- Q: Should we fix education by hiring stellar teachers, weeding out low-performing ones, or better training those we have? A: None of the above. In a provocative Ed Week post, Rick Hess, Greg Gunn, and Olivia Meeks argue that we need to restructure teaching to better utilize the talents of those we already have. Enough trying fit square pegs into the round hole.
- Last week we warned that charter-school-specific amendments tacked on to the budget bill by members of the Ohio House would turn the state’s charter program into a laughing stock. Well, all that grumping may yet pay off. Governor John Kasich (through his top education advisor) has called for the removal of the ill-conceived provisions.
- Joel Klein has yet to write his memoirs. But, for those curious as to what they might say when it comes to New York schools and American education writ large, his recent piece in the Atlantic provides some insight. Powerful stuff.
- Don’t write off American high school education just yet, says Jack Jennings of the Center for Education Reform. Sure overall NAEP scores for seventeen-year-olds have barely improved since the 1970s. But, disaggregate that by ethnicity and the picture looks rosier.
- When it comes to school-board elections (typically held in the spring, independent of other ballot measures), few residents can be bothered even to show up. Voter turnout of 10 percent or 7 percent is common. In Indiana, that could all change, as the state just moved school-board elections to the general-election day. Mitch Daniels is killing it on the ed-reform front this month.
- Here we go again. The L.A. Times released ratings for another 11,500 teachers this past Sunday, much to the chagrin of the union—and to supe John Deasy.
- “Ponzi scheme!,” yells New York Magazine, as it points menacingly at American universities.
- Over the past decade, autism diagnoses in U.S. students have risen four-fold; autistic pupils now comprise 0.8 percent of all students nationwide. But a recent study out of South Korea predicts that this number may still be low. By screening all students, researchers found an autism rate of 2.6 percent. If the U.S. matches up, we’d be looking at another million autism diagnoses—a 300 percent increase.
