Rick Hess’ new book title, Cage-Busting Leadership, invokes images of Hulk crushing bars designed to hold him back. But as Tuesday’s panel shows, school leaders can learn just as much, if not more, from Hulk’s alter-ego, the reserved, bookish and determined Dr. Bruce Banner: The first and perhaps most important action a leader can take is to learn the rules of the game.

For Principal AdrContinue Reading »

Negotiations over the new District of Columbia teachers’ contract have begun with Chancellor Kaya Henderson predicting that “some interesting things” will be incorporated into the final agreement, including (perhaps) giving effective teachers the option of earning more money in exchange for agreeing to teach larger classes than their fellow teachers.

Letting better teachers teach larger Continue Reading »

Last week, Education Nation closed the summit with interviews from President Obama and Governor Romney. The candidates seemed to agree more than they disagreed—in fact, Brian Williams asked Governor Romney if he would retain Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education for a Romney presidency. Performance pay was one area where President Obama and Governor Romney were closely aligned. “There should beContinue Reading »

Michelle Obama at Anacostia High School's graduation in 2010 (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

I love a good headline. Yesterday DCist reported: ‘D.C. Schools’ Graduation Rate Falls, Officials Applaud.’ Was this a typo? An April Fools’ joke?

Nope. In 2010, 73 percent of DC’s high school graduates received their diploma within four yContinue Reading »

Even today, almost eighteen months after she resigned, it’s nearly impossible to have a conversation about the DC Public Schools that does not somehow raise the specter of former Chancellor Michelle Rhee. But President Obama’s budget proposal, being announced today in Northern Virginia, might actually thread that needle.

According to today’s Washington Post, one of the Continue Reading »

DC schools superintendent Kaya Henderson recently remarked that DC’s parent resource centers are closing because they simply don’t serve enough parents. Money, she said, would be better spent helping schools become more welcoming for parents, who complain that front office staff are sometimes hostile.

More than a few years ago I helped staff a parent resource center at an elementary schoContinue Reading »

It’s no secret that 206 teachers were fired last Friday in Washington, DC, including 65 teachers who earned a rating of “ineffective” on the District’s controversial evaluation system, IMPACT. DCPS fired an additional 141 teachers who scored “minimally effective” for a second consecutive year.

While it’s commendable that 55% of teachers rated Continue Reading »

Today Education Sector releases a paper on IMPACT, the District of Columbia’s controversial teacher evaluation system that rates teachers primarily on classroom observations and student test scores. As one of the first in the nation to link teacher performance, pay, and job security to such measures, IMPACT is the most polarizing of the bold reforms initiated by ex-schools chancellor MichContinue Reading »

We’re learning that there are many ways to cheat.

The legitimacy of test score increases in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS),  in particular those at Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus, are the focus of the latest installment in USA Today‘s “Testing the System,” a multi-part series exploring the extent and causes of cheating — by teachers, principalsContinue Reading »

DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson responding to allegations of pervasive cheating on standardized testing in the school system: “The integrity of test scores is perhaps more important to us than any other district because we use the test scores in important ways — evaluation, compensation. We have no interest in basing these important decisions on information that has anything less thContinue Reading »