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More generational warfare
While childlike Liam takes Checker to task for questioning the incalculable contributions of twenty-somethings, in Boston they're
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On one hand, on the other hand, and things stay the same
Over at Quick and the Ed, Kevin Carey turns in a lengthy post, replete with percentages and bullet points, that draws lessons from Ed Sector's newest report, Waiting to Be Won Ov
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A scandal in Los Angeles
The Catholic Church is not the only institution facing a sex abuse crisis. The Los Angeles Unified School District has an ugly scandal of its own--and teenagers are again the victims.
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Evolution update
1. Bills proposed by Florida lawmakers to allow teachers to caveat their teaching of evolution have, for the time being, fizzled out. 2. Cool video on how the eye, that amazing bit of complexity that's often proffered as proof of intelligent design, likely evolved:
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AP ain't to blame
As with any program, implementation in AP really matters, so it's disappointing that Tom Stanley-Becker doesn't say more about how history is taught at his school. Was the AP class his only recent exposure to American history?
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This Week's Fordham Factor: The next president
Mike and Christina discuss what kind of ed talk to expect from the presumptive nominees as we near the general election. httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=p3sUyP-c8AE
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The hunted have become the hunters
Japan has slipped in international science rankings, so the government has announced a plan to train a special cadre of "super science teachers." Gotta love the enthusiasm.
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No news is good news?
Wouldn't it be great if the candidates were to duke it out over education reform?
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Wishing for a Massachusetts miracle?
To receive a high-school diploma in Massachusetts, one must at least pass the MCAS (or make one's way through a reasonably challenging alternative path.) Nonetheless, according to the Boston Globe, "thousands of Massachusetts public high school graduates arrive at college unprepared for even the most basic math and English classes." Such students must therefore take remedial
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Revisionist Randi
We'd like to stop writing about Randi Weingarten, really we would. But her ongoing antics simply don't allow it--and as she nears the leadership of the national American Federation of Teachers she has to be taken seriously.
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Sorry, kids
If you're a wealthy philanthropist keen to expand AP courses and pay more to the teachers who do the best job of teaching AP classes, Washington state wants you to buzz off.
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Classroom hero
It is not insignificant that John McCain, who may be the country's next president, has hanging in his office a photograph of William Bee Ravenel III, or that McCain recently called Ravenel "one of the best men I have ever known." Ravenel was one of
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Contemptuous monopoly
The Wake County school district, in Raleigh, North Carolina, is doing everything in its power to annoy parents and encourage those who can afford private schools to patronize them. A state appellate court ruled on Tuesday that Wake can force a pupil who is zoned for one of the county's year-round schools to attend it.
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Is fatalism the alternative to romanticism?
Charles Murray's forthcoming education book looks like a humdinger, as most of his have proven to be. Like the others, this one will be provocative, heterodox, and controversial. I look forward to August when we can see the whole thing.
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The Advantage of Abstract Examples in Learning Math
Jennifer A. Kaminski, Vladimir M. Sloutsky, and Andrew F. HecklerScienceApril 25, 2008
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Choice is winning
Greg Anrig is smart, eloquent and likable, as was his dad, whose memory I cherish.
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The Ed Week diaspora grows
The ranks of American education's "newspaper of record" are growing ever thinner.
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How Obama can move to the center
According to David Brooks, among others, yesterday's victory in North Carolina and near-tie in Indiana means Senator Barack Obama is almost assured the Democratic nomination.
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Different world, same debates
In Australia's state of Victoria, teachers are about to receive a mammoth pay raise. But Kevin Donnelly, the Australian-education guru, doesn't like it. He sees lots of other problems that need remedying.
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Potential teachers are waiting to be won over, too
Education Sector just released a new survey, Waiting to be Won Over, by Farkas Duffett Research--a top-notch policy research firm that's don
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Klein vs. Weingarten
There's more on the Absent Teacher Reserve and rubber room controversies in New York City.
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Roberts plans charter-school overhaul
State Senator Tom Roberts Tuesday introduced three bills he said were designed to strengthen transparency and accountability standards in charter schools (S.B. 331, S.B.
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Choice is an important weapon in the educational arms race
Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher is right. Ohio is engaged in an "economic development arms race" with other states and nations for investment and jobs. But the state is also in an arms race to educate its children to compete successfully with young people in other states and countries.
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KIPP's 2007 report card good reading
KIPP's 2007 report card is a good way to get to know the Knowledge is Power Program, which is scheduled to open its first Ohio charter school in Columbus in August.Here are a few samples from the report card:
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Dr. Z: We'll miss you, whenever you go
After months of jockeying with control-freak Governor Ted Strickland, Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Tave Zelman is on her way out, perhaps to the University of Oregon as ed-school dean (see here).
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Electronic compliance saves time, although it will never replace a ruler
A major job for Ohio's charter school sponsors is keeping track of stuff, the kind of stuff that, if a school doesn't have it, means serious problems. Not only does a sponsor have to show up and check out schools and classrooms, but a good sponsor also needs to keep track of all the state and federally required compliance data.
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Study says voucher competition helps special-ed kids
Showing again that competition is a tide that lifts all boats, the Manhattan Institute released a study last week that shows public school special-education students perform better when they attend public schools that are exposed to competition with voucher programs (see here).