Sputnik
Robert Slavin is the director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University and co-founder and chairman of the Success for All Foundation. Along with guest bloggers, he wrote about how educational policy can be informed by research and innovation and, in turn, promote development and evaluation of promising practices to improve outcomes for all children. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Supplemental Educational Services: Noble Ideas + Unreasonable Expectations = Disappointing Results
NOTE: This is a guest post by Steven Ross, Professor in the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University
Education
Opinion
Evidence-Based Reform in England
Fans of evidence-based reform in education have likely been spending some time this week combing through Sen. Harkin's draft proposal for any language that could encourage or bolster greater use of effective strategies and programs. Meanwhile, there are extraordinary developments taking place in England that can teach us some lessons on advancing evidence based reform here in the States.
Education
Opinion
Evidence of Evidence in Senate ESEA Draft
The Senate draft language for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), released yesterday, gives me hope for evidence-based reform in education. Busy policy shops and newsrooms are still digesting the 860-page draft, and will surely provide thorough analysis in the coming days. In the meantime, I would like to highlight three critical developments for evidence-based reform:
Education
Opinion
Leveraging ESEA Innovation for Impact
In federal education policy, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is the big kahuna, the 800-pound gorilla, the nec plus ultra.
Education
Opinion
Gold-Standard Program Evaluations, on a Shoestring Budget
Note: This is a guest post by Jon Baron, President of the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, and Chairman of the National Board for Education Sciences
Education
Opinion
Making the Most of Common Core State Assessments
For 30 years, education policymakers have been promising that if we just had the right tests and the right accountability systems, our education outcomes would advance by leaps and bounds. Yet each stage of enthusiasm is followed by a period of disappointment, and then a new improved set of tests and accountability (and a shiny new set of promises). Texas, which has always been ahead of the curve in assessments and accountability, started its TAAS system in 1982, but remains near the bottom of all states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Education
Opinion
How Many Education Innovators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?
How many innovative companies does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, if there's a prize involved.
Education
Opinion
Education Innovation: What It Is and Why We Need More of It
NOTE: This is a guest post from Jim Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education.
Education
Opinion
How Education "Miracles" Mislead
If you read media reports about education, a lot of the stories you see make extraordinary claims about remarkable, heart-warming turnarounds in student achievement, which are often debunked some time later. This cycle of enthusiasm-debunking-disappointment gets us nowhere in improving outcomes for kids. Genuine miracles--dramatic turnarounds in formerly low-achieving schools--are just as likely in education as they are in any other field. That is, not very likely at all. In fact, most miracles in education turn out on inspection to be due to a change in the students served (as when a new charter or magnet school attracts higher performing students) or changes in demographics (as when school catchment areas are gentrifying). Apparent miracles may be due to changes in tests (as when an entire state gains in one year due to a change to an easier test), or due to other redefinitions of outcomes (as when districts reduce their standards for high school graduation and graduation rates increase). All too often "miracles" never happened at all, as when "turned around" schools deliver poor scores or graduation rates, or when large changes occur for one year but reverse in the following year, or when schools improve on one measure but all other indicators are poor.
Education
Opinion
What Do We Mean by "Proven" Programs in Education?
One of the greatest impediments to policies promoting the use of proven programs is a lack of agreement about the criteria for "proven." Among policy makers, the likelihood that they will have to preside over endless battles among academics on this question makes them want to forget about the whole thing.
Education
Opinion
A Commitment to Research Yields Improvements in Charter Network
Note: This is a guest post by Richard Barth, CEO and President of the KIPP Foundation
Education
Opinion
Eyeglasses: Peering Into Educational Dysfunction
If you wear reading glasses, please take them off for a moment and continue reading this blog.
Education
Opinion
America's Strength: An Innovation Economy
In a September 11 article in The New York Times called "China's Rise Isn't Our Demise," Vice President Joe Biden wrote a cogent summary of America's advantage in the world economy that has enormous implications for innovation in education.