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Ravitch responds
David Cantor's response only goes to show how bad things are in New York City these days, and demonstrates the need for an independent assessment agency to evaluate test scores and graduation data.
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Rescue 911
Education reformers have long argued that school choice is already widespread--among the well-to-do. Foes counter that choice programs are nothing but a "life raft" to save a few while letting the ship sink. Here's a new twist: St. Louis firefighters--union members all--are steamed that state law requires them to reside in the city of their employ.
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America, The Last Best Hope
Volume II, From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom William J. BennettThomas Nelson Publishers2007
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Beating the Odds VII, An Analysis of Student Performance and Achievement Gaps on State Assessments, Results from the 2005-2006 School Year
Council of the Great City SchoolsApril 2007
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Go clean
Noam Scheiber, senior editor at The New Republic, is none too pleased about what he calls the "cleverness problem" bedeviling top economic graduate schools.
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Have mercy!
A couple months ago, it looked like the Boston Archdiocese was actively cooperating with charter schools. No more. With enrollment in Catholic schools flagging (in part because charters are tuition free), Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley decided to take off the gloves.
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How to improve Reading First
Tomorrow, the House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing to consider the future of the much-discussed Reading First program, a key component of NCLB.
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The autonomy gap
Four years back, Fordham teamed up with The Broad Foundation to publish Better Leaders for America's Schools: A Manifesto. This call to action depicted a role for the public school principal akin to that of a CEO.
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The power of rigorous teacher tests
Most elementary teachers seem to require intensive, expensive, and continuous professional development in mathematics. Even if current federal and state initiatives to train experienced teachers are successful, their costs are staggering.
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School Reform in Philadelphia: A Comparison of Student Achievement at Privately-Managed Schools with Student Achievement in Other District Schools
Paul E. PetersonKennedy School of Government, Harvard UniversityApril 2007
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Casting for culprits
It would be easy to berate 2nd grade teacher David Keyes for his recent op-ed in the Washington Post (as blogger Kevin Carey did here).
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Loosening the grip
China is making headlines for more than trafficking pirated Lost DVDs. Some U.S. educators and employers envy that nation's success in teaching math and science (at least in producing scads of engineers and suchlike) but now China seems to be showing greater curiosity about American schools.
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Fit to print?
The American way of life changed last Monday when intrepid New York Times columnist Bob Herbert traveled to Avon Park, Florida (a "backward city," he writes), population 8,872, to document an emerging national pandemic. That's how Herbert would tell it, at least.
Report
Governance
The Autonomy Gap
Though most public school principals believe that effective leadership of their schools requires authority over personnel decisions (e.g., staff selection, deployment, dismissal), they report having little such authority in practice. Based on a series of interviews with a small sample of district and charter-school principals, the report shows that most district principals encounter a sizable gap between the extent and kinds of authority that leaders need to be effective and the authority that they actually have.
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Uncommon Unity on Common Subjects
Ohio recently joined eight other states in a pilot effort to develop a common Algebra II assessment (Algebra II is required under the Ohio Core), as well as a uniform set of standards to go with it.
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Voices of Students on Engagement: A Report on the 2006 High School Survey of Student Engagement
The latest report on the 2006 High School Survey of Student Engagement tells a somewhat predictable, not to mention disheartening, story about how teenagers approach their education and school environment.
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Charter School Boards Vital to Charter School Quality
As a sponsor of nine schools in Ohio, we have learned (the hard way, at times) that effective charter school management and governance require four essential elements: sound state policy, including appropriate funding; diligent and attentive sponsors; well-trained and highly capable school leadership; and an engaged and knowledgeable governing board.
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"Highly Qualified" a Dubious Designation
A new study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) found that the “highly qualified teacher” (HQT) designation required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act fails to carry much weight in the classroom.
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The audacity of pragmatism
New York Times columnist David Brooks is that kind of conservative. In Why I Turned Right, a new collection of essays by leading members of the right detailing their moves away from liberalism, Brooks calls himself "the kind of conservative some New York Times readers can stand."
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The Road to Perdition
Until recently, Mike Merrifield served as the Colorado House Education Committee chairman. Then he sent an email to another state legislator in which he opined that "there's a special place in hell" for supporters of charter schools.
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Opportunities to Learn in America's Elementary Classrooms
Robert C. Pianta, Jay Belsky, Renate Houts, Fred Morrison, The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Child Care Research Network Science Volume 315, March 30, 2007
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It's not easy being green
New Yorkers upset about the specter of unionized charter schools can at least expect such schools to be welcomed by the unions themselves, right? Not! Consider the plight of Green Dot, a chain of unionized charter schools whose proposed expansion in L.A.
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"It's Being Done": Academic Success in Unexpected Schools
Karin ChenowethHarvard Education Press2007
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Fordham muddles the middle
I just don't get it. Fordham prides itself on positions that are based on research, data, and thoughtfulness. Why do you abandon this framework repeatedly when expounding on middle school reform? "Teaching to the middle" (March 22) is a good anecdote.
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Sunshine and shame
Charter schools in Florida are on shaky ground. On one hand, they're expanding like crazy. About 98,000 students have signed up for spots in over 300 Sunshine State charters over the past decade. On the other hand, the quality of many of those schools is questionable.
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An empire of red tape
After New York's budget negotiations ended, charter school supporters exuded both cheers and moans. The good news: Lawmakers agreed to expand the state's charter school cap by 100 schools, bringing the total to 200. That's progress, to be sure.
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Buckeye blues
Newly elected Ohio Governor Ted Strickland is set to strangle charter schools in his state. Calling charters "a dismal failure," he would impose a moratorium on new schools.
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A helpful user's guide to the 2007 AERA Conference
As policymakers wrestle with No Child Left Behind's reauthorization and educators struggle to comply with its spirit, it is clear that both communities are increasingly serious about seeking out rigorous and useful research.