into druggies?

Stressed!

That's how American teens are feeling, according to the latest State of our Nation's Youth survey by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

Would robots unionize?

A question to ponder if new research on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) pans out. Robotic teachers, you ask? CNN has more.

Where school choice is a felony

"Broward cracking down on school shoppers "

Gadfly: Getcha some!

This week's Gadfly is out, and it features a fine article about how Ohio's education woes are being reinforced and why it matters for the rest of the country.

Cafeteria cops

Ocean's 11 has come to Fairfax County, Virginia. Its school district estimates that during the 2007-2008 school year, $1.2 million of cafeteria food was pilfered from under the watchful eyes of the lunch ladies.