Displaying 16441-16470 of 17817 results
Commentary
9.3.2003

Mayoral control: not all it's cracked up to be?

While many people hope that mayoral control will fix what ails big city school systems, reformers in New York City are beginning to realize that this Great Man approach may not, in fact, get the job done. Mayor Michael Bloomberg won control of the school system but what is he doing with it?

Commentary
9.3.2003

Back to school, back to the debate

This week marks the beginning not only of a new school year but also a new round of debate over vouchers. In a Washington Post op ed, D.C. school board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz, along with D.C. mayor Anthony Williams and D.C.

Commentary
9.3.2003

After a long summer, students need a break

In the last Gadfly, we reported (without pleasure) on a South Carolina school district that was promoting grade inflation by mandating that no student could receive less than a 62 (out of 100) in his or her first semester.

Commentary
9.3.2003

The Trials of NCLB

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

The No Child Left Behind rubber is hitting the education road, where it's producing a lot of screeching brakes, skid marks and, especially, honking. A flock of noisy Canadian geese makes less noise than American public education griping about NCLB, the changes it is forcing, the injustices it is said to be inflicting and the difficulties of implementing it as Congress intended.

Commentary
9.3.2003

Pricey public schools

Around the country, the economic downturn and state and local budget shortfalls are forcing some schools to charge students to participate in activities that used to be open to all, free of charge.

Commentary
9.3.2003

Requiring highly qualified teachers: unfair and unwise?

As part of No Child Left Behind, states are now required to report what percentage of their teachers are "highly qualified" - in other words, what percentage has a bachelor's degree, state certification and clear knowledge of the subject they teach. It's that last clause that has many teachers and union officials up in arms.

Commentary
9.3.2003

SAT scores up, compared to what?

Diane Ravitch

So the news is good from the College Board: SAT scores are up sharply. That suggests that the strategies of recent years have been paying off, that students are taking more academic courses, and that they have greater incentive to prepare for tests like the SAT.

Commentary
8.20.2003

Governor: take your money elsewhere

At a time of budget crunching, why would teacher unions, legislators, and state education officials turn down free money? Yet under pressure from these groups, that is exactly what Michigan's governor is about to do. Governor Jennifer Granholm has vowed to veto a bill that would enable a local Detroit businessman to donate $200 million to build 15 new charter schools in the Motor City.

Commentary
8.20.2003

Florida u-turn on class size

Last fall, 52 percent of Florida voters supported a constitutional amendment that would cap class sizes in public schools throughout the state. Now, given the severe budget crunch and high cost of class-size reduction - more than $1 billion this year and next - Florida's State Board of Education has voted to join Governor Jeb Bush in an effort to roll back part of the amendment.

Commentary
8.20.2003

Blaming NCLB

Diane Ravitch

The New York Times recently published a two-part series on the newly discovered problem of "push-outs" in the New York City public schools. The articles charged that principals were pushing out low-performing students in order to protect their school's performance scores and attendance rates.

Commentary
8.20.2003

The social studies mess

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

With schools re-opening, daily attacks in the middle east, and the second anniversary of 9/11 hard upon us, teachers can expect another round of nonsense from experts who think it's more important to boost children's self-esteem and tolerance than to instruct them in the history of their own and other countries, the wellsprings of citizenship, and the price of defending freedom.Worse, th

Commentary
8.20.2003

Training sponsors for charter schools

A new Ohio law removes the state's Department of Education from the charter school authorizing business and allows school districts, county education service centers, public universities AND qualified nonprofits to sponsor charter schools in the Buckeye State.

Commentary
8.20.2003

Silliness in South Carolina

Please note, this is not our April's Fools edition. Officials in Beaufort County, South Carolina have decided to institutionalize grade inflation by mandating that no student receive less than a 62 (out of 100) in the first semester of any class, so that students will not be prevented from passing the class if they improve in the second semester.

Commentary
8.6.2003

New York, old progressivism

When hizzoner Michael Bloomberg gained control of Gotham's crippled school system, many had high hopes. Perhaps at last New York City would muster the strength to free itself from the establishment monopoly over education reform, curriculum, and pedagogy--and the innumerable underperforming schools it has created.

Commentary
8.6.2003

Confidence game in the Hoosier State

Derek Redelman

On January 8, Indiana became one of five states singled out by the U.S. Department of Education for early approval of its No Child Left Behind accountability plan. These states were depicted as leaders that had set aside excuses and committed themselves to educating all students.

Commentary
8.6.2003

Historical ignorance, continued

Though the phrase "don't know much about history" is now a clich?, we can't argue with the sentiments of this article in National Journal, which argues that the well-intentioned No Child Left Behind act is perversely marginalizing subjects like history.

Commentary
8.6.2003

What price victory for NCLB?

In June, Gadfly voiced some skepticism when the Department of Education announced with great fanfare that it had approved the NCLB accountability plans of all fifty states, as well as the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. We noted that the "victory" was at best pyrrhic, since many states cut corners to comply and at least one (Iowa) was approved despite lacking state standards.