Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty can't seem to catch a break in his quest to take over the city's notoriously bad public schools. After assiduously massaging egos and playing urban politics so that the City Council would approve his takeover bid, Fenty has hit snag after snag.
Not since William Jennings Bryan halted the march of science by winning the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925 have creationists had a more glorious day. On Monday, the Creation Museum opened its doors for business in northern Kentucky, with a stated mission of restoring the Bible to its "rightful authority" in society.
David L. KirpHarvard University PressForthcoming, August 2007
Joanne JacobsLexington InstituteMay 29, 2007
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) is the centerpiece of one of the best state accountability systems in the country, but it's far from perfect. Education officials in Tallahassee discovered last week that third-grade reading scores from the 2006 FCAT were inflated by human scoring errors, allowing many students who should have been held back to move on to fourth grade.
From time to time, we feature analysis of education reform issues in other states--in this case, Michigan.
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) recently approved Ohio's growth model pilot (conditionally, at least) for use in the 2006-07 school year--clearing the way for the state's new value-added assessment program (see here ) to take effect in 2007-08.
Ever wonder what separates a charter school sponsor (aka authorizer) from a non-profit governing board? A charter management organization (CMO) from an education management organization (EMO)? With so many characters treading the boards of Ohio's charter school stage, even Gadfly needs a little help keeping them all straight (that's when they're not blurring their roles on their own).
A frank and at times sobering discussion about the future of Ohio's education system drew a host of concerned educators, philanthropists and policymakers to Columbus last week.
It's a narrow path along a slippery slope that Charles Fadel et al are walking in the pages of Education Week. They argue correctly that today's children require an education that builds their problem-solving skills and creativity, and they're on mostly solid ground when complaining that NCLB fosters instructional practices that focus on a narrow, basic-skills curriculum.
Stephen Q. Cornman, Thomas Stewart, Patrick J. WolfGeorgetown University Public Policy InstituteMay 2007
Years ago, in a youthful act of indiscretion, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had the phrase "Born to Raise Hell" inked into his arm. He's since had the tattoo removed, but inside observers of hizzoner's year-long effort to take over the city's schools, which ended abruptly this week, believe the saying still fits him well.
Hillary Clinton wore a multi-hued, child-constructed necklace as she announced on Monday her plans for nationwide, voluntary, pre-kindergarten education for four-year-olds.
True or false: Educational progressives promote teacher creativity, while traditionalists support scripted lessons. If you said true, pick up the latest issue of Education Next and read Barbara Feinberg's article.
When Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed a law last week mandating daily 30-minute sessions of physical activity in elementary schools, he didn't do it on the playground. Instead, Crist and several lawmakers headed to the Miami Dolphins training camp to throw footballs, gawk at NFL stars, pick up personalized jerseys, and (oh yeah) sign a bill.
It feels like the Fordham Foundation has been sponsoring Ohio charter schools for decades.
Susan L. AudMilton & Rose D. Friedman FoundationApril 2007
The venue selected for the release of the 2006 NAEP results in U.S. history and civics was Boston's Old State House. Delicious, I thought.
Perhaps inspired by Chrysler's success in staving off ruin, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick called for 25 new charter schools this week in a push to revitalize the city's troubled public-education system.
Diane RavitchAssociation for Supervision and Curriculum DevelopmentAugust 2007
Put this one in the "idea whose time has come" file: high school end-of-course exams. A decade back, when states such as Virginia started requiring them for graduation, it appeared the practice would take the nation by storm. Instead, it stalled for some reason (NCLB?)--until now.
It's no secret that public education contains vast funding inequities: between districts, within districts, and between district and charter schools, to name just a few. There are lots of potential solutions, too, but when money is at stake, reform is never simple.
Los Angeles Superintendent (and former Navy admiral) David Brewer III wrote in a recent Los Angeles Times op-ed that anyone reading about the city's schools probably thinks "not a single thing is going right and that nothing is happening to fix what's wrong." Some things are indeed going right, including charter schools, which are trying to gain a bigger role in the C
Paulette Strong, a former school bus driver, worked for less than 30 years and retired before she turned sixty. Nonetheless, Strong still received lifetime health insurance from Michigan's Office of Retirement Services. Thanks to a loophole, all Paulette had to do was re-enter the system at age 60 as a "school aide," work 102 hours, "retire," and then reap the benefits.
As if Messrs. Coombs and Shaffer (see above) didn't fill our weekly quota of musings from the Ivory Tower, ex-Harvard Ed School dean Ellen Condliffe Lagemann took to the pages of Education Week to voice her dissatisfaction with the rhetoric surrounding our K-12 system.
The decisive recent levy defeat (by a margin of 58 to 42 percent) was indisputably a blow to the Dayton Public Schools (DPS), bringing grim fiscal realities that will force district leaders to scale back certain programs, curtail some activities and furlough a number of teachers and staff--much of this in less than two months.
The May 4th charter school board governance training, held in Columbus, drew almost 100 board members and charter school stakeholders from across the state.
Though school vouchers have met with a chilly reception by some in Ohio, other countries have warmed up to them quite nicely--for good reason, too. There’s mounting evidence that they’re having a considerable impact on student outcomes. Consider Columbia (yes, Columbia).
