Author
Frederick Hess
Articles
Pyrrhic Victories?
The following essay is part of a forum, written in honor of Education Next’s 10th anniversary, in which the editors assessed the school reform movement’s victories and challenges to see just how successful reform efforts have been. For the other side of the debate, please see A Battle Begun, Not Won by Paul E. Peterson, [...]
The Accreditation Game
The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (known broadly as NCATE, pronounced “en kate”) was launched in 1954 by a coalition of professional organizations from across the education community. Previously, teacher-training programs had been accredited by states, regional accrediting bodies, or an association of teacher colleges, each equipped with its own benchmarks and methods [...]
Lifting the Barrier
Eliminating the state-mandated licensure of principles and superintendents is the first step in recruiting and training a generation of leaders capable of transforming America’s schools
Technical Difficulties
Information technology could help schools do more with less. If only educators knew how to use it
Johnny Can Read…in Some States
Johnny can’t read … in South Carolina. But if his folks move to Texas, he’ll be reading up a storm. What’s going on? It turns out that in complying with the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), some states have decided to be a whole lot more generous than others in determining whether students [...]
Blog Posts/Multimedia
The Big Philanthropic Shift: Now What?
New philanthropists are much more receptive to the notion that the problem is the inhospitable cultures, systems, and policy environments in which scale-ups were being attempted.
The Fate of the Common Core: The View from 2022
The Core is still with us, of course, but it remains a shadow of what its more optimistic proponents envisioned a decade ago.
Educational Leadership for a New Era
The basic premise of Rice University’s Education Entrepreneurship Program is that key leadership and management skills are universal, regardless of one’s field of endeavor, and that aspiring K-12 leaders can actually become more adept at these skills by learning with and from peers and faculty who have diverse expertise and experiences.
Straight Up Conversation: TFA Research Chief Heather Harding
Recently, Education Week’s “Living in Dialogue” blog featured a number of provocative posts on Teach For America. Phil Kovacs penned a guest post that offered a sharp critique of TFA and the research supporting its efforts.
The Problem with One-Size-Fits-All Approaches to Teacher Quality
The world is a complex place and adopting mechanistic, one-size-fits-all solutions, like so many of the statewide teacher evaluation and pay systems being championed today, make it likely that thousands of schools and millions of teachers and students will be snared by systems that are a poor match for their needs.
Cage-Busting Leadership
Leaders have far more freedom to transform, reimagine, and invigorate teaching, learning, and schooling than is widely believed.
Straight Up Conversation: Douglas County Supe Liz Fagen
We pay a lot of attention to urban school districts, but much less to high-performing suburbs–where there’s typically less interest in much of the current “reform” agenda. All of that makes Liz and Douglas County kind of unique. I thought it worth chatting with Liz a bit about what they’re up to.
ARPA-ED: A Qualified Thumbs-Up
Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) has proposed an “Education-ARPA,” modeled on the famed Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Obama administration has included a similar proposal, carving the dollars out of i3.
Straight Up Conversation: New Louisiana Schools Chief John White
In January, 36-year-old John White took the reins as the state superintendent of education in Louisiana. He was appointed by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on a 9-1 vote, inheriting the ambitious reform legacy of his predecessor, Paul Pastorek. White had moved to Louisiana in 2011 to take over as head of [...]
A Shameless Display on Waivers
The Obama administration made its big NCLB “waiver” announcement last week , getting the predictable, fawning edu-coverage. Here are six things about this latest spin of the waiver saga that seemed particularly disconcerting.
Carrots, Sticks, & the Bully Pulpit
This new book examines what we’ve learned about what Uncle Sam does and doesn’t do well when it comes to education innovation, accountability, equity, and research.
Straight Up Conversation: Departing Kasich Edu-Advisor Bob Sommers on Reform in Ohio
For the past year, Bob Sommers served as newly elected Ohio Governor John Kasich’s education advisor and helped to spearhead the Governor’s reform efforts.
The 2012 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings
Here are the 2012 Edu-Scholar Public Presence rankings, which are designed to recognize those university-based academics who are contributing most substantially to public debates about schools and schooling.
The Five-Tool Policy Scholar
Tomorrow I’ll be publishing the 2012 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings. Today, just like last year, I want to take a few moments to explain what those ratings are about and how they were generated.
Ten Edu-Stories We’ll Be Reading in 2012
Here’s my best guess at some of the key edu-headlines we’ll be reading in 2012.
The World Conspires to Make Expertise Unreliable
Note: This week, I’m giving readers a look at my essay in Richard Elmore’s recent Harvard Education Press volume I Used to Think…And Now I Think. If you find this stuff at all interesting, I’d definitely encourage you to check the book out. For days one and two, see here and here. Say something smart [...]
Wait a Minute…
Note: This week, I’m giving readers a look at my essay in Richard Elmore’s recent Harvard Education Press volume I Used to Think…And Now I Think. If you find this stuff at all interesting, I’d definitely encourage you to check the book out. For day one, see here. Along my path through academia, I started [...]
I Used to Think…That Experts Understood the World
This summer, Harvard Education Press published Richard Elmore’s intriguing volume I Used to Think…And Now I Think. The volume’s title and theme draw from a professional development exercise in which participants reflect on how the experience has altered their thinking.
Closing the Achievement Gap, but at Gifted Students’ Expense
President Obama’s remarks on inequality, stoking populist anger at “the rich,” suggest that the theme for his reelection bid will be not hope and change but focus on reducing class disparity with government help. But this effort isn’t limited to economics; it is playing out in our nation’s schools as well.
I’m Skeptical But Intrigued By AFT Initiative, NEA Report
We’ve seen a couple noteworthy developments from the AFT and NEA in recent days.
A Couple Thoughts on Tuesday’s NYT Op-Ed
On Tuesday, Linda Darling-Hammond and I published an op-ed “How to Rescue Education Reform” in the New York Times. (I take no responsibility for the immodest title; those of you who have written op-eds know how little control authors have on that score.) The piece has generated a number of notes, with several asking how the piece came about.
Getting Moneyball Right
I fear that the value-added enthusiasts who imagine they’re right now gearing up to play moneyball in K-12 are actually going to find, to their chagrin, that they’re the potbellied scouts hoping to sign an overpriced free agent because the guy drove in 100 runs for the Yankees last year.
An “American” Approach to K-12 School Reform
A recent series in The Atlantic has explored the “secrets of innovation” and asked which nations the U.S. ought to emulate in seeking to regain our competitive edge. As part of it, I was asked to offer my take on the K-12 question.
Making Sense of the Whole “Are Teachers Overpaid?” Thing
I’m much more interested in the broader issue of how we can rethink the profession, make fuller use of talented teachers, and wisely spend the dollars we do have than in debating what the “right” wage level should be.
Maybe Parents Aren’t Dopes
For nearly two decades, one of the striking findings in school choice research is that parents are hugely positive about schools of choice even when the test results show only modest benefits for their kids. In some circles, particularly among education professors, this has led to various lamentations about what dopes parents are.
The Feds’ For-Profit Double Standard in Ed
I’m frequently frustrated by our inability to talk sensibly about the role of for-profits in schooling. Most discussion amounts to reflexive demonization, occasionally interspersed with hired-gun salesmanship or protestations of good intentions. Nearly absent is thinking about the role for-profits can play in promoting quality and cost-effectiveness at scale, or what it’ll take to make that happen.
I’m No Contrarian
Last week, RiShawn Biddle penned an energetic critique of “Our Achievement Gap Mania” for his e-newsletter Dropout Nation. The impassioned attack echoed some of the more visceral reactions that the article has generated. I’m a fan of robust debate, but I do want to make sure that critics understand what I’m arguing and why I’m arguing it.
Why Achievement Gap Mania Isn’t Cost-Free
As I noted earlier, my National Affairs essay “Our Achievement Gap Mania” has stirred some conversation. Let’s take a moment to address those who’ve asked, “Rick, why are you trying to stir up trouble? There are no losers here!”
Our Achievement Gap Mania
The real problem has been the unwillingness of gap-closers to acknowledge the costs of their agenda or its implications.
Indiana’s Phased Turnaround Model
Turnarounds are all the rage. Under the guiding hand of its stellar state chief, Tony Bennett, Indiana has recently tried out an interesting spin in its approach to tackling consistently low-performing schools.
Want a 3.8 GPA? Major in Education
University of Missouri economist Cory Koedel has provided some new, clear, and pretty troubling evidence about the lack of rigor in teacher preparation.
Straight Up Conversation: Texas Chief Robert Scott
With Texas Governor Rick Perry now drawing attention as the newly installed favorite in the Republican presidential field, including some harsh words from the Secretary of Education, I thought it’d be a good time to chat with Robert Scott about his take on things.
Is Anybody Up for Defending the Common Core Math Standards?
Over the past three months, we’ve now asked six individuals involved in the Common Core math standards to pen a piece making the case for their rigor and quality, and each has declined in turn. This is, quite literally, unprecedented.
Kudos to ED for Gutsy Call on Special Ed
I’ve long griped that the Obama administration has talked too often about more school spending and not enough about smarter school spending, and I was particularly disenchanted to hear the President go back to talking this week about pumping more borrowed federal funds into school facilities and salaries.
Randi and I Argue, Earth Rumbles
You can judge for yourself, but I’d like to think that Randi and I managed to have a serious but civil debate about whether teachers are under attack, teacher pensions and health care, the new unionism, teacher evaluation, teacher pay, and the rest.
PDK Finds Public Likes Teachers, Down on Teacher Unions, Mixed on Obama
Phi Delta Kappan released its 43rd annual poll on public schools. As always, there’s much to chew on.
Straight Up Conversation: Former New York Commissioner David Steiner
As he returns to Hunter College, I thought it timely to chat with David Steiner about a few of his takeaways and lessons learned from his time running the New York state education agency.
After the Debt Deal: It Gets Tougher From Here
Last week the President and Congress topped off months of increasing rancor by cobbling together a last minute debt deal. There are several key edu-world takeaways that can too easily get lost amidst the languid summer heat. So, let’s take a moment to flag them.
Duncan’s “Backdoor Blueprint” Strategy
I see two ways this can play out: Hard-pressed states are thankful for any relief, and Congress is too distracted to pay attention or frustrated governors or irate Tea Partiers start to raise a fuss about this novel strategy for extending Uncle Sam’s reach, and it becomes a talking point for Bachmann and Perry during the GOP primaries.
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