You owe it to the Chinese. Stephen Colbert gives the 2013 Valedictory Address at the University of Virginia and tells students they don’t owe the previous generation anything and to choose the hard path in life. “While traditional paths may seem harder to find, that also means that you may learn sooner than most generations the hard lesson that you must always make the path for yourself.” (YouTContinue Reading »

 “Literally taking food out of the mouths of kids.” Several California school districts have spent nearly $170 million intended for free or reduced-price lunches on other school expenses, like sprinkler systems and trash removal. The misuse of funds, according to the legislative oversight report, has meant that eligible students have been denied the reduced-price lunch program. (San Francisco CContinue Reading »

Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the Obama administration’s first 10 approvals of comprehensive NCLB waivers.* The Senate HELP Committee marked the anniversary with a hearing today on early lessons from the waivers, but one thing that deserves more attention is the process behind the waiver initiative. Congress should learn from that process—where the federal government outlines criteContinue Reading »

Forty-six states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which are designed to give the United States a uniform metric of academic standards. As we move from No Child Left Behind’s focus on testing and achievement to the CCSS era of rigorous curriculum uniformity, the question arises: Does demanding high standards hurt struggling students?Continue Reading »

Between the time students start high school and they begin college, they will likely have taken at least two and possibly four high-stakes standardized tests. Which of these will be replaced by the new assessments aligned to the Common Core? Is it:

A. The high school assessment required by NCLB, usually given in 10th or 11th grade; B. Graduation or end-of-courseContinue Reading »

Lessons learned from New Orleans. In 2008, two charter schools opened, led by close colleagues with similar plans for their respective schools. Four years later, one is closing its doors, while the other is celebrating a college-going rate of 95 percent. What happened? (Title I-Derland)

Digital cheating. Some educators are creating multiple versions of tests to stifle students’ attempts Continue Reading »

The fallout from last week’s news that Washington and Wisconsin can join 24 other states with flexibility from NCLB has centered on the New York Times’ front-page coverage and whether ESEA waivers represent A) sensible relief to states from an impossible task or B) an all-out retreat from school accountability, particularly for disadvantaged and underserved students.

State education offiContinue Reading »

UPDATED JULY 6

Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced five more waiver winning states – Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia - bringing the total number of states operating their own school accountability systems in lieu of NCLB to twenty four.

With nearly half of states on the waiver train, it’s a good time to pause and take stock ofContinue Reading »

Standardized testing is one of the most polarizing topics in education policy. Policymakers have advocated for tests as an objective measure of both teacher and student performance. Teachers, though, largely despise the tests, the preparation for them, and the time it takes away from classroom instruction in the springtime.

Photo Credit: Disney

ProponentsContinue Reading »

As we’ve reported, 26 states and the District of Columbia submitted applications before the second round ESEA waiver deadline on February 28. (Maine and New Hampshire decided it was better to turn their homework in late, while California has decided it deserves some special treatment.) Admittedly, it’s been taking us awhile to get through the 10,000 pages that landed on the Department of EducatContinue Reading »