Education Next

Ed Next Poll: Top Books of the Decade

Please vote for the top three books of the decade.

Audio Book Excerpts

Authors reading short excerpts from their recent books

Legal Beat: Should Courts Be Weighing In On the Math Wars?

“In February 2010, for the first time, a state judge overturned a school district’s choice of a high-school math curriculum,” Josh Dunn writes in a new “legal beat” article posted on the Ed Next website. (The article, “2+2=Litigation,” will appear in the Fall 2010 issue of Ed Next.)
As Josh explains in the article, the court [...]

Which Are the Top Books of the Decade? Vote Now!

In honor of our 10th anniversary, we are launching a poll to determine the best books of the past decade, as identified by our readers.

Ed Next Book Review: As Good As It Gets

Nathan Glazer’s review of Larry Cuban’s “As Good As It Gets: What School Reform Brought to Austin” is now available online.  (The review will appear in the Fall 2010 issue of Education Next.)

Ed Next editor-in-chief Paul Peterson talked recently with Nathan Glazer about “As Good As It Gets.” Watch their conversation here.

New Podcast: Race to the Top Round 2

Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. talk this week about how many states are likely to win Race to the Top grants and whether politics will come into play.

New Podcast: Common Standards Remarkably Uncontroversial

Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. talk this week about why civil rights groups have been reluctant to embrace charter schools, even as a new Ed Next poll shows that support for charters is rising among minority parents.

Behind the Headline – Scores: A wake-up call for NY schools

Writing in the New York Post, Doug McCurry and Dacia Toll of Achievement First explain why it was so important for state education leaders in New York to adjust cut scores, even though that meant that state test scores plummeted. A study by Paul Peterson and Carlos Xabel Lastra-Anadón that will appear in the Fall 2010 issue of Ed Next finds that New York is not the only state that had been dumbing down its tests.

Behind the Headline – Separate but equal: More schools are dividing classes by gender

The Washington Post Sunday Magazine takes readers inside DC’s Imagine Southeast Public Charter School, which offers separate classrooms for boys and girls.  Peter Meyer explored the case for single-sex schools in an article that appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Ed Next.

New Video: Race to the Top or Race to the Bottom?

Paul Peterson talks with Education Next about his study evaluating the relative rigor of state proficiency standards.

A Language Arts Curriculum for Students in Jail

In “School on the Inside: Teaching the incarcerated student,” just posted on the Ed Next website, David Chura writes about teaching language arts for 10 years in a New York county penitentiary. Chura is the author of I Don’t Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine: Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup.
While the students [...]

Behind the Headline: Jewish donors give Catholic schools a lift

In Boston, some Jewish contributors are playing a prominent role in efforts to keep inner-city Catholic schools afloat. Peter Meyer wrote about the challenges facing Catholic schools and some possible solutions in the Spring 2007 issue of Ed Next.

New Podcast: After Bucking Unions, Obama Administration Breaks Ranks with Civil Rights Groups over Charter Schools

Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. talk this week about why civil rights groups have been reluctant to embrace charter schools, even as a new Ed Next poll shows that support for charters is rising among minority parents.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
For more on this topic, please [...]

“Race to the Top” Round 2 Poll

Which of the 19 finalists do you think deserve additional funding the most?

Ed Next Movie Review: The Lottery

“The Lottery,” the new documentary following four families who have entered their children in the lottery for a spot at a charter school in Harlem, opens in San Francisco this weekend.
Mark Bauerlein’s review of “The Lottery” for Ed Next is now available online.  (The review will appear in the Fall 2010 issue of Education Next.)
[...]

Behind the Headline: New York Will Make Standardized Exams Tougher

An analysis of New York’s state test results reveals that the tests have become significantly easier to pass over the last four years, so state education officials will be recalibrating the scoring for tests that were taken by students this spring. A study by Paul Peterson and Carlos Xabel Lastra-Anadón that will appear in the Fall 2010 issue of Ed Next finds that New York is not the only state that has been dumbing down its tests.

Behind the Headline: Wake schools fight to get loud

The school board majority that took office in Wake County last December is committed to moving the district toward neighborhood schools (and away from busing to achieve socio-economic diversity) despite a mass march that has been scheduled to take place tomorrow in downtown Raleigh to protest the policy. In the Spring 2010 issue of Education Next, Nathan Glazer wrote about Raleigh’s integrated schools.

New Podcast: Learning from Great Teachers

This week, Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion, and Steven Farr, author of Teaching as Leadership, talk with Mike Petrilli about their efforts to identify what great teachers are doing in the classroom and to share these techniques with new teachers.

The $56 Million the NEA Spends on Political Campaigns is Only the Beginning

“Teachers unions as a massive general political force is an untold story,” writes Mike Antonucci in “The Long Reach of Teachers Unions,” an article that will appear in the Fall 2010 issue of Ed Next, and which is now available online. “Rarely discussed is union influence over state and federal elections and over domestic policy, from fundamental issues such as taxation and health care to more esoteric ones, such as gay marriage and redistricting.”

New Podcast: Audio Excerpt from Nurtureshock

Nurtureshock, by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, was released last year to a great deal of media attention. The book debunks the research behind popular child development advice from earlier decades, such as strategies for boosting a child’s self-esteem, teaching children emotional intelligence, and attempting to increase racial sensitivity.
As Kay Hymowitz noted in her review [...]

Behind the Headline: Fenty outlines plans to cut special-ed costs and return students to public schools

In Washington, the mayor hopes to reduce spending on private school placements for special ed students, which currently cost $280 million a year. In 2007, Jay Greene and Marcus Winters noted that most school districts spend much less money on private school tuition for disabled students than Washington does. The cost of private school placements at one time represented 15 percent of the school district’s budget in D.C. In the same year, New York City schools spent only 0.17 percent of the budget on private school placements.

Behind the Headline: In Blow to Bloomberg, City Must Keep 19 Failing Schools Open

A state court has ruled that New York City’s plan to close 19 schools for poor performance is illegal because the public was not given enough information about the ramifications of the closings. In an article that appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of Ed Next, Andy Smarick argued that school districts should close persistently failing schools rather than trying to fix them.

Behind the Headline: Bill Gates touts charter schools, accountability

Bill Gates spoke earlier this week at the National Charter Schools Conference in Chicago. Paul Hill wrote about the Gates Foundation’s involvement in education in the Winter 2006 issue of Ed Next.

Behind the Headline: Teacher Induction Found to Raise Student Scores

A new study released by the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences—a randomized experiment—finds that teachers who received two years of induction services outperformed teachers in a control group. An article by Katherine Newman that appeared in the Spring 2009 issue of Ed Next took a close look at three innovative teacher training programs that offer induction services.

Behind the Headline – Evaluation of the Impact of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Final Report

The final evaluation of the D.C. voucher program finds that the program improved students’ chances of graduating from high school. An article by Patrick Wolf that appeared in Ed Next in 2009 provided an overview of the program and the results of earlier evaluations.

Behind the Headline: The New Segregation Debate

Newsweek sums up the debate over single-sex schooling, which has gained attention as a way of addressing the performance of boys in school. Peter Meyer explored the case for single-sex schools in an article that appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Ed Next.

Behind the Headline: Report finds KIPP students outscore public school peers

On Top of the News
Report finds KIPP students outscore public school peers
06/22/10 | The Washington Post
Behind the Headline
Brand-Name Charters
Summer 2008 | Education Next
A study conducted by Mathematica finds that students attending KIPP schools significantly outperform their peers in reading and math. An article by Julie Bennett that appeared in Ed Next [...]

Behind the Headline: Voucher Bill on Hold in N.J.

A New Jersey tax credit program that would provide as many as 20,000 poor students with vouchers to attend private schools is stuck in the Democratic-controlled legislature, the Wall Street Journal reports. An article by Wilbur Rich that appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Ed Next took a close look at the political debate over a tax credit bill in Missouri. “The legislation had the initial support of a broad coalition of Republicans and Democrats, blacks and whites,” Rich writes. “Not surprisingly, the teachers unions mounted a vigorous campaign against the bill. Under that pressure, the tuition grant coalition fell apart during the legislative process, revealing sharp divisions within the ranks of blacks and Republicans.”

Behind the Headline: Seniority system cuts fresh MPS teachers amid budget crunch

On Top of the News: In Milwaukee, 482 teachers have received layoff notices, but the school board says nearly all of those jobs could be saved if the teachers union would agree to switch to a less expensive health care plan. In an article that appeared in the Summer 2003 issue of Education Next, Mike Podgursky looked at the generous fringe benefits received by most teachers.

Behind the Headline: High court to hear Arizona school case

On Top of the News
High court to hear Arizona school case
05/24/10 | U.S. News & World Report
Behind the Headline
Credits Crunched
Fall 2009 | Education Next
The Supreme Court will consider two appeals to a lower court ruling against Arizona’s tax credit program. Marty West wrote about the case in the Fall 2009 issue of [...]

Behind the Headline: R.I. district, union reach deal to rehire teachers

On Top of the News
R.I. district, union reach deal to rehire teachers
05/17/10 | boston.com
Behind the Headline
An Effective Teacher in Every Classroom
Summer 2010 | Education Next
Central Falls High School will not fire its teachers after all. President Obama had called the school district’s decision to replace teachers at the failing school “an [...]

Weekend Reading: American Education 2030

The Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K-12 Education has released a new e-book, American Education 2030, that looks at what education will look like in 20 years. The book includes 15 chapters written by task force members, many of whom are also Education Next editors, bloggers, and contributors.
As noted in the press release for [...]

Behind the Headline: CDC Analysis Suggests P.E. Can Boost Student Learning

On Top of the News
CDC Analysis Suggests P.E. Can Boost Student Learning
05/07/10 | Curriculum Matters
Behind the Headline
Not Your Father’s PE
Fall 2006 | Education Next
The Centers for Disease Control has reviewed 50 studies looking at the relationship between physical activity at school and academic achievement, and reports that half of those studies [...]

Event Today in DC and on the Web: Paul Peterson and Paul Hill on School Choice

Ed Next editor Paul Peterson and Paul Hill of the Center on Reinventing Public Education will speak at 3:30 today at an event at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. (Those outside of DC or tied to their desks can watch the event via a live webcast.)
Peterson is the author of Saving Schools: From Horace Mann [...]

New Podcast: Mark Bauerlein reads from The Dumbest Generation

New on the Ed Next website: Mark Bauerlein, professor of English at Emory University and former Director of Research and Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts (and a frequent reviewer of books and movies for Ed Next), reads an excerpt from his book, The Dumbest Generation.
Here’s how the book is described [...]

New Podcast: Do U.S. Students Spend Enough Time Learning?

Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. talk about whether American kids need a longer school day, a longer school year, more time on task, or more customized learning experiences.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
For more on this topic, please see “The Case for Saturday School,” by [...]

New Article: Bye-Bye Blackboards

A new article on the Ed Next website, “Bye-Bye Blackboards,” by Mike Petrilli, looks at interactive whiteboards.
While some people are asking whether it makes sense to spend thousands of dollars on a tool that makes stand-and-deliver instruction easier instead of investing in individualized, self-directed online learning, Mike wonders whether interactive whiteboards might allow teachers to [...]

Behind the Headline: Alternative Path for Teachers Gains Ground

On Top of the News
Alternative Path for Teachers Gains Ground
04/19/10 | The New York Times
Behind the Headline
Skewed Perspective
Winter 2005 | Education Next
The New York State Board of Regents will vote this week on whether to allow organizations that award alternative certification to also award master’s degrees. “Education schools [...]

Florida LEA Succeeds With Merit Pay and Without Tenure

As Bill Tucker notes over at the Quick and the Ed, there’s one LEA in Florida that has already put into place many of the reforms that were part of S.B. 6, which was vetoed by Gov. Crist last week. The LEA has merit pay and no teacher tenure, Tucker points out, and is attracting [...]

New Podcast: Florida Governor Vetoes School Reform Bill

Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. address the breaking news from Florida and discuss why Florida governor Charlie Crist vetoed a bill passed by the legislature that said that teachers should be paid based on performance and districts should be able to dismiss ineffective teachers more easily.
Click here to listen to the [...]

We Have the Schools We Wanted

Histories of American education have been big news lately. Diane Ravitch’s Death and Life of the Great American School System has been topping the charts at Amazon.com. Ed Next’s Paul Peterson has a new book out of his own (Saving Schools: From Horace Mann to Virtual Learning).

In the new issue of Ed Next, Jay Greene [...]