Like most people who have struggled with weight, there was a time when I decided to deal with the problem by simply refusing to get on the scale.

I know I am not alone in this behavior. But eventually, other evidence (outgrowing a favorite pair of jeans, a bad blood pressure reading) usually brings people back to the recognition that, however unpleasant they may be, regular weigh-ins proContinue Reading »

Jay Matthews has a new story explaining how Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Jerry Weast is using the National Student Clearinghouse, a data repository with college-level records for 92 percent of all college students in the country, to find how graduates of his high schools perform in college:

Among the pieces of paper [Weast] unloaded during a recent visit was a bContinue Reading »

Richard Kahlenberg* writes about peer review as the better way to get rid of DC’s worst teachers. Since teachers are harder on each other than any principal, he says, having them review each other’s teaching practice, assignments, exams and lesson plans would result in evaluations that “weed out the incompetent while preserving the basic idea of tenure.” I think he’Continue Reading »