Policy & Politics Blog

K-12 Schools: Beyond the Rhetoric

In this blog, Jack Schneider, assistant professor at the College of the Holy Cross, hosted productive dialogues about contentious K-12 policy issues. This blog is no longer being updated.

Education Opinion The Limits of Testing and the Future of Accountability
Should policymakers have anticipated the problematic consequences of high-stakes testing? Jack Schneider and Paul Reville discuss.
Jack Schneider, February 26, 2015
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6 min read
Education Opinion Why Has the Dominance of Standardized Tests Persisted?
In this post, Jack Schneider and Paul Reville discuss the increasingly central role that standardized tests have played in public education for the past two decades.
Jack Schneider, February 24, 2015
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7 min read
Education Opinion Introducing Paul Reville
Following Michelle Rhee, Julian Vasquez-Heilig, and Andy Smarick, the latest guest on the blog is Paul Reville.
Jack Schneider, January 23, 2015
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1 min read
Education Opinion Do Reformers Need Reforming?
Jack Schneider and Andy Smarick discuss whether policy elites are improving, or harming the educational system.
Jack Schneider, December 23, 2014
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10 min read
Education Opinion Do Policymakers Cherry-Pick Research?
It seems that for every complex issue, there is competing research to cite. Jack Schneider and Andy Smarick discuss.
Jack Schneider, December 18, 2014
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6 min read
Education Opinion When Should the Courts Intervene?
Jack Schneider and Andy Smarick discuss the pursuit of educational policy changes through the courts.
Jack Schneider, December 16, 2014
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6 min read
Education Opinion Does Money Matter? Is School Funding Fair?
In this post, Jack Schneider makes the case that funding matters and that current efforts are inadequate. Andy Smarick, on the other hand, thinks funding can't be an excuse for low performance.
Jack Schneider, December 11, 2014
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7 min read
Education Opinion Fixing NCLB
Lots of very tricky issues will need to be worked out if No Child Left Behind is going to be fixed and reauthorized. Jack Schneider and Andy Smarick discuss.
Jack Schneider, December 9, 2014
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8 min read
Education Opinion If Charters Work, What Is the Reason?
Charter theories are sometimes built on the idea of school "fit." At other times, they're based on the notion that the free market knows best. Andy Smarick and I discuss.
Jack Schneider, December 4, 2014
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9 min read
Education Opinion A System Entirely Composed of Charters?
Andy Smarick believes that kids would be better off with a system entirely composed of charters. I disagree.
Jack Schneider, December 2, 2014
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5 min read
Education Opinion Ferguson: Say One Thing
If you can say only a little about Ferguson, say one thing.
Jack Schneider, December 1, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion Introducing Andy Smarick
Stay tuned as Andy Smarick and I take up topics like charter schools, the Common Core, and teacher evaluation.
Jack Schneider, November 14, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion Reinventing Teach For America
To all the TFA critics out there, here's my pitch: TFA isn't going away. So why not pressure them to wield their power and influence in a way that might actually prove more productive?
Jack Schneider, October 31, 2014
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2 min read
Education Opinion Teacher Unions and the Future
Jack and Julian Vasquez Heilig discuss the role of teacher unions and how they might evolve in the coming decades.
Jack Schneider, October 28, 2014
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6 min read
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