It’s a bit of a stretch to make sweeping generalizations about what yesterday’s election results mean for President Obama’s overall policy agenda, let alone what they mean specifically for education. Not that it will stop people from trying.
Last week, Erik Robelen of Education Week speculated that a Corzine defeat might bode [...]
Arne Duncan will deliver a speech to the National Association of State Boards of Education in Ohio today in which he continues to flesh out some of the themes the Administration has been sounding on school reform via Race to the Top, I3, and ESEA reauthorization.
He’s speaking before a somewhat skeptical [...]
Hat tip to Alexander Russo for posting this morning on an article in the L.A. Times about Douglas Reeves’ work on "subjective grading."
Here is a summary of Reeves’ work excerpted from the LAT:"Reeves asked teachers and administrators in the United States, Australia, Canada and South America to determine a final semester [...]
The Common Core Standards Initiative released the first draft of the first stage of its work on Monday.
Few were screaming bloody murder so it seems like the political needle is being threaded, more or less, for now.
The real questions, as always, revolve around what happens in classrooms: who teaches, what’s taught, [...]
Doing something always creates some people who are unhappy. There’s always going to be some interest out there that decides, "You know what? The status quo is working for me a little bit better."
President Barack Obama, July 22, 2009
Rhetoric vs. Reality
Democrats for Education Reform, Race to the Top Backgrounder
Overview
By [...]
RT @ASCD_Inservice: we say Lose the Boss [bit.ly]. OMG. Close libraries. And hire Tony Danza.12 minutes ago from TweetDeck
California: Underfunding education for decades. Sweetheart deals to special interests. [bit.ly].[bit.ly]30 minutes ago from TweetDeck[...]Our colleagues in the health care arena were shocked and outraged that Sarah Palin, Chuck Grassley, and others were able to get away with perpetuating the "death panel" fiction this week about the Obama health care plan.
A lot of my friends and I in the education policy world just chuckled. [...]
Today’s Tweets (@bigswifty)Friend of friend FB comment "Obamacare will turn us all into Soylent Green."less than a minute ago from web
Unconfirmed Beltway rumor: at reading event, Rahm renames Duncan initiative as "RTTMFT."about 3 hours ago from web[...]
Today’s Tweets (@bigswifty)Vander Ark: Ed policies pushed by Obama reflect consensus built over last decade, by many orgs. Contrast w/ health.[bit.ly]4 minutes ago from webMindblowing 60 Minutes segment last night. Brains linked to computers. What does it mean for [...] "For states, school districts, nonprofits, unions and businesses, Race to the Top is the equivalent of education reform’s moon shot – and the Obama administration is determined not to miss this opportunity."
"Education Reform’s Moon Shot," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Washington Post, July 24th, 2009
"Space may be the final [...]President Obama’s quote from Wednesday night’s health care press conference could also aptly be made today, when he talks about the Race to the Top.
"If you don’t set deadlines in this town, things don’t happen. The default position is inertia, because doing something always creates some people who are unhappy. [...]
The Obama Administration did pretty well, in dollar terms, on at least two key priorities, e.g., the Teacher Incentive Fund and charter schools, in the House subcommittee bill that was swiftly approved this morning.
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Charters Update
People have been trying to figure out what was going on all day, because intell did [...]
Democrats for Education Reform issued the following release at the end of last week, right after many states wrapped up their legislative sessions. The takeaway message: Those who resist the school reform movement are going to find they are on the wrong side of history. They may affect the pace [...]
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From Democrats for Education Reform Race to the Top Issue Brief #4,"World Class Standards and Assessments": "Implementation of national “college-ready” standards should include articulation agreements in each state that meeting such standards would ensure that students are eligible for admission to state colleges and universities." "Any effort to implement higher standards must [...] 
The difference between what I saw at the charter schools conference held in DC last week, and what I have heard from some of the anti-charter members of Congress in the past month or so could not be more striking. Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t [...] The recent DFER Race to the Top issue brief on "unleashing innovation" states that:
"Green Dot and other disruptive innovators have forced a discussion that had not taken place in prior school reform efforts and, more importantly, that has resulted in action, rather than just rhetoric and hand-wringing. The R & D [...]
Democrats for Education Reform: Race to the Top Policy Briefs Continue Rolling Out
"There are two paths that Race to the Top can take. The first is the old way - the path of least resistance - where government officials succumb to political pressure. This path ensures that the [...]
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Democrats for Education Reform launches series of six Race to the Top issue briefs: here.
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"We need to harness the power and potential of technology and innovation to revamp our educational system."
The Committee site has all the testimony and video.
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[...]Charter school advocates – including such prominent Democrats as President Barack Obama, his Education secretary, Bredesen and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean – favor their expansion as laboratories for innovation. But some Democratic-leaning groups like the Tennessee Education Association oppose them…
Bound by the unit rule, House Democrats killed the [...]
Last night, Secretary Arne Duncan addressed the NGA at an education summit at the Hunt Institute in Cary, North Carolina.
The big announcement was that the feds would set-aside $350 million from the Race to the Top fund to develop inter-state assessments aligned with the new standards being developed by the [...]
Tomorrow, Arne Duncan will take his "Listening and Learning Tour" to New Jersey where he will visit the North Star Middle School Academy in Newark.
It will be interesting to see what Duncan says about New Jersey’s eligibility for the second wave of stimulus funding (or why it’s bringing up the rear in [...]
Success Charter Network of Harlem sent a letter of inquiry to Secretary Duncan on May 21, asking for clarification of the Department’s ARRA guidance.
In the letter, they point out that:
"Under ARRA, states are to distribute stabilization funding through their own state formulas for elementary and secondary education.
"At the same time, the [...]
Andrew Hart is a freelance artist and co-founder of the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society.
To see more of his artwork, visit his website www.andre-whart.com.
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[...]The House Education Committee held a hearing yesterday on the abuse of special education students in public and private schools. The hearing was in response to a GAO report, entitled:
"SECLUSIONS AND RESTRAINTS: Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers."
Noteworthy quotes from the GAO report:
“Staff involved [...]
Delia Pompa, vice president of education at the National Council of La Raza, penned an op-ed that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman yesterday that urged state legislators to move forward, not backward, on needed statewide reforms.
Some samples:
"Lawmakers’ well-intentioned efforts to include post-secondary readiness measures in the Texas public school accountability system shouldn’t [...]
