Author
Andy Smarick
Articles
Diplomatic Mission
President Obama’s path to performance pay
Toothless Reform?
If the feds get tough, Race to the Top might work
Wave of the Future
Why charter schools should replace failing urban schools
The Turnaround Fallacy
Stop trying to fix failing schools. Close them and start fresh.
Blog Posts/Multimedia
Some Early-Summer Reads, Part 2
Here’s the second half of my compilation of recent publications you might want to read.
Some Early-Summer Reads, Part I
A bunch of very good publications have been released over the last few weeks.
By The Company It Keeps: Mashea Ashton
An interview with the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund
By the Company It Keeps: Robin Lake
An interview with Robin Lake, the director of the Center for Reinventing Public Education
Authorizer Of, Not In, the District
D.C. has recently undertaken two invaluable reforms that, when combined with the city’s other systemic features, place D.C. on the brink of becoming the urban school system of the future.
By the Company It Keeps: Nelson Smith
An interview with the former president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Top Ten Takeaways: Common Assessments (Part 2)
The U.S. Department of Education seems to be retreating from its earlier stance that common assessments are crucial, but it has signaled that it will still fight for rigor and alignment.
Top Ten Takeaways: Common Assessments (Part 1 of 2)
What I’ve learned from talking with the two consortia developing tests linked to the Common Core standards.
By the Company It Keeps: Tim Daly
An interview with Tim Daly, President of TNTP
By the Company It Keeps: The U.S. Department of Education
This revealing back-and-forth with the United States Department of Education is the third and final installment in our testing-consortia series.
By the Company It Keeps: Smarter Balanced
The second installment of my testing-consortia series is a conversation with Smarter Balanced.
By the Company It Keeps: PARCC
An interview with PARCC, one of two consortia of states funded by the federal government to develop “next-generation” assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards.
District Replacers, Drama Standards, and Cranky Composing
Big happenings on the urban-schools front. In recent weeks, numerous cities have announced they’re looking for new district leaders.
The State of Charter Authorizing
It is troubling that many authorizers still don’t have high-quality practices in place.
One Giant Leap for Teacher Development
I’m all but certain a number of states will take this report’s lessons to heart, and once again it will be said that TNTP influenced for the better our educator policies and practices.
The Recovery School District
The Recovery School District is infinitely superior to the failed urban district and, though the Achievement School District is still the understudy, we may soon see its name in lights.
The End of the Testing Consortia As We Know It?
Alabama’s decision to drop out of both consortia and choose a battery of ACT exams is enormous. This is the “Plan B” that many states have been looking for.
What’s Your “Summer 2015 Plan”?
When scores from the first Common Core-aligned assessments are publicly released in the summer of 2015, lots of parents are going to be looking for solutions. The reform community should have a response.
Mr. Secretary, Please Don’t Do It
Unless Secretary Duncan can be prevailed upon to reconsider, decades of education policy will be overturned and a federal agency will have assumed authority that should remain squarely in the hands of Congress.
Camden and Big Data in the Big Apple
According to news reports, New Jersey governor Chris Christie is on the verge of announcing that the state will take over the deeply troubled Camden school district.
Catherine the Great, Frederick Douglass, and Education Reform
The stories of these historical giants have three associations particularly relevant to our work.
SIG, Tests, and State Legislative Proposals
The U.S. Department of Education just announced more SIG money going out the door.
Setting the State Stage for Improved Teacher Preparation
If I could go back in time and begin my stint at an SEA all over again, I’d dedicate more energy to educator-preparation policy for three reasons.
A Conflicted Conservative and Online Learning
Online and blended learning alter some of the most basic characteristics of traditional schooling. They change the relationship between student and teacher, student and student, student and device, family and school.
Ending the SEA As We Know It
While working for the New Jersey Department of Education, I consistently struggled with a basic problem. My organization wasn’t designed to do the things that our leadership team prioritized.
Can Bad Schools Be Good For Neighborhoods?
Might there be compelling civic or social reasons for keeping open persistently failing or unsafe inner-city schools?
The Common Core Implementation Gap
A new report on state-level implementation of Common Core merits some attention—but less for its top-line findings and more for how it confirms what I’m now calling the “Common Core Implementation Gap.”
Nixon, His Staff, and the Art of Government Reports
Some recent reading has me adjusting my jaundiced view of Mr. Nixon and his team.
The Unheralded Virtues of Grown-Up Policymaking, New Jersey-style
How New Jersey has tried to bridge the gap between policy and practice on teacher evaluations.
The Alternative
In the simplest terms, chartering should replace the urban district.
We Can Change
Public education is a set of guiding principles—a combination of beliefs about something that ought to be provided. How we bring them to life is up to us.
Republicans Questioning School Reform Agenda
In education reform, we have a myopic view of our work, we’re failing to appreciate the complex ecosystem of which we’re a part, and we’re focusing on short-term matters and tactics instead of looking far ahead.
The Complicated Economics of Testing in the Era of Common Core Standards
Assessments, beyond being technically complicated to produce and administer, may very well determine the future of Common Core.
MET: Now What?
The Gates Foundation’s MET study was a grand success in K–12 research. But what happens next is what matters.
The MET Study: Implications, Winners, and Losers
The final report from the Gates-funded “Measures of Effective Teaching” project may prove to be the most important K–12 research study of this generation.
Happy Birthday, NCLB!
The next four years are probably going to be mostly about implementation of the last four years’ worth of policy changes. I hope that we dedicate equal bandwidth to monitoring the impact of NCLB waivers and making course corrections.
Were RTT Applications Graded on a Curve?
I’m very disappointed with the Department’s decision to name 16 states RTT finalists. A number of these states have glaring deficiencies that would make them unable to get over a medium bar much less the “very, very high bar” that Secretary Duncan said he would set.
Last Word on School Turnarounds?
In its Winter 2010 issue, Ed Next published my article, “The Turnaround Fallacy.” I appreciate the careful reading of and thoughtful responses to the article by those who have written. It’s encouraging that so many talented and energetic people are working to improve the opportunities available to kids assigned to troubled public schools. But I’m as convinced as ever that closing schools in a persistent state of failure is necessary.
Keeping the Race to the Top on Track
Today, at close of business, state applications are due for the first round of Race to the Top funds. Coinciding with today’s deadline and the important work about to begin, Education Next is releasing my new article “Toothless Reform?” which makes the case that previous ARRA education funding hasn’t been used for reform and that the department needs to go to great lengths to ensure that the RTT generates the changes needed. As I write in the article, “when state proposals hit Arne Duncan’s desk, the secretary must become the toughest schoolmarm in America.”
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