Sigh. It’s now considered “federal overreach” to insist that states set performance goals for their students and schools. If you thought we settled this argument back in 1994, you would be wrong. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the ranking Republican on the Senate HELP Committee, backed out of bipartisan talks with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, because Harkin insisted on the goal that students make sContinue Reading »

You can read summaries of the latest No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reauthorization attempt, Sen. Tom Harkin’s Strengthening America’s Schools Act at Politics K-12 or New America, but here are 11 key takeaways from the bill:

1. Some Good Common Sense: If you wait 11 years (and counting) between reauthorization, there are going to be some common sense fixes that nearly everyone agrees Continue Reading »

Today is National Grammar Day!

A space between (class) periods. A Harvard University sophomore proposes a nap room in the campus’ 24-hour Lamont Library. (USA Today)

In conjunction with. The University of Pennsylvania Law School has partnered with its Wharton School of Business to give law students management and business skills. (The National Law Journal)

Not a full stop. Continue Reading »

On Friday, Rep. John Kline (R-MN), Chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, released the final two pieces of House Republicans’ piecemeal strategy to overhaul No Child Left Behind, and reactions to the bills are trickling in. The Committee had already approved legislation relating to school choice, funding flexibility, and program consolidation. While the latter two were approvContinue Reading »

With a weekend of reflection between me and the markup of the Harkin-Enzi ESEA Reauthorization Bill, I am caught up on sleep, but still coming to terms with the implications of last Thursday’s events. Yes, the bill passed out of committee 15-7, receiving only 3 Republican votes. But what did we really learn about the direction of federal K-12 education policy, the positions of key players, and Continue Reading »

The Senate’s ESEA Reauthorization bills (the old Harkin bill and the newer Harkin-Enzi version) elicited a familiar reaction from interest groups representing teachers, principals, and school administrators and from conservative eduwonks following the legislation: federal overreach.

You have Rick Hess: “I’m not worried about going ‘back’ to 1994… partly because some of the ‘retreats’ areContinue Reading »

Harkin-Enzi’s ESEA reauthorization bill attempts to find a middle ground on teacher and principal evaluations. On one hand, you have the Senate Republican plan supported by Secretary of Education-turned-Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that would give states the option to develop these kinds of evaluation systems. On the other, you have the Obama administration’s ESEA waiver package that requiresContinue Reading »

There’s been a lot of talk lately about college- and career- readiness, and the Harkin-Enzi ESEA reauthorization bill is no exception.  While Title I, Part A focuses on standards and accountability to ensure college and career readiness for all students, Part B is renamed Pathways to College and would authorize funding for a new competitive grant program supporting pathways to postseconContinue Reading »

“Split Classroom-Achievement Gap” Copyright © by Amanda Long.

More than any other provision of the Harkin-Enzi ESEA bill (synopsis here),  the rollback of federal accountability for student performance in schools and districts (no more AYP and targets for student achievement, no strict consequences for schools that fail to make AYP) has gotten the most attentioContinue Reading »

Yesterday, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released a long-awaited bill to reauthorize No Child Left Behind. After a series of Republican bills in the House and Senate as well as the Obama administration’s ESEA Waiver plan, the draft legislation represents the first bipartisan effort to rewrite NCLB in this Congress and is the product of months of compromise between Harkin and the Senate Health, EducContinue Reading »