Marc Tucker was president of the National Center on Education and the Economy. For two decades, his research focused on the policies and practices of the countries with the best education systems. This blog is no longer being updated.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
The Reading Wars Again (or Still)
How the reading debate in New York City underscores the importance of developing highly competent teachers with good leadership skills.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
Accountability vs. What We Want for Our Children
Test-based accountability forces teachers to abandon their interest in helping students develop many of the qualities that will actually help them succeed in workplace and life.
Teacher Preparation
Opinion
Teachers' Unions: Moment of Truth
Discussing the implications of the Vergara v. California case, Marc Tucker finds that teacher unions are at a critical crossroads - they can either fight to maintain blue collar working conditions or decide that they want to be true professionals and take on the associated compensation, status, risk and obligations.
Education Funding
Opinion
College: The Key to Prosperity - or Is It?
A look at Switzerland's vocational education system and what the United States could stand to learn from their success.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
American Schools - Back to 'Separate But Equal'?
Marc Tucker explains how housing segregation leads to school segregation and calls for reforming our school finance system.
Education Funding
Opinion
Unacceptable Options for Our Most Vulnerable Students
In order to meet the demands of our workforce, the United States must build a strong vocational education and training system and provide students who want to pursue this path with much stronger academic skills then they currently have now.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Who Gets to Write the History of Teacher Quality?
Success in improving teacher quality should be measured by our country's ability to transform teaching from a blue-collar occupation to a high-status profession, not by our ability to implement teacher evaluation systems.
School & District Management
Opinion
Weakening the State Education Agency: A Manual
A look at a recent report from the Fordham Institute which advocates weakening state education agencies. Marc Tucker explains that to the contrary, a better education system in the United States will come through stronger, better equipped state education agencies, not weaker ones.
Assessment
Opinion
The Federal Role in State Education Accountability Systems
How to balance the federal government's interest in making sure that federal education funds are well spent with the states' interest in retaining their constitutional right to enact their own education policies.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
The Proposed Accountability Plan: A Commentary
A call for changing the culture of schools so that teachers are accountable to their professional colleagues and have more time during school hours to collaborate.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Designing a State Accountability System: Part II
Marc Tucker describes the professional role of teachers in his proposed state accountability plan.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
Designing a State Accountability Program: Part I
Marc Tucker lays out his vision for an effective state accountability program including strategies to address low-performing schools.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Designing an Accountability System: Setting the Stage
Marc Tucker offers recommendations for redesigning not only our accountability scheme but our entire education system in order to provide all students the kind and quality of education formerly reserved for the elite.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Accountability and the Modern Teachers' Union
In his fifth blog post on accountability, Marc Tucker addresses the question: How can we move to a professional model of teaching when we have unions that are based on a blue-collar model of teaching?