This Week In Education
Written by former Senate education staffer and journalist Alexander Russo, This Week in Education was an opinion blog that covered education news, policymakers, and trends with a distinctly political edge. (For archives prior to January 2007, please click here. For posts after November 2007, please click here.) This blog is no longer being updated.
Federal
Opinion
Our Hottie Is So Much Hotter Than Their Hotties
As you can see, our education hottie, Jade Floyd of AACTE (left), is so much hotter than any of the other two front-runners (Jessica Ferguson, Sen. Thune in the orange, Pepper Pennington, Rep. Feeney in the black top). And more scantily clad, to boot. However, stuck at the bottom of the ballot, Jade needs your help to leap past these two other contestants. Go here, scroll to the bottom, click the little circle next to Jade's picture, and click "vote." No registration or anything else is required.
Education
Opinion
Post Education Writer Doesn't Last Long
FishBowlDC reports that newbie Post education writer Amit Paley is headed off to some other, more cushy job. Covering Iraq. Starting September. Congrats, condolences. No word yet on who (if anyone) is replacing Paley. In the meantime, I guess that just means more work (and less vacation) for Jay Mathews and Valerie Strauss.
Federal
Opinion
EXCLUSIVE: Miller Reauthorization Memo To Freshmen
Thanks a ton to a brave reader for sending in the Miller memo to House freshmen from earlier this month, which outlines where things are (or were) on the House majority side at least. As you can see, the two-page memo (PDF) dated July 7 outlines nine key proposals and asks for feedback. The proposals range from the obvious ("Allow states to use growth models that recognize progress over time," improve test quality, prioritize schools with the most problems) to the highly controversial ("Allow states to use more than test scores to measure student learning and school performance") to the ho-hum ("Address the high school dropout crisis and take comprehensive steps to turn around low-performing high schools," increase funding, etc.). This explains some of the recent weeks' twists and turns, including the new left-right coalition to save NCLB and -- most obviously -- the Friday the 13th letter to Chairman Miller from concerned parties.
School & District Management
Opinion
Teaching Parents To Play With Their Kids: What If They're Wrong?
Apparently playing on the carpet and making up stories with little kids isn't as "natural" as we are being told -- and may not be so much better for them. (Plus which, it's boring -- admit it.) That's the idea that this largely-ignored Boston Globe article from a couple of weeks ago raises (Leave those kids alone) -- along with questions about the idea that schools and other agencies should try and teach low-income and minority families to play with their children the way that many affluent, white families currently do. "The proselytizing on behalf of playful middle-class approaches vexes many anthropologists," according to the article. This apparently includes Paul Tough's article on the differences between low-income and middle-income parents, which may according to the article have over-stated the deficits of low-income parents when it comes to stimulating their children's development. There are also lots of implications for the universal preschool crowd (Clinton et al), whose programs often include a hefty dose of parenting instruction.
Education
Opinion
Comparing Coverage Of The "Curriculum Narrowing" Report
Lots of folks take a swipe at reporting this year's version of the CEP survey of school districts about the impacts of NCLB on instruction. The AP version of the story is pretty cut and dried (No Child law has downside, survey finds). In contrast, the NYT spends a lot of time trying to explain why the percentage of districts decreased so much from last year -- a change the report authors attribute to a wording change in the survey (Focus on 2 R’s Cuts Time for the Rest, Report Says). Remember, it was the Times that heralded last year's findings. Over at the Post, it's most a roundup of reactions to the shift in instructional priorities-- Manhattan Institute and EdTrust come in for the focus on reading and math, Andy "Doughnut" Rotherham comes out against (English, Math Time Up in 'No Child' Era).
Federal
Opinion
Senate Higher Ed Bill Endangers Quick NCLB Reauthorization
The last time the Senate reauthorized the HEA was a long time ago. I was still working for Jeff Bingaman and we thought that we could really, finally, get ed schools to do a better job on teacher prep. But now the Senate has passed its version of the bill -- no House companion to go along with it, and congrats to everyone there for getting that done.
Education
Opinion
EdSec Wants More "Pocket Protector" Skills
According to this press release, EdSec Spellings thinks employers wants more kids with "pocket protector" skills, which means (a) geeks, (b) people who know not to put inky pens in their pockets, (c) something having to do with pocket pool, or (d) all of the above.
Education Funding
Opinion
Filling Space At The Quick & The Ed
The use of interns is a delicate thing, which is why by and large I've limited the ones I've worked with to morning news roundups and describing events they attend -- extremely useful tasks but not ones that presume any inside knowledge or policy chops. Not so The Quick & The Ed, which is letting interns post commentary like this recent post, which begins "Flipping through my 10th grade U.S. history text book..." Who has their 10th grade history text nearby? A junior at Brown does. Which is fine -- it's just not something I'm expecting to see published by a relatively new organization that's trying to be taken seriously.
Education Funding
Opinion
How Steve Barr Is Not Like The Other Charter Show Ponies
The most interesting thing to me about Steve Barr (Maverick Leads Charge for Charter Schools) is that Barr doesn't seem like he really wants to be the show pony for Gates, Broad, the Andy Sector, and the New Schools Venture Fund -- folks who are trying to create or promote more of what the Times describes as "nonprofit, high-performing charter chains" along the lines of KIPP and Achievement First. He'll take their money and their praise, but he doesn't want to expand as fast as they want him to, whether it's to parts of LAUSD where he has no credibility or across the country.
Education
Opinion
Reader Rabbit Takes Over Publishing
The lineup of folks coming in to sell schools books is going to be slightly different this year. Both EdWeek and the NY Times recently have articles on the publishing industry, following up on the "merger" of Houghton Mifflin and RiverDeep -- known for Reader Rabbit among other things (Riverdeep buys Houghton Mifflin for 1.8B eSchool News). Quoting former Hill rat Jay Diskey, the EdWeek story describes how Houghton Mifflin is going to buy Harcourt Education, creating a "big three" of textbook publishers in the US (Houghton Mifflin, Pearson Education, and McGraw-Hill). The NYT story focuses on the implications of RiverDeep's move to become the largest textbook publisher in the US via via the takeover of Harcourt (Deals in Textbook Business Make Irishman a Leader in U.S. Publishing). Every buyer needs a seller, however, and some folks are happily heading out of the US education segment.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
AACTE Hottie Needs Your Vote
Partial to all things education? Got a little time on your hands in between all that doing good? Owe her a drink? Vote for AACTE hottie Jade Floyd (here at the annual EWA conference in LA), recently named a finalist as one of the hottest PR types in DC by Fishbowl DC: FishbowlDC. Vote now -- even if it's just to embarass the AACTE, who must be horrified that this is happening. She's one of their communications gurus, after all.
Federal
Opinion
Video NCLB Excerpts From Last Night's Debate
Thanks to DAD for recording and uploading these NCLB excerpts from last night's debate, which include Bill Richardson slamming the law for, among other things, taking money away from low-performing schools and districts (huh?), Joe Biden channeling Paul Wellstone and calling it a mistake, and Chris Dodd jumping in at the end to protect his buddy Ted by saying we should get NCLB right but not abandon it (NCLB: Scrap, Keep or Punt until 08?):