Commentary
Reporting on reading
Thank you for Michael Petrilli's article on the Reading First brouhaha ("Reading Last," September 28). I am a parent in Arlington, Virginia.
Commentary
School house walk
School choice is a good thing. But what about when it leads to racial isolation? In Pinellas County (St. Petersburg) Florida, a district rule capping black enrollment in any given school at 42 percent has been around since 1971. But it ends this year.
Commentary
The Insiders: How Principals and Superintendents See Public Education Today
Public AgendaOctober 2006
Commentary
Freedom From Racial Barriers: The Empirical Evidence on Vouchers and Segregation
Greg ForsterMilton and Rose D. Friedman FoundationOctober 2006
Commentary
Leading for Learning
In 2005-06, 8,446 schools and 1,624 districts nationwide failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as required under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Many states are scrambling to improve student achievement before districts and schools face state and federal sanctions (Columbus Public Schools alone has 45 schools in this predicament).
Commentary
Call for Presentations
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools welcomes proposals for presentations during the 2007 National Charter Schools Conference. The conference will be held April 24 - 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the opening of the first charter school.
Commentary
All Aboard the Charters? The State of a Movement
Charter schools have taught us much. Since Minnesota enacted America's first charter law in 1991, 39 states have followed suit and eager school reformers have created some 4,000 of these independent public schools. About 3,600 are still operating today, enrolling approximately a million kids, 2 percent of all U.S. elementary and secondary pupils.
Commentary
Politicians Ignore Education Funding Realities
Recent campaign rhetoric and debate exchanges about education funding between gubernatorial candidates Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland have been disingenuous at best.
Commentary
Using Data in the Central Office and the Classroom to Improve Student Achievement
Think performance statistics and longitudinal databases are just pillow talk for policy wonks? Don't tell the Data Quality Campaign (DQC), a national educational collaborative promoting better data collection and data-driven practices.
Commentary
Leading for Learning
In 2005-06, 8,446 schools and 1,624 districts nationwide failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as required under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Many states are scrambling to improve student achievement before districts and schools face state and federal sanctions (Columbus Public Schools alone has 45 schools in this predicament).
Commentary
A "niche" case for the core
When "core curriculum" supporters like E.D. Hirsch, Jr. do their advocating, it goes something like this: "In order to gain power in our democracy and economy, children must develop ‘cultural literacy' in a common core of knowledge so they can function in a world where interactions and understandings are greased by shared reference points and allusions."
Commentary
Reading last
The brouhaha over the federal Reading First program illustrates everything that's wrong with government today--not the alleged improprieties, but a twisted government culture that prioritizes "proper procedures" over actual results and that looks for scapegoats and fall-guys when the going gets tough.
Commentary
The brothers Bush
Brotherly spats are not uncommon, and fraternal one-upmanship is a time-honored tradition. It is a rare case, however, when one brother governs a state and the other governs a nation, and the two disagree, not over lawn maintenance, but over educational accountability systems.
Commentary
They know something "aboot" education
Had our attempted conquest of Canada in the War of 1812 succeeded, the U.S.
Commentary
Ethical education
I enjoyed your recent article on faith and reason in education. Although it's true that science cannot inform us of what values to hold, reason can. Reason is larger than just science. Values, morality, and character are not inseparable from religion. A broadly acceptable philosophy of conduct and character (i.e., ethics) based on reason can be taught.
Commentary
Fat chance
When the lights flood Vaught Hemingway Stadium on Saturday nights, and Ole Miss fans raise the Rebel Yell from the stands, gentle Michael Oher is there savoring every moment. He never misses a game, though by all rights he shouldn't even be in college. Growing up homeless on the streets of Memphis, he was one of the lost.
Commentary
Fig leaves and frescoes in Frisco
The Texas Education Agency's fine arts curriculum framework for fifth graders describes a model lesson from a real classroom: the teachers "replicate painting on the ceiling as the Renaissance painters did by taping butcher paper to the bottom of students' desks and asking students to lie on the floor to paint." It's a clever idea (at least for classrooms with clean floors
Commentary
Baltimore's "New" Middle Schools: Do KIPP and Crossroads Schools Offer Solutions to the City's Poorly-performing Middle Schools?
The Abell FoundationSeptember 2006
Commentary
Commentary
Getting Farther Ahead by Staying Behind: A Second-Year Evaluation of Florida's Policy to End Social Promotion
Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. WintersManhattan InstituteSeptember 2006
Commentary
College Rankings Reformed: The Case for a New Order in Higher Education
Kevin CareyEducation SectorSeptember 2006
Commentary
The privilege of choice
Here's a less-than-shocking headline for you: Parents in leafy suburbs have a wealth of high quality schooling options. That's the gist of a recent Wall Street Journal story that highlights several affluent areas where parents are moving their students out of private schools and into the local public institutions.
Commentary
Charter confusion: What they know just ain't so
Buried in the findings of the recently issued 38th annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools are some useful eye-openers for the charter school community.
Commentary
Bugged out
The science teachers at Broken Arrow Elementary in Lawrence, Kansas, originally ordered from Carolina Biological Supply Co. a shipment of ladybugs. What they actually received in the mail was a shipment of fear. Instead of sending the delightful Broken Arrow children some harmless coccinellids, Carolina Supply botched the order and sent the youngsters a strain of E. Coli.
Commentary
On faith and reason
Last week, Pope Benedict XVI sparked a firestorm in the Islamic world with a speech in which he quoted (but did not endorse) a 14th Century emperor who said that Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things.
Commentary
Over the top on overachievers
Before applying to MIT, the Associated Press reports, one young man "built a working nuclear reactor in his garage." While no doubt intriguing to terrorists around the world, MIT's Dean of Admissions, Marilee Jones, was unimpressed. She finds such applicants just a tad run-of-the-mill.
Commentary
Commentary
Commentary
School Restructuring Under No Child Left Behind: What Works When? A Guide for Education Leaders
Emily Ayscue Hassel, Bryan C. Hassel, Matthew D. Arkin, Julia M. Kowal, and Lucy M. SteinerThe Center for Comprehensive School Reform and ImprovementSeptember 2006
Commentary
Charter School Growth Fund Opportunities
The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF), which provides grants and loans for the development and expansion of charter management and support organizations, is now seeking applicants for its first 2007 business planning cohort.