eduwonkette
Through the lens of social science, eduwonkette took a serious, if sometimes irreverent, look at some of the most contentious education policy debates in this opinion blog. Find eduwonkette’s complete archives prior to Jan. 6, 2008 here. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Introducing Gotham Schools: A New York City Schools Blog!
If you follow NYC schools, here's a new must read blog for you - Gotham Schools. When the Open Planning Project lined up two of NYC's most talented education bloggers - Philissa Cramer (formerly of Inside Schools) and Kelly Vaughan (a NYC teacher for the last eight years) - I knew we could expect big things from this site. Here's a description:
Education
Opinion
On New York State Tests, A Growing Achievement Gap Between White/Asian and Black/Hispanic New York City Students
Looks like the tea party is finally over. As we all expected, the New York City Department of Education had questionable motives for stalling the release of the New York State scale score data.
Education
Opinion
Order of the Yellow Cape Award!
The inaugural "Order of the Yellow Cape Award" goes to fellow blogger Matthew Tabor for being the first to FOIL for the illusive New York City scale scores. He inspired a number of other bloggers to do the same - many thanks to everyone who filed a FOIL request. Matthew posted the data here. Stay tuned!
Education
Opinion
The Persistent Achievement Gap in New York City: A Summary
Some readers asked me to put together a summary about the achievement gap in New York City:
Education
Opinion
Cool People You Should Know: Jim Spillane
The current policy discourse about teachers and teaching in the U.S. emphasizes the recruitment and retention of “high-quality” teachers, defined either by the teachers’ credentials, or their value-added influence on students’ achievement, or both. It has not, in skoolboy’s view, paid sufficient attention to the ways in which the school serves as a context for teachers’ work, shaping the conditions under which a teacher might be more or less successful in advancing students’ learning. Teachers don’t teach in a vacuum; the ability of the leaders in a school to set a direction, secure resources, facilitate professional development, and build a culture for teachers to work in concert has a lot to do with whether a teacher can be successful. One of the implications of this perspective is that a teacher’s effectiveness may be contingent on the school context, which eduwonkette has pointed to as an issue that needs further research before we embrace value-added assessment as the last word on teacher effectiveness.
Education
Opinion
No Cape for Cantor
David Cantor, the New York City Department of Education's press secretary, will not be receiving a free cape. Sadly, this is what it's come to in New York City - the Department of Education is denying all of us access to data that rightfully belong in the public domain.
Education
Opinion
New York City Achievement Gap Round-Up: Three Cheers for Our Naked Emperor!
If you've been reading over the course of this week, perhaps you, too, now realize that New York City's emperor, much as he likes to travel across the land saying that he's significantly narrowed the achievement gap in New York City, is wearing no clothes.
Education
Opinion
Thinktank Thursday a Day Late: Madonna x Mike Petrilli="Like a Student"
Did the Fordham Factor jump the shark? I don't think so, but after yesterday's geezer complaints about Miley Cyrus lyrics endorsing "anti-school" messages, I knew they needed a hand. Here it is - Madonna's "Like a Virgin" remixed as "Like a Student," a pro-school diddy that will undoubtedly remake teenage culture for the better. In brackets, you'll find stage directions for the video, which I hope they will put together for next week's Fordham Factor.
Education
Opinion
More Bad News on the Reading Achievement Gap in New York City (Plus, Free Cape Inside!)
On Tuesday I described the math achievement disparities separating black and Hispanic New York City students from their white and Asian counterparts on NAEP. Turning our attention now to reading, you’ll see that the achievement gap has not narrowed in reading either.
Education
Opinion
In New York City, A Long Wait Ahead to Close the Math Achievement Gap
Today I will lay out the math achievement disparities separating black and Hispanic New York City students from their white and Asian counterparts on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Needless to say, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein forgot to mention these inconvenient facts when they testified before Congress last week:
Education
Opinion
Trouble in Gotham
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein seem intent on taking the "New York City miracle" national. However, a close review of racial and ethnic achievement gaps in New York City over their tenure suggests that Bloomberg and Klein would do well to get their own house in order first.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
Cool People You Should Know: Marta Tienda
When I read about the University of California's proposed changes to their admissions standards, which would deemphasize test scores in favor of class rank (Hat tip: Education Optimists), I realized that proposal is a partial outgrowth of a decade of work on higher education access by Marta Tienda. Among educational researchers, Tienda, a demographer and sociologist who teaches at Princeton, stands out for her record of doing research that informs public policy debates about educational opportunity for disadvantaged kids, and for the passion and flair with which she does this work.
Education
Opinion
Thinktank Thursday: Fordham's Boy Band Breaks Up! (Inside the Music)
Boy bands have a short shelf life. Not long after "Rage Against the Rothstein" was born, things fell apart. Fordham's new research director, Amber Winkler, came onto the scene and declared the boy band kaput. We already had a glimpse of Christina Hentges in the "Fordham Factor" videos (she also turned heads with her deadpan performance in their spoof commercial, Ed in '08 "This is what $60 Million Gets you.) Then on Flypaper, Amber and Christina were joined by Fordham's new blogette contributor, Stafford Palmieri. Still no one had seen Coby Loup, which led me to suspect he was a robot crafted in Checker's basement.
Education
Opinion
Nobody Beats the Biz
When you're looking for measured, careful, and thoughtful analysis, there is no better blogger to turn to than Dean Millot at edbizbuzz. He's consistently able to take complex debates and lay out the issues raised in an incisive and even-handed way. Millot follows up on the thinktank/peer review debate here, and promises another post tomorrow. Stay tuned.