Could it take “Eyeballs in the Fridge” to get girls interested in science? A new study says maybe so. (h/t The Answer Sheet )
Plan A: Elect a legislature less friendly towards public employees. Plan B: Quit school and become a state billboard inspector. WSJ asks: Which will it be UC students? (The Wall [...]
All Posts Tagged: 'Charter Schools'
QUICK Hits
KIPP Works
It’s relatively obvious to anyone who looks that the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), the nation’s largest charter management organization, produces results. Just by seeing its classrooms you start to figure this out: the students are in matching uniforms, they chant and seem energized about learning, and, other than the chants, they’re orderly and respectful. [...]
LA Teacher’s Union Wins the Day
When it was adopted last summer by the Los Angeles School Board, the Public School Choice resolution has heralded as a huge victory for education reformers in California. Under this resolution, charter schools, Mayor Villaraigosa’s Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (PLAS), the teacher union and the district itself would compete to operate not only a [...]
When Policy Becomes Ideology
Last week Andy and I offered some ideas on the best way to characterize the theoretical and ideological divisions in education policy. Justin Cohen followed up:
I like Andy’s “Choice/Accountability” matrix, it’s far superior to the dichotomy that both of their posts reject. I worry, though, that it conflates “choice” and school-based “autonomy.” Right [...]
Charter Laws
Charter school laws have been all over the news lately, with a second national organization releasing their rankings of state charter laws at the same time states are revising their laws in order to be eligible for the Race to the Top (RTTT) Fund’s $4.35 billion. Charter laws vary tremendously state-by-state, but the federal Department [...]
New Charter School Law Rankings
Back in June, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a model charter school law, outlining the key elements of autonomy, accountability and support that are necessary for charter schools to thrive in a state. Today, NAPCS released a ranking of states based on the model law criteria. This is a report well worth [...]
A Common Application for the Common Good
Gotham Schools reported yesterday that charter schools in New York City might begin using a common application to make the charter application process easier and more accessible for students and their parents. This is a great idea. One of the biggest challenges to developing a well-functioning school choice system is ensuring that all parents are [...]
QUICK Hits
Should banks stay in the student loan business? Secretary Duncan weighs in. (Wall Street Journal)
Which state now has the most ambitious version of a “smart cap” for charter schools? (Detroit News)
What do you have to do to get tenure in L.A.? Apparently not much. (LA Times)
What can graphic novels teach us about verbs? (Sherman Dorn)
QUICK Hits
Are central Florida schools flouting a Florida law limiting test-prep? (Sherman Dorn)
Does the Common App make it appear that some schools are a lot more selective than they really are? (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
Do charter schools deserve the spotlight? National Journal experts weigh in. (National Journal)
How are states using ARRA funds? (Education Commission [...]
Bricks-and-Mortar Money for Virtual Schools?
It’s worth keeping an eye on what’s happening to virtual schools in Georgia. Last week, a group of charter schools bypassed the traditional route to charter authorization and sought to be funded exactly like any other public school in the state. (For the record, Georgia has 122 charter schools but only one virtual charter school.)
We’ve [...]
Education as a Consumer Good
Last week, Education Sector hosted “School Choice a la Carte”, an online discussion about expanding school choice beyond the ‘brick and mortar’ options that are usually discussed (e.g., traditional public schools vs. charter schools) to allow for even more customization and choice in education. Much of the discussion focused on the opportunities this type of [...]
Green Dot Has a Long Way to Go
A couple of months ago, I postulated that Green Dot’s new high school takeover, Locke High School, would start to outperform two other chronically low performing LA Unified schools—one run by the mayor and one run by the district (here) . Now Green Dot and the mayor just took possession of these schools at the [...]
Charter Schools and Unions—One Size Fits All??
Unionization of charter schools seems to be the hot topic these days. A recent NYT article raises the critical question:
“…whether unions will strengthen the charter movement by stabilizing its young, often transient teaching force, or weaken it by preventing administrators from firing ineffective teachers and imposing changes they say help raise achievement, like an extended [...]
Charter Schools and Unions
The New York Times reported yesterday on recent efforts to unionize charter schools and the ongoing debate over the impact unionization could have on the growth and performance of charters. It’s an important discussion, but no one knows where it will end – will unionized charter schools be a small part of the larger movement [...]
A Next Step for School Choice?
A fascinating proposal is being considered by the Los Angeles school board (here). Yesterday was the first meeting on it. The district has 50 schools that will come on line in the next couple of years. Instead of having the district run all of these new schools, Yolie Flores Aguilar, the vice president of the [...]
Tale of Three Turnarounds
Turning around a low performing high school may be the most difficult task in K-12 education. This week Sec. Duncan has suggested that charter schools should play a critical role in the effort to turn around low performing schools. Perhaps this comparison will start to suggest why. There is a lot to learn about two [...]
Turnaround Jumper
Michael Jordan was a great, great basketball player, both for his God-given abilities and his drive to succeed. He could float above the rim in awe-inspiring ways, and it was his determination that led him from being cut as a high schooler to the world’s best all-time player. These things are well known. What’s less [...]
Iowa’s Charter Schools
I’m proud to say I attended Iowa public schools from kindergarten through college, and it so happens that my education almost perfectly corresponds to the heyday of Iowa’s education system.
In 1992, when I was 8, Iowa’s fourth-graders scored higher than all but one state in math and all but four states in reading on the [...]
Charter Schools and Budget Battles
ConnCAN sent out an alert last Friday about Connecticut’s Governor Rell’s latest budget, which includes substantial cuts to the state’s charter schools. Nevermind that Connecticut’s charter schools already receive less per-student than traditional public schools and face caps on the number of students they can enroll. Or that, according to this report, they have greater [...]
Lowering Student Loan Default Rates: What One Consortium of Historically Black Institutions Did to Succeed 
College and Career-Ready: Using Outcomes Data to Hold High Schools Accountable for Student Success
03/19/10 | Ben Miller is quoted on college graduation rates and the NCAA Tournament in the Detroit Free Press.
03/19/10 | Linda Perlstein links to Education Sector's "College- and Career-Ready" event.
03/17/10 | Ben Miller's column on graduation rates and NCAA Tournament eligibility is mentioned on The Wall Street Journal's The Daily Fix.
03/17/10 | Kevin Carey's critique of Diane Ravitch's latest book is quoted in Doublethink's Conventional Folly blog.
03/15/10 | Ben Miller pens an op-ed for US News & World Report on using graduation rates to determine NCAA Tournament eligibility.