edbizbuzz
Public education’s core functions are teaching and learning, an endeavor in which private enterprise plays a growing role. Edbizbuzz was an opinion blog offering a perspective on this emerging school improvement industry. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Not "Think Tanks", But "Policy Marketing Shops"
Of education think tanks, Alexander Russo asked “what about influence, not to speak of value?” If these outfits are really policy marketing shops, that’s like asking the same about advertising after looking through any magazine. The ready answer is that in a world where everyone is marketing, those who refrain from it will find selling much harder.
School & District Management
Opinion
School Improvement RFP of the Week
This district seems open to firms that are focused more on business than education. I believe districts will come to pay something closer to the fees these firms have come to expect from the private sector than they have in the past, so it may be a market worth exploring.
Education
Opinion
Real Think Tanks Work for an Agency that Pays Their Bills
The organizations Alexander Russo called think tanks don’t deserve the appellation. It's a bit like trying get consumers to accept wine spritzer as champagne, or langostino as lobster. They must perform a useful function in Washington, or they would not be in business, but that function is not what led people to place the label on RAND.
Education
Opinion
Uberblogger Alexander Russo asks: What is the role, impact or benefit of education think tanks?
I thank Alexander Russo for trying to prompt debates of the first order at a time when eduwonks and edubloggers are all too focused on the trivia surrounding NCLB II. Friday, February 1, he asked: "The money (to start and support education think tanks) keeps pouring in.... But what about influence, not to speak of value?
Classroom Technology
Opinion
Virtual Education: The Real Issues
The New York Times’ Sam Dillon wrote the most recent version of a story we see roughly every six months, which I’ll call the “virtual education wars.” It’s an easy write. Yet, they rarely help to focus the reader on the important issues of public policy – those that speak to the interests of the taxpayer, student and general public, rather than their instrumentalities – teachers union, districts and the private sector.
School & District Management
Opinion
The Letter From: Where Provider Accountability Went Wrong
Firms committed to demonstrating efficacy through rigorous evaluation exist and some have been reasonably successful, but while their success might have something to do with the spirit of NCLB, it also happened despite the law’s administration.
Education
Opinion
The State of the Union Speech - Why I'm Not Writing About NCLB II
From the perspective of providers and investors in the school improvement industry, NCLB I will last to at least the end of the Bush Administration, and NCLB II will be more than marginally less advantageous. Between now and the inaugural, everything NCLB is so much trivia for eduwonks.
School & District Management
Opinion
School Improvement RFP of the Week (2)
EMOs and CMOs have a tough business as it is, but the sector’s growth lies in the nation’s worst-performing schools. This bunch may be the toughest of the tough challenges, yet there is a ready, willing and able buyer.
School & District Management
Opinion
School Improvement RFP of the Week (1)
The nonacademic, social aspects of public education agencies’ in loco parentis function are beginning to multiply, coalesce and receive greater funding.
Education
Opinion
I Try My Hand at Marketing Copy
The ideal white paper is easier to specify than write. I recently took my hand to the task for the Center for Digital Education, MPR and Gateway on the subject of One-to-One computing.
School & District Management
Opinion
Does Philanthropy Sink Contrary Research Too?
On January 18, This Week in Education’s uberblogger Alexander Russo asked whether foundations suppressed unfavorable research on the effectiveness of their grantee's educational programs. There have been a few comments on methodology. I have some observations on the issue.
Education
Opinion
Friday Guest Column: Consider the Northwest Education Cluster
In August 2003 about 25 people gathered at a local university to share ideas about forming an Education Cluster in the Pacific Northwest to discuss issues surrounding education.
Education
Opinion
The Letter From: Provider Accountability is Arbitrary and Capricious (II)
While for-profit publishers have come to dominate the content employed in teaching and learning, I would argue that nonprofits have owned technical assistance and sole practitioners define the market structure of management consulting in public education.
Education
Opinion
The Letter From: Provider Accountability is Arbitrary and Capricious (I)
If schools are held accountable for their role in student performance, what about those who supply schools with the products, services and programs employed in teaching and learning?