Given the latest discussion of the coverage of education and the press, Linda Perlstein’s hyperlink to Nick Lemann’s account of the passage of NCLB couldn’t be timelier. But first we should recall Lemann’s greatest scoop, an interview with Karl Rove on "the death of" [...]
The school bell rings and students stay to study LA Times
Hawaii has hacked 17 days off its school year. California schools,
whose academic year has traditionally been 180 days, were not spared;
districts in Riverside, Camarillo, Ojai and Whittier lopped [...]
Harlem's Education Experiment Gone Right 60 Minutes
Ed
Bradley first reported on Canada three and a half years ago, but back
then there was no way to tell if his Children's Zone was working.
Today, however, results are in and [...]
We believe that by marrying the methodological rigor of sound research with the communications excellence of the best journalism and the real-world impact of policy analysis Education Sector is uniquely positioned to both make a compelling case for fundamental reform and to promote change directly with [...]
Chairman Harkin has named two people named Smith to run the majority-side HELP committee. Dan Smith and Pam Smith (unrelated) are new names to me, and neither looks like they're education people in any narrow staff. But that's not necessarily a bad thing for a staff' [...]
In this Education Week article Education Sector seems like it's trying to throw as many aspersions at "former employee" Tom Toch as possible (he's late, a bad writer, greedy). At the same time, they're trying to keep the lid on the story by refusing to send me (and perhaps' [...]
Texas education head warns of 'federal takeover'
Embrace of 'common standards' by Obama administration is first step to losing local control, Scott says.
States Seek Stimulus Funds Tied to Education Reform
PBS NewsHour
A report today says most [...]
My series on Sweating v. Growing will proceed as planned for next week, but in the meanwhile.....
Debra Viadero's article in today's online edition of Education Week (Study Casts Doubt on Strength of Charter Managers) is worth reading if you are trying to determine the extent to which EdSector manipulated [...]
Updates on the Race Education Optimists
State by state roundup.
Race to the Top Versus the Money Chase Ed Next Blog
This enormous cash nexus that swamps anything any business
entity has contributed creates a huge problem for Arne Duncan.
Michael Kenneth Williams (the actor who played Omar Little on The Wire) grew up in East Flatbush but went to Westinghouse House school.
His mom “didn’t want me going to my zone school, so she doctored the address on my form,” says Williams in this New [...]
"If you don't understand the experience of boyhood," [Way] says, "you'll never understand the achievement gaps." (The Puzzle of Boys Chronicle)
The best practice for a high school teacher being evaluated is to instruct students beforehand who know the answers to raise their right hands, and those who do not know the answers to raise their left hands. Even if I taught my students to silently raise [...]
Some West Michigan lawmakers, educators lukewarm on state's race to make ... Grand Rapids Press
... US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said he hopes to see, and the state House Education Committee has bills expected to come to a vote Thursday. ...
A “Race to the Top” flip-flop Fordham
Now states will be able to claim that they have “narrowed achievement
gaps” when all they’ve done is make their tests so easy to pass that
virtually all kids—black and white, rich and poor—do so, magically
erasing any group differences.
DHHS Secretary Mike Bloomberg announced his resignation in the wake of last week’s ill-timed statement, at the height of the battle for health insurance reform, that heart surgeons would be evaluated based on their patients’ survival rates. Though gracious in praising the outgoing Secretary, President Obama [...]
Carmel Martin looks like she might be about to fall asleep in this picture but the folks at EdWeek put the screws on Arne Duncan during a recent visit to EdWeek's Bethesda compound ([...]
![The-Simpsons-[06x21]-The PTA Disbands!](http://bartsblackboard.com/files/2009/11/The-Simpsons-06x21-The-PTA-Disbands.jpg)
"I do not have power of attorney over first graders" (Bart's Blackboard)
[...]There's something "off" about the Brookings report release and panel being held today, though I can't quite put my finger on it.
Or maybe I can.
Oh yes, now it's coming clearer.
Right there. Yep. That's it.
The "olde timey" thing.
Perhaps it's the fact that, while I' [...]
State charter schools program is 'out of control' Minneapolis Star Tribune
In
the past decade, 18 charter schools have been built with $178 million
in junk bonds, with financing costs on some projects chewing up nearly
a quarter of the funds raised.
I'm guessing that the 2nd graders in Kimberly Spring-Winters' classroom don't know that her husband is --gasp! -- also her first cousin. They probably don't care.
But they and their parents might know soon, given that the teacher (pictured) is featured prominently in a New [...]
Mr. President: Be the bad guy, start closing schools Uncle Jay Mathews
Many fine people, including President Obama, are trying to make public schools better, but I don't see much progress.
Are Single-Sex Schools Bad For Boys? Jezebel
I'm not
convinced that the excitement of [...]
"You’re really unlikely to find better times than 2009, 2010, and 2011 to spend a bunch of money on large-scale projects." (Matt Yglesias)
[...]Dean is a hard act to follow. After reading Tom Toch's original document, as opposed to his Education Week article, I still see the same pattern. The Education Sector and the Eduwonk have long battled with themselves over facts and their meanings. Now,' [...]
To his credit, Stephen Colbert seemed like he wasn't having a lot of fun during last night's interview of Cevin Soling, the director of the new movie, The War On Kids. But I could have suggested a bunch of more interesting guests to have talk about [...]
Michelle
Moss, center, becomes emotional Monday night as she is forced off the
Denver school board early and says goodbye to her peers. (Denver school reforms approved amid turmoil Denver Post)Rape At School Brings New Despair To Richmond NPR
Residents wrestle with the effects of the brutal gang-rape of a girl at her high school.
Duncan Aims to Make Incentives Key Element of ESEA EdWeek
The education secretary wants [...]
Charter schools hold promise, but they're no magic bullet LA Times
Charter schools are on the cusp of national stardom. Less clear, though, is
whether charter schools offer real, long-term solutions to fixing
public education in America, [...]
Here's Arne Duncan's upcoming schedule of media events and photo ops -- though I can't manage to get excited about any of it.
Be assured there will be the usual mix of fear-mongering, repetition of talking points, and exhortation.
PUBLIC SCHEDULE OF U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY ARNE DUNCAN THE WEEK' [...]
Education Sector’s November 24 report, Growing Pains: Scaling Up the Nation’s Best Charter Schools examines the problems CMOs face trying to replicate their various philosophies of teaching and learning in new public schools. Considering the source, the content and conclusion are predictable and deserve little attention: While each CMO faces [...]
Joblessness adds to burden on D.C. area schools Washington Post
As the lunchroom poverty barometer rises, schools are solidifying their role as centers for social services.
To Pay for Longer School Days, Some Parents Try Raising Money NYT
Parents of students [...]
After Newt Gingrich misstated the facts regarding Mastery Charter Schools in Philadelphia, the media could have checked into the true story of the schools’ outstanding accomplishments without distorting the challenges faced by the toughest neighborhood schools.
So it was doubly dismaying when Secretary Duncan was [...]
The Secretary went to Chicago for the Michael Scott funeral but he gets a break this week, with a relatively light schedule (besides a bothersome trip to San Antonio - who the hell let that get in?).
Following his lead, I'll be doing' [...]
Retired Los Angeles teacher keeps at it, for free
LA Times
Five mornings a week, Bruce Kravets, 66, puts on a coat and tie, straps
on his helmet and bikes to work at Palms Middle School on L.A.'s
Westside, where he teaches math. For free.
Good news. Starting this week, longtime education industry insider Marc Dean Millot (pictured) is going to be posting a weekly piece on the education industry on this site. I've been a fan of Millot's for a long time, though we come from different ends of the political spectrum and don't' [...]
I am convincing few if any of the innovationistas at the National Journal's education blog that, perhaps, we're asking too much of so-called "inovation." After all, the question put forth to start the conversation ([...]
The first 13 contributors to the National Journal’s discussion on innovation largely echoed the heroic infatuation of theorists with "disruptive innovation," arguing that education needs "radically new approaches," "federal leverage" to destroy local policies and "antiquated" contracts, and the adoption of Frederick Hayek’s The Road to [...]
"She's into education and rehabilitation and thinks Obama is all about welfare and handouts." (UsMagazine)
[...]NY dad pleads guilty to kidnapping superintendent AP
A former New York City police officer has admitted
he held a suburban school superintendent at gunpoint in June....
Thanks to a couple of eagle-eyed readers (including MDM) for pointing out that the much-delayed Education Sector report on charter management organizations lacks the name -- and apparently much of the content provided by -- its original author, writer and EdSector co-founder Tom Toch.
Asked about the situation, Toch said, [...]An education love triangle joins forces to invade Washington Post Gotham Schools Good
will and holiday cheer all around as Michelle Rhee’s current fiance
endorses her ex-husband in his quest to get a column in the newspaper
Rhee spurns.
Tween Protests Anomie of Modern Urban Life Gawker[...]
“Performance management” is one of those buzz phrases that I usually like to make fun of, but I did my best to withhold judgment last week when I had the chance to talk with Lori Fey from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, which is all over the concept [...]
Stephen Sawchuck remembers when Dianne Piche' "likened permitting teachers' scoring of their students' tests to allowing 16-year-olds to score their own driver's-license exams." Being a former adult, I see such arrogance as the only way to reconcile the values of the Citizens Commission on Civil [...]
In the decade since disparities in suspensions and expulsions were first highlighted following a football game brawl in Decatur Illinois, things have only gotten worse -- and it's not just an inner-city problem, according to an AP report on the topic. [...]
Alexander Russo, john thompson, Marc Dean Millot
