Commentary
Sustained Positive Effects on Graduation Rates Produced by New York City’s Small Public High Schools of Choice
Small schools get the final word.
Commentary
Flexibility, Philadelphia, and Bloomberg calls Cuomo’s bluff
The AP reports that the U.S. Education Department scolded states that had applied for the first round of NCLB waivers for not ensuring to ED’s satisfaction that schools would be held accountable for student performance.
Commentary
Parent power, teacher power, local power, and a word from Michelle Rhee
Peter catches up on a few of the most notable education stories from the past month (or so).
Commentary
Charter Schools
High-quality customizable learning options should be the rule, not the exception
One could argue that 2011 was the year of “digital learning” in Ohio and across the nation. In September, the White House announced its “Digital Promise” campaign, while a number of states have been embracing initiatives and campaigns in this realm, aided and encouraged by national groups like the Digital Learning Council and the Foundation for Excellence in Education. Ohio’s biennial budget launched the Ohio Digital Learning Task Force and charged it with ensuring that the state’s “legislative environment is conducive to and supportive of the educators and digital innovators at the heart of this transformation.”
Commentary
A big bet on Common Core implementation
Here’s hoping the GE Foundation’s $18 million will provide CCSS authors an important tool for shaping implementation discussions.
Commentary
O'Malley fights the good fight on Maryland pensions
A modest, and relatively unpopular, plan could go a long way towards improving Maryland's fiscal situation.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Can a small program in Mexico inform parental choice in the U.S.?
Parents, even those a step above poverty, are ready to exercise more control over their children's education.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Survey: charter school closure rates dropping
Adam explains why charter school applications must be subjected to closer scrutiny.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Scaling up by scaling down
Real reform must embrace choice—choice at the individual level.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Ranking reform, embracing audacity
As the recent ALEC report card on American K-12 education shows, it's been a brazen year for school reform.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
How will reading instruction change when aligned to the Common Core?
The Common Core emphasis on "close reading" challenges teachers to focus reading on actually reading.
Commentary
Charter Schools
School choice options abound in Ohio
As you are likely well aware, we are in the midst of School Choice Week, not only here in Ohio but nationwide. Numerous events have been going on all throughout the Buckeye State to help commemorate.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Will Steve Jobs finally conquer the classroom?
The education sector remains an elusive prize for Apple, but the company is making a big move to change that.
Commentary
For both classroom and computer learning, content matters
Why digital learning demands thoughtful educational design.
Commentary
Commentary
Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform
And the winner is…Missouri?!
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Preparing for Change: A National Perspective on Common Core State Standards Implementation Planning
Act now, align later
Commentary
Commentary
Commentary
Charter Schools
The feds find a way to stem the tide of STEM innovation
Catching up on the week's news.
Commentary
School success? Fryer finds it in Houston
School reformers don't need silver bullets or secret sauces--they need the flexibility to make substantive changes.
Commentary
Charter Schools
What history can teach our school choice debates today
It's worth looking back at the bipartisan roots of the school choice movement.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
An Apple on every desk?
Why iPads won't replace textbooks in every classroom anytime soon.
Commentary
Funding the future of K-12 education in Ohio
Have the state and local school districts promised more than they can deliver? Has education really adjusted itself to the “new normal,” or have we been buying time and hoping for new money to bail out schools, money that isn’t likely to show up?
Commentary
In-school credit union branches helping youngsters learn to manage money
An innovative partnership to teach money-management skills to students launched this month between a southern Ohio school district and a local credit union.
Commentary
Charter Schools
Ohio’s “unique” approach to charter-district collaboration
Ohio is unique in its ability to turn the best of charter school theory and practice on its head. The most recent example comes from an Ohio school district that set up a charter school to offload test scores of low-performing students while making money for the district.
Commentary
Ohio’s ed system ranked 10th nationally, still merits just a C+
Ohio has gotten a lot of feedback on its education system in the past few weeks. On January 12, Education Week released the national report card Quality Counts 2012: The Global Challenge –Education in a Competitive World.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Adoption was the easy part: Gauging Common Core implementation progress across the country
When the Common Core academic content standards were first introduced, most observers thought at best ten or 12 state would adopt them, and few thought it possible they’d be adopted by all but a handful of statesHow is Ohio doing when it comes to preparing for the full implementation of the Common Core standards by 2014?
Commentary
The Long-Term Impacts of Teachers: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood
Into the contentious debate over teacher effectiveness and value-added metrics (VAM) comes this important, timely, and supersized analysis, conducted by a trio of respected economists with the NBER, showing that the impact of good teachers follows their students into adulthood
Commentary
Charter Schools
The State of Charter Schools: What We Know – and What We Do Not – About Performance and Accountability
Since the first charter school opened its doors in Minnesota in 1991, over 6,700 charter schools have set up shop in 40 states and DC. Unfortunately, not all of these schools have been successful and a number of them have since closed.