Sara Mead's Policy Notebook
Sara Mead was a senior associate with Bellwether Education Partners who wrote about education policy, with particular attention to early childhood education, school reform, and improving educational outcomes for low-income students. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Colleges and Sexual Assault
Obviously the allegations that a Penn State football coach sexually abused young men participating in programs operated by a charity he operated, and that Penn State officials failed to act or report on evidence of this abuse, are horrible and inexcusable. And they do raise important questions about the role of sports in college culture and the prevalence of differing standards of justice for "elites."
Education
Opinion
What Should Parents Know About Teacher Evaluation Results?
This new Center for American Progress report arguing against the publication of value-added teacher ratings is somewhat odd, largely because it feels primarily reactionary ("here are some stupid things people have done or are considering doing with teacher value-added data and why you shouldn't do them") as opposed to proactive ("here's what a smart policy and journalistic approach for providing the public and parents with useful information about teacher effectiveness would look like"). I'd sure love to see the latter, as this is a serious issue that deserves more conversation in the debate about teacher effectiveness. I mean, earlier this year Illinois passed legislation that requires teacher evaluations, based in part on student learning, to be used in making personnel decisions--but does not allow the public (including parents of students in a teacher's class) to be informed of an individual teacher's ratings. Is this good or bad? Discuss.
Education
Opinion
Thank Goodness Public Schools Don't Operate Like Grocery Stores
Roxanna Elden, one of 16 Next Gen Ed leaders I profiled earlier this year, guest-blogged at Rick Hess's space last week. One of the things I really value about Roxanna's work is her ability to gently and humorously point up the blind spots of education reformers--including a tendency to resort to cliches that can inadvertently insult working educators. This blog post is a great example of that, but I particularly appreciated her comments here:
Education Funding
Opinion
Head Start and the Other Half of the Charter Bargain
Writing about new Head Start "recompete" regulations on Wednesday, I said that the regs "essentially move Head Start towards a charter-like model, in which continued receipt of federal funding is contingent on demonstrated quality and performance."
Early Childhood
Opinion
Don't Blame Reforms When the Problem is Overall Shortage
Interesting NYT article looks at some of the implications of Early Learn NYC--a groundbreaking effort by the city's Administration of Children and Families to combine Head Start, pre-k, and child care funds to create common quality standards, improve the quality of services for young children, more effectively target early care and education resources, and leverage private and philanthropic support.
Early Childhood
Opinion
At Long Last, Motion on Head Start Re-Compete--and Opportunities for Early Childhood Social Entrepreneurs
Big White House announcement today around Head Start quality, and new rules that would require up low-performing Head Start grantees to compete with other providers to keep federal funding.
Early Childhood
Opinion
But I Am Still Thirsty
The Education Department reports that 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, have submitted applications for the Early Learning Challenge Race to the Top program. The inclusion of California and Florida (which required special legislative action to be eligible), two big states that didn't submit letters of intent to apply in July, is an interesting development. My guess is that California has no shot due to budget and data system issues, but Florida may be more competitive that some folks think.
Early Childhood
Opinion
Can We Get Some Real Coverage of Early Childhood Issues?
Lots of people have been tweeting or forwarding me Wednesday's Nicholas Kristoff column calling for increased investment in early childhood education as a response to growing economic inequality. And with good reason--it's rare that early childhood education gets such high-profile media coverage.*
Education
Opinion
"Education Reform Doesn't Work"
What's striking about this otherwise pretty tedious dispute that Lawyers, Guns and Money's Erik Loomis is picking with Matt Yglesias about school reform is how it's become taken for granted, common knowledge in some lefty circles that "Education Reform Doesn't Work." I mean, Loomis just says so in the title of the post, without feeling any need to back up or justify the statement. (Also, this post is pretty good).
Education Funding
Opinion
Pencils Down!
Today is the deadline for states to submit their applications to the feds for the Early Learning Challenge Race to the Top competition. Now the action moves to the agencies and the cohort of anonymous peer reviewers who will ultimately determine the outcomes of this competition.
Education
Opinion
Can't Get Enough of KIPP?
Check out their new Team & Family Blog, here, for updates across the full KIPP network.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Coaching & Credentials: Does it Have to Be Either/Or?
Ok, so I'm way behind in writing about this excellent recent Atul Gawande article o on coaching. In the piece, Gawande makes the case that coaching--receiving individualized feedback and advice to improve one's performance from an objective, expert observer--is a powerful tool for improving performance of professionals--and goes so far as to subject himself as a guinea pig (he thinks it's working, even though it's challenging for him).
Education
Opinion
"These Kids Syndrome," IDEA, and NCLB
My colleague Andy Rotherham, in a post about the new Senate ESEA bill, rhetorically asked: "Why are poor and minority kids so different from special education kids?" Andy's point is that many of those who rail against the "one-sized fits all" NCLB accountability provisions designed to advance equity for low-income and minority kids would never in a million years lob similar attacks at IDEA requirements which actually exert much greater federal influence on the day-to-day operation of schools. Good point--but I don't think Andy's as naive as the question implies.
Education
Opinion
Long Time, No Blog....
Sincere apologies for being an incredibly lousy blogger the past month--I've been working on a very intensive, time sensitive project that's taken up most of my time and brain power and as a result haven't gotten around to blogging, or kept up with what's going on in the blogosphere.