Teacher training programs face new competition
For the past hundred or so years, the training and certification of public school teachers has been largely in the hands of colleges of education, but this monopoly is now being challenged by private sector entrants into the teacher training business, explains Robert Holland in "The Rise of Private Teacher Training," an issue brief published by the Lexington Institute on August 10. Sylvan
The art of polling
This week, Phi Delta Kappa (an "honorary fraternity" of professional educators) and Gallup released their 33rd annual poll of the public's attitudes toward the public schools. Normally polls bring good news or bad news, depending on which side you are on.
How applying to college can warp your mind
Two articles in the September issue of The Atlantic Monthly take a sausage-factory-like look at the college application and admissions process. In "The Early Decision Racket," James Fallows explores how early-decision programs have distorted the admissions process and added an insane level of intensity to middle-class obsessions about getting into college.
Crazy things districts do to attract teachers
States and school districts struggling to hire teachers in the final days before school opens are offering all kinds of creative incentives to attract applicants. Among them: redesigning teachers' lounges to resemble quaint New England inns, replacing degree requirements with height requirements, offering free tickets to school plays, and promising unlimited bathroom passes.
Evaluating teachers using value-added analysis
"Doesn't it make sense to link teacher evaluation and measures of student learning?" ask Pamela Tucker and James Strong in an article in the September 2001 issue of the American School Board Journal. Hardly a radical idea, though the NEA is officially opposed.
Crusade in the Classroom: How George W. Bush's Education Reforms will Affect Your Children, Our Schools
Jacob LoshinDouglas B. Reeves
Inside Charter Schools: The Paradox of Radical Decentralization
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Harvard University Press
The Next Generation of Citizens: NAEP Civics Assessments-1988 and 1998
Chester E. Finn, Jr.National Center for Education Statistics
Charter Schools in Action: Renewing Public Education
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Chester E. Finn, Jr., Bruno V. Manno, and Gregg Vanourek
Teachers learn to gamble, massage in order to maintain certification
Teachers in many states must accumulate professional development credits to maintain their certification, but those who pushed hard for a recently-enacted recertification program in Illinois were horrified to learn that some teachers are satisfying this requirement by taking courses in Tai Chi, massage, and gambling (conducted at a racetrack, no less).
Opposition to character education from an unlikely source
In this week's Weekly Standard, former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett and Boston University Ed School Dean Edwin J. Delattre take aim at the character education program included in the education bills now before Congress.
How to keep good principals
Diane RavitchTime magazine and other national media have recently featured the work of a program called "New Leaders for New Schools," which is preparing 15 people to become school principals. This is most certainly a valuable activity and it deserves commendation if, in fact, the 15 people do someday turn out to be not only principals but good principals.
Confusion about commercialism in schools
Pizza Hut offers free pizza to students who read a certain number of books while rival Domino's rewards schools with free books if the school community buys pizza from its outlets. Do these deals harm students by commercializing schools, as critics suggest?
Make ed schools sing for their supper
In a piece in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education, Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation and former president of Brown University argues that we should stop blaming teachers for their professional shortcomings and start pointing fingers at the universities and colleges that train them.
National Center for Accountability to study achievement data and schools
Just for the Kids-the nonprofit group best known for making school-level accountability data available in an innovative, user-friendly website-is now teaming with the Education Commission of the States and the University of Texas to launch the National Center for Accountability.
Virtual charter schools that don't need to find buildings
In Pennsylvania and Colorado (among other states), parents can now register their children for charter schools that exist only in cyberspace.
School-Community Partnerships In Support of Learning
Karen BakerInstitute for Educational Leadership
Homeschooling in the United States: 1999
Chester E. Finn, Jr.National Center for Education Statistics
Mathematics 2000: The Nation's Report Card
Chester E. Finn, Jr.National Center for Education Statistics and the National Assessment Governing Board
2001 State Special Education Outcomes: A Report on State Activities at the Beginning of a New Decade
Kelly ScottNational Center on Educational Outcomes
Do No Harm-High Stakes Testing and Students With Learning Disabilities
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Disability Rights Advocates
Teach for America instructors outshine experienced teachers
Teach for America teachers perform as well or better than other teachers employed by the Houston Independent School District, according to an independent study by CREDO, a research group based at Stanford's Hoover Institution. An editorial in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution argues that Georgia should also open its doors to prospective teachers like these.