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 This blog is no longer being updated.
Education Funding
Opinion
John Bailey At SchoolNet Conference
The SchoolNet folks are having a big EduStat conference at Columbia that I've been reading about, and lo and behold there's John Bailey, who was for a short time the edtech guy at the USDE after Linda Roberts. Now he's apparently Gates Foundation big shot. Check it out.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
What's Wrong With This Picture?
Via The Biz Of Knowledge: What's Wrong with this Picture?
Education Funding
Opinion
Kindergarten Entrance Needs Tigher Oversight, Argues Petrilli
Not much to note in this week's Gadlfly, though it was fascinating to hear the Fordham Foundation's Mike Petrilli argue for tougher regulations against parents being allowed to redshirt preschoolers (which isn't really what the Times Magazine article was about). Personal experience almost always wins out over ideology or research.
Education
Opinion
Big Stories Of The Day (June 8)
So to speak...
Democrats aid education, health programs Associated Press
Democrats aid education, health programs Associated Press
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
New Stats On Internet Dangers Dispell Many Myths
Check out this eye-opening piece from PBS' MediaShift about Dangers Overblown for Teens Using Social Media, which reminds us that the myth of the Internet predator is largely a creation of the media. According to the piece, young children are not the typical victim of online sex crimes, assailants are not pretending to be anything other than creepy losers that they are, and abductions or kidnappings are exceedingly rare. The real issue here according to the article is teens with troubled home lives and or past experiences of sexual or physical abuse. "This is a very different picture of who is at risk than a teen who simply posts their photo and the name of their high school on a MySpace profile."
Federal
Opinion
Lots Of New Details, Not So Many New Ideas
In the space of less than a week, we've been inundated with reports and news stories about NCLB and testing that are all over the place: CEP puts out report stating that achievement seems to be rising since (but not necessarily because of) NCLB, the Dallas Morning News does a big series on widespread cheating on state tests, USA Today does a big package on states lowering requirements to make their test scores look better, and yesterday the USDE puts out a report showing just how different (mostly lower) state requirements are compared to NAEP (national) requirements.(You can find links to all of these below). While the quantity of information is large, the news really isn't and the impact of all this will probably get lost in the wash of hearings, reports, and all the rest to come.
Education
Opinion
Big Stories Of The Day (Thursday June 7)
Besides the ones further below...
Under NCLB Pressure, Districts Negotiate School Improvement With Unions EdWeek
Under NCLB Pressure, Districts Negotiate School Improvement With Unions EdWeek
Federal
Opinion
USA Today Overviews States' Testing Games
Lots of stuff in USA Today, including a big package by Ledge King on how states jimmy with their tests to make themselves look better (In school achievement, appearance means more than results) -- check it out, it has maps and everything -- and a much-anticipated Greg Toppo piece updating the NOLA reform scene (In New Orleans schools, it's like starting over).
Federal
Opinion
Somewhat Annoying Latecomers Try New School Reform Strategy: Campaign Giving
Long-time rabble-rouser Mike Klonsky goes all class warfare in this post about a newish group called Democrats For Education Reform. Klonsky mocks its founders as arrivistes with little more than money, MBA-born ideas, and slick opinions. Though he would never use that word. To be sure, the May 31 New York Sun article (here) that set Klonksy off is a little uncritical. And the "new" reform folks can seem annoyingly clubby and frighteningly like dot-commers the first time around. In fact, some of them probably were. But what I really wonder is why reformers of other stripes (groups, think tanks, foundations, etc.) don't try the political/legislative approach DFER is exploring, rather than always leaving that inside game to the unions, associations, and industry lobbyists? Marches, petitions, reports, and panels just don't get it done, folks. Give DFER credit for getting themselves into the fray, even if it's a game you don't like and a goal you don't agree with. And ask yourself why you're not in there with them. Previous posts: Who The Hell Is Whitney Tilson?, The Sundance Of School Reform, and Joe Williams Joins Newish Pro-Charter Group.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Cheating, Charters, And More Cheating
The Dallas Morning News has just put out a big series on -- yes, again -- cheating on the Texas state exams, called TAKS. Here's the rundown, according to reporter Josh Benton: "Day 1 is the main story, detailing what we did and what we found (Analysis shows TAKS cheating rampant). Day 2 is all about charter schools, where cheating is far more common than in traditional schools (Cheating's off the charts at charter schools). Day 3 is about how Texas could stop 90%+ of the cheating tomorrow if officials felt like it (Efforts to stop cheating often fall short)." Of course, it's all NCLB's fault. That's a no-brainer.
School & District Management
Opinion
The Multiple Providers: The Sanjaya Of School Reform?
Agree with him or not, Edwize makes the case that the current fascinating with multiple (or mixed) providers in urban districts is especially troubling since it has failed so far in Philly and NOLA, and its main proponent, Paul Vallas, is the Sanjaya of school reform: mystifyingly popular despite his poor performance (Philadelphia Follies Continue). One thing is clear: the mixed provider folks have staked their claims to a large extent on what happens in NOLA, and to how well Vallas performs there.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Freedman Vs. Mathews, The College Admissions Showdown
Every Wednesday, there's Sam Freedman in the NYT (On Education) vs. Jay Mathews in the Post (Class Struggle), dueling education columnists fighting it out to the death. Take your pick of this week's offerings, both of which focus on their papers' readers' favorite topic: college admissions.
School & District Management
Opinion
Extending The Day Without Breaking The Bank
Most folks already know that the length of the school day and the number of instructional days in the school year vary dramatically from city to city, and everyone's trying to do the whole "extended day" thing, but now there's an interesting story in Catalyst Magazine (Chicago) that lays out what the economics and politics of lengthening the school day involve. Some examples? Adding an instructional day in Chicago (which has a very short year t 174) would run about $11 million, according to the article. Adding an hour per day (Chicago's is currently 5:45) would cost about $300 million. Other districts like Miami and West Fresno are doing innovative things to extend the day without breaking the bank.