More than 50 percent of students who have completed Algebra II in high school find themselves in a remedial math course in college. (Even 13 percent of those who complete Calculus do.) How can this happen?

A new report suggests that these students have been pushed through basic math concepts, such as math modeling and complex measurement, so they can complete high school graduation requiContinue Reading »

Vermont has had school choice for over a century, and yet the struggle of one southern Vermont public school to close its doors and reopen as an independent school has stirred up all the controversy that one might expect elsewhere in the country. Despite significant pushback from some local voters, the independent school has ultimately been approved at both the local and state level. Still, oppContinue Reading »

This guest blog post written by Danny Rosenthal, who is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former high school math teacher. He practices labor and employment law in Washington, D.C.

Two years ago, Florida’s Alachua County was faced with a dilemma. Under the state’s new teacher evaluation law, the county was required to base 40 percent of evaluations on value-added student achievementContinue Reading »

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  ES Senior Fellow Peter Cookson remembers his “mentor from the old school.”

April 1961. I am about to graduate from Saint Mary’s High School on the south side of Phoenix, Ariz. I am a fair student at best, only functionally literate, vaguely interested in history, a bit of a cut-up, and noted for talking back to the good nuns and fathers who wContinue Reading »

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued its decision on the state’s private school voucher program, enacted last year with support from Gov. Bobby Jindal. I’m probably one of the few people in education policy who don’t have strong views either way about vouchers.* In general, I see far greater potential in strategies that seek to grow the supply of high-quality, autonomous schools in thContinue Reading »

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Here’s ES Senior Fellow Ben Wildavsky on one of his crushes favorite teachers…

I remember quite a bit about first grade at John Muir Elementary School in Berkeley, California, circa 1971-1972. Our portable classroom stood apart from the main school building, next to a small creek. Inside, first- and second-graders were mixed in a single experiContinue Reading »

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! From all of us here at Education Sector, thank you, teachers, for doing the amazing work you do! Tune in all week as we remember teachers who inspire us to do the work we do.

As other Quick and Ed bloggers write this week about teachers who’ve inspired them, I’d like to direct readers to this Quick and Ed post I wrote seven years ago about my Continue Reading »

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! From all of us here at Education Sector, thank you, teachers, for doing the amazing work you do! Tune in all week as we remember teachers who inspire us to do the work we do.

To this day, I still backspace when I type “there is” or “there are.” My high school journalism adviser, Mrs. (Marilyn) Dreistadt, ingrained it in our minds that “there is” is quite Continue Reading »

In my last blog, I examined the alarming statistics on school-based violence and asked whether turning schools into armed camps was the solution. While access to weapons, gang activity, and bullying present real threats that need to be realistically addressed, I am convinced that much of school-based violence and acting-out lies in dysfunctional and alienating school cultures. This blog is abouContinue Reading »

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! From all of us here at Education Sector, thank you, teachers, for doing the amazing work you do! Tune in all week as we remember teachers who inspire us to do the work we do. Policy Analyst Connie Clark starts us off:

I’ll never forget my high school principal. The year I graduated high school was Dr. Mary Kolek’s last year at Weston High School. She had Continue Reading »