Recommended reading
Peter MeyerCatching up on some reading, Peter discovered some stories that may be old news to some of you, but merit a second look.
Three persistent myths about science education
Paul GrossGuest blogger Paul Gross addresses the enduring (and false) belief that scientific reasoning is separable from the content of science.
Ending Ohio’s charter-district feud
Terry RyanChildren across Ohio will benefit if charters and school districts can end their feud and find ways to maximize resources across their schools.
Spending patterns, and levy considerations, in Columbus City Schools
Emmy L. PartinCurrent spending patterns show that the district isn’t systematically directing more dollars toward neediest students today.
Highlights from Fordham-sponsored charter schools (2011-12)
Bianca SperanzaAs the 2011-12 school year ends, we want to highlight the unique events and successes that happened in our schools this year.
Diplomas Count 2012
Aaron ChurchillThree out of four (73.5 percent) of the national 2009 graduating class successfully graduated high school in four years.
Measuring Teacher Effectiveness: A Look “Under the Hood” of Teacher Evaluation in 10 Sites
Danyell LewisReaders probably won’t find an end-all be-all solution to teacher evaluation in this report. What you will find is a starting place—to brainstorm which methods best fit your objectives.
The Greenfield School Revolution and School Choice
Hanif AbdurraqibThe report challenges the choice system as it currently stands, saying that existing school choice programs, while delivering slightly better outcomes, are not challenging the public school sector as they need to be.
Managing Talent for School Coherence: Learning from Charter Management Organizations
Theda SampsonThe Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) takes a look at how strong charter management organizations manage staff to maximize the instructional and cultural coherence of the school.
EVENT: Is American Education Coming Apart?
For all the talk of gaps in achievement, opportunity, and funding between ethnic and racial groups in American education, a different divide may also be splitting our schools and our future. In his acclaimed and controversial recent book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010, scholar/pundit/provocateur Charles Murray describes a widening class schism.
Giving Students the Three Rs: Reading, Readiness, Results
Danyell LewisMany of us have probably dozed off in class, and now $1.1 million in grants will go toward keeping classroom engagement alive.
Louisiana should consider a common-sense approach to accountability
Adam EmersonA few suggestions for voucher accountability
The BIG Question: A blueprint for reform
Peter MeyerPeter reviews the essays in Board's Eye View's recent series on education governance.
Rejecting 'perverse incentives' to label kids
Adam EmersonWhy Eva Moskowitz is right to challenge New York's enrollment quotas for students with special needs.
"Just right" books revisited: 3 ways we undermine student learning
Kathleen Porter-MageeIn the end, the “just right” theory of reading instruction is focused on the right goal—having students read independently and with deep understanding. But the way it tries to get there may be exactly what is holding our students back from achieving at the levels they need.
Skill. Concentration. Stamina.
Aaron ChurchillPhilosophical gravitas from an unexpected source.
The Greenfield School Revolution and School Choice
Adam EmersonInnovation demands investment
A Time for Governing: Policy Solutions from the Pages of National Affairs
Tyson EberhardtThe time for tinkering has passed
Nobody loves standards (and that's O.K.)
Robert PondiscioThe Common Core is common sense
Cleveland’s on the rise. Chicago?…not so much.
The Education GadflyTimes are tough for the nation’s largest union: Fresh off Scott Walker’s recall victory and a
McKay supporters serve up more strident opposition to accountability
Adam EmersonImagine, for a moment, a policy that allows learning-disabled students to take their share of federal IDEA funds to the public or private schools of their choice. It’s outlandish to suppose that we would discontinue the use of state assessments given to most of these students. But that’s the reality in Florida.
Charter schools increasingly tapping bond markets
Chris TessoneThe growth in capital available to schools from private investors is an underrated success story for the charter movement.
How much will the Common Core change education?
The Education GadflyMike Petrilli joined Susan Headden on Minnesota Public Radio this morning to discuss how much the Common Core will actually change education.
Lessons from the leafy suburbs: Reform may be harder for the rich
Guest blogger Robyne Camp explains why suburban education reform is so challenging.
An extreme but not surprising reaction to disruptive innovation
Adam EmersonA proposed online charter school in North Carolina learns how challenging it is to challenge the status quo.
The fiction fallacy
Kathleen Porter-MageeThe Common Core ELA standards are right to takes on one of the most prominent and often fiercely defended fallacies in American education: that fiction is the only—or perhaps even the best—way to develop students’ love of reading, learning, and critical comprehension skills.
The need for school board leadership
Guest blogger Timothy G. Kremer, executive director of the New York State School Boards Association, argues for strong school board leadership in improving student achievement.