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 This blog is no longer being updated.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
More Signs of the Apocalypse!
Here's my take on the New York tenure law discussion going on around the blogs:
Education
Opinion
With New Gifted and Talented Rules, Who Wins and Loses?
"Today, there’s limited access to gifted and talented education in some districts. The opposite is true in other districts. We want to create universal opportunity—and dramatically increase the numbers of students testing for, and hopefully entering, gifted and talented programs."
School & District Management
Opinion
Finally, Credit Recovery Uncovered by NY Times
To close observers of the NYC system, the "credit recovery" story is old news. But this burgeoning phenomenon had received scant media attention until Elissa Gootman turned in this important NYT article linking credit recovery to the mounting pressure to increase graduation rates by any means necessary.
Education
Opinion
Quotes of the Day
This afternoon, Randi Weingarten was the keynote speaker at the opening session of the annual meetings of the American Education Finance Association. More detail on the talk later, but here are three quotable quotes in the meantime:
Teaching Profession
Opinion
After NY's Teacher Tenure Law, Blogosphere Plays Union Pinata
That's what I get for predicting that the big ed news of the week would be Mario Chalmers' shot. The NY legislature has put a two year hold on the use of test scores for teacher tenure decisions, and will convene a commission to study the issue in the meantime. First, check out these links to Joel Klein's op-ed, Randi Weingarten's op-ed, the NY Times article, and the NY Post article.
School & District Management
Opinion
Why Do Journalists Love Shaky Science on Race?
Let me preface this post by saying that I am predisposed to believe that peer effects influence students' success. But I am consistently frustrated that journalists pick up, run with, and extrapolate from poorly executed studies on the topic of "acting white" or "acting Black." Let's walk through two examples from the last month:
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
Has "A Nation at Risk" Done More Harm Than Good?
Richard Rothstein bats first in a lineup of essays at Cato Unbound commemorating the 25th anniversary of "A Nation At Risk," and asserts that the report has done more harm than good.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Is Teaching an Overrated Career?
Over at the Faculty Room, they're discussing the US News and World Report claim that teaching is an overrated career. Devin Ozdogu shares an old excerpt from Whitney Tilson's guru, Linda Darling-Hammond:
Federal
Opinion
TGI - NCLB
1) Grad Rate Questions: Sherman Dorn frames 12 questions about the forthcoming grad rate measure. If the 2014 proficiency target provides any indication, the answer to this question, "If there are such required benchmarks, is there any supporting research to suggest that the status or improvement benchmarks are realistic?" will be a resounding no.
Federal
Opinion
Obam-Arts
Via Mike Klonsky, looks like Obama has been reading the ed blogs on curriculum narrowing. He said:
School & District Management
Opinion
Do High School Exit Exams Pay Off in the Labor Market?
High school exit exams have become a common fixture in American high school life. By 2006, 22 states had exit exams - and because larger states are more likely to have exams, approximately two-thirds of all high school students face exit exam requirements.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Value-Added Preview
Wisconsin's Center for Educational Research has posted abstracts for the National Conference on Value-Added Modeling. Take a look here.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Quotes of the Day
Call me old fashioned and curmudgeonly, but I can't stand it when the wonks break out in a "research shows" chorus with no references. If research so valiantly and definitively shows it, you should be able to tell us whose research shows it.