I recently read Switch: How to change things when change is hard, a soon-to-be released book by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. Switch is in many ways a typical org/psych book filled with real-world metaphors to explain why change is so hard, and inspirational stories to show that the author’s theory of change can work [...]
All Posts Tagged: 'Education Reform'
Not Exactly
Fred Hiatt sat down with Bill Gates to talk education reform, producing a pretty straightforward reformist summary in the Post yesterday. One point, however, deserves clarification. Hiatt said:
In fact, Gates said, evidence shows no connection between teaching quality and most of the measures used in contracts to determine pay. Seniority, holding a master’s degree or teacher’s [...]
Grindhouse
The “issues” section of official McCain-Palin campaign Website has a page devoted to “John McCain’s Plan for Strengthening America’s Schools.” The first of his Education Principles reads as follows:
John McCain Will Enact Meaningful Reform In Education. Now is the time to demand real, new reform earned through discipline, grinding work, tough choices and leadership. John McCain [...]
Full-Service Schools
I had the good fortune to moderate a symposium on education policy in Denver last week hosted by Mayor John Hickenlooper. It was one of ten non-partisan events the host city organized in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention on wonky topics ranging from global warming to transportation infrastructure.
There were several highlights to the conversation [...]
Choices
Ezra Klein writes about the new, disappointing Reading First results, and concludes:
It would be good if we could really nail down what works in education. But my conclusion, increasingly, is that the best thing you could do for poor kids’ educational prospects is increase their parents’ economic prospects. That’s not to say either exists in [...]
Haters vs. Critics
One of the more difficult things about adopting a left-leaning but essentially reformist stance on K-12 education is that you end up arguing with teachers unions a lot, not because you’re anti-union, but because teachers unions are the most influential and vocal representatives of the existing education establishment that you’re trying to reform. There’s a [...]
Winerip on Poverty, Etc.
Micheal Winerip covers a new ETS report in the Times today, exploring the relationship between out-of-school factors like single parenthood, TV watching, reading at home, etc. and student achievement. The report–which I have no quarrel with, Education Sector co-director Andy Rotherham was a reviewer–finds, to the surprise of no one, that these things make a [...]
Unions, Pay for Performance and No Grapes
A new report from the Citizen’s Commission on Civil Rights highlights four types of teacher union initiatives that have the “dual purpose” of improving student learning and improving the working conditions of teachers: pay for performance, decreasing the role of seniority in hiring practices, involving parents and the community in decision-making and enhancing teacher [...]
The Hidden Obstacle to Education Reform
(Note: These comments reflect a conversation Kevin and I had earlier this week that he offered me a chance to share with a broader audience through the blog. For more commentary by me, look here.)
Kevin made some good points Tuesday about what he calls “the ‘empirical agenda’ of the Harper’s set on education.” But I [...]
Schrag Weighs In
In the latest issue of Harpers’, Education Sector non-resident senior fellow Peter Schrag takes a shot at the Big Education Question of the Day: how much can we expect from the public schools?
The article$ is titled “Schoolhouse Crock: Fifty years of blaming America’s education system for our stupidity,” which (A) reminds me of why I [...]
The Absent Progressive Voice
Thanks to Sara for bringing a much-needed historical perspective to the question of the progressive role in education reform. Her post about Jonah Goldberg’s blindered anti-public education rant, keyed to the Post series about DCPS incompetence, underscores my point–while conservatives like Goldberg may have foolish things to say about this problem, liberals too often have [...]
Dispelling the Myth
Most of the conversation about findings from the new report from the Center on Education Policy–state test scores are up–will focus on the implications for No Child Left Behind. But the best way to interpret the findings, particularly as they relate to elementary math scores, is to see them as adding to the growing body [...]
Say It Loud, Eliot Spitzer, and Say It Proud
Blogging again after a week on vacation. I could say I’m glad to be back, but given that I was here, that would be an egregious lie.
On Monday, Governor Eliot Spitzer made a big announcement about school funding in New York, supporting a multi-billion dollar increase in resources, but saying that the money would come [...]
Bennet’s (Revised) Rescue Plan
This week’s New Yorker magazine features a story about Denver superintendent Michael Bennet’s efforts to reform one of Denver’s worst public schools. You may have seen some pieces of the ongoing saga about Manual High School, which by all accounts was a tough place to succeed as a reformer or as a student. Boo’s account [...]
Virtual Schools=Mainstream Reform?
I just returned from Plano, TX, where I spent the past three days with virtual school teachers, researchers, and program managers at the North American Council for Online Learning Virtual School Symposium. Virtual schools take a variety of forms, from district- or state-led schools that are primarily or entirely supplemental—offering students the option of taking [...]
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
03/11/10 | Kevin Carey is quoted on the rising costs of education in The Economist.
03/10/10 | Chad Aldeman Aldeman's False Fronts is quoted on Accuracy in Academia.
03/09/10 | Ben Miller is quoted on loan origination on the Firedog Lake blog.
03/07/10 | Kevin Carey calls for a Race to the Top in higher education in a column in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
03/08/10 | Andrew Rotherham's Eduwonk post on RTT finalists is quoted on Class Struggle.
03/07/10 | Andrew Rotherham is quoted on the success of MATCH in The Times-Picayune.
03/06/10 | Eduwonk's reaction to Ohio's status as a RTT finalist is cited in a Wall Street Journal editorial.
03/05/10 | Andrew Rotherham's reaction to New York's status as a Race to the Top finalist is cited on National Journal.