Author
Michael Petrilli
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, [...]
Charters as Role Models
The charter school movement turns 14
this year, and its behavior, some might say, is “developmentally
appropriate.”
Linky Love, Snark Attacks, and Fierce Debates about Teacher Quality?
A peek inside the education blogosphere
Blog Posts/Multimedia
Washington Insiders Favor ESEA Flexibility in Theory but Not in Reality
It’s not just the President’s bizarre State of the Union request that states raise their compulsory attendance age to 18. No, I’m referring to the Army of the Potomac’s reaction to John Kline’s ESEA proposal and to Chairman Tom Harkin’s and Rep. George Miller’s response to the waiver requests put forward by several states.
Negotiate From a Position of Strength
The topic of collaboration between districts and charter schools inevitably leads to Cold War imagery. Are we talking about appeasement? Détente? Trust but verify?
ESEA Reauthorization – Everyone’s cards are on the table. Now let’s make a deal.
A clear path toward a workable, maybe even bipartisan, package is still visible. In short: all roads lead to Lamar.
Five Thoughts About NCLB on its Tenth Anniversary
The federal law that everybody loves to hate turns ten on Sunday. Here’s what to think about it…
My Seven Predictions for 2011: A Scorecard
A year ago I played prognosticator and offered “educated guesses” about what 2011 would bring. So how did I do?
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.
Texas Hit the Accountability Plateau, Then the Rest of the Country Followed
“Consequential accountability” corresponded with a significant one-time boost in student achievement. As an early adopter, Texas got a head start on big achievement gains, and also a head start on flat-lining thereafter.
In Praise of Performance Pay—for Online Learning Companies
Whether you consider yeserday’s New York Times article on K12.com a “hit piece” (Tom Vander Ark) or a “blockbuster” (Dana Goldstein), there’s little doubt that it will have a long-term impact on the debate around digital learning. So how can we go about drafting policies that will push digital learning in the direction of quality?
The Obama Administration’s War on Stuyvesant and Thomas Jefferson
Last week, the Departments of Education and Justice released new guidance for school districts and institutions of higher education on constitutionally-sound ways to encourage racial diversity and avoid racial isolation. The guidance for elementary and secondary education includes some odious and potentially damaging suggestions for America’s 150-odd academically-selective public high schools
Don’t Blame D.C.’s Woes on School Choice
The reduction of choice isn’t because of Michelle Rhee’s policies — it’s because of gentrification.
Too Many Cooks, Too Many Kitchens
It’s well past time to rethink, re-imagine, and reinvent education governance for the twenty-first century.
What Kevin Carey Didn’t Say about Diane Ravitch, but Should Have
As everyone knows, Kevin Carey has a long essay in The New Republic about Diane Ravitch’s apostasy of the education reform movement, much of it fair and on point.
The Future of Educational Accountability, As Envisioned by 11 Leading States
The states are presenting sensible alternatives to the antiquated Adequate Yearly Progress model. The challenge to Arne Duncan, his peer reviewers, and his team: Say yes to these proposals or be accused of a “Washington knows best” mentality.
Responding to Diane Ravitch, Randi Weingarten, & Others on Education, Democracy, and Unions
The solution is not to abandon democracy, but to consider whether different iterations of it might work better than others.
Dealing with Disingenuous Teachers Unions: There Are No Shortcuts
School boards should drive a hard bargain with unions, but they don’t, because their members are so often elected with the support of those very same unions. The “no shortcuts” plan is to roll up our sleeves and engage in the fight for political control of local school boards.
We Have a Parenting Problem, Not a Poverty Problem
It strikes me as highly unlikely that we’re ever going to significantly narrow the achievement gap between rich and poor unless we narrow the “good parenting gap” between rich and poor families, too.
NAEP 2011: The Reading First effect?
Last night was fun for the kids, but today is every education wonk’s favorite holiday: NAEP release day!
A is for Accountability*; What’s at stake in the ESEA debate**
Liberal reformers and prominent editorial pages are raging mad about the Harkin-Enzi bill’s supposedly weak approach to accountability in its ESEA update. Are they right to be? And is it true that Republicans have become teacher union stooges when it comes to federal education policy?
It Sure Wasn’t Pretty, but Harkin-Enzi’s Out of Committee
Assuming that the House bills will be even better, I would claim that reauthorization is finally heading in a hopeful direction.
Harkin-Enzi’s Hodgepodge
We finally have a serious, thoughtful ESEA reauthorization proposal in the Senate, one that should gain support from both sides of the aisle and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. But here’s a warning: It’s not the bill that the Senate is currently marking up.
Accountability’s End?
If the debate around the federal role in accountability is coalescing, a much bigger question remains wide open: Could we be watching the beginning of the end for the accountability movement in toto?
ObamaFlex: Too much tight, too light on loose
Follower’s of Fordham’s work know that for the better part of three years, we’ve been pushing an approach to federal education policy that we call “Reform Realism“–a pro-school reform orientation leavened with a realistic view of what the federal government can get right in education.
When public education’s two Ps disagree
It’s long been said that public education must achieve both public and private aims. The public, which foots the bill, has an interest in a well-educated populace. Parents—schools’ primary clients—want a strong foundation for their own children. Much of the time these two interests are in perfect alignment. But what happens when they’re not?
NY Regents: Stop the madness!
Thank goodness for Fordham’s Peter Meyer, a master at turning policy gibberish into plain English. But can it possibly be true, as reported in his recent post, that the Regents and the New York State Department of Education went to court with the teachers union over whether test scores would count as 20 percent or 40 percent of a teacher’s annual evaluation?
One Size Fits Most
If you step back from day to day vitriol that characterizes the current education-policy “debate,” and glimpse the larger picture, two worldviews on education reform emerge.
The Name Game
It’s silly season again, and I’m not referring to the Republican primaries. No, I’m thinking about the all-out battle for proponents and opponents of “reform” to stick a nasty label on the other side and claim the mantle of truth and goodness for themselves.
The Lesson from Education Reform Idol: Elections Matter
Getting rank and file Dems to buck their union patrons is a quixotic quest. Asking Republicans to embrace significant reform is a no-brainer.
If You Support Common Core, Oppose Arne Duncan
The only possible outcome of Secretary Duncan putting more federal pressure on the states to adopt the Common Core is stoke the fires of conservative backlash–and to lose many of the states that have already signed on.
There’s Good News, and then There’s Really Good News
Poor kids in Florida and a few other states are making HUGE gains. Let’s figure out why.
What Ed Sector Gets Wrong
Hey Education Sector, how about a little less skepticism, and a little more love, for one of the gutsiest projects in education reform history?
Quality Control in K-12 Digital Learning: Hess Calls for Humility
There’s no Golden Mean or Foolproof Formula. But there are better and worse ways to police quality in digital learning
Our Schools’ Secret Success
Here’s a new problem facing American education policy: Something we’re doing seems to be working.
The Myth of the “Good” School
Supporters of public education ought not make “hey parents, suck it up” their rallying cry.
Let’s Talk Education Reform: A GOP candidate’s speech
The Republican presidential field is beginning to take shape, and candidates and maybe-candidates are figuring out where they stand and what to say. Sooner or later, they will need to say something about education. May we suggest a few talking points?
Advice for Chairman Kline on “Flexibility”: Call Democrats’ Bluff
House education chairman John Kline released a bill last week that would provide “unprecedented” flexibility for states and local school districts around how they spend their federal education dollars. Predictably, liberals hate it; libertarians think it doesn’t go far enough.
Understanding Upper-Middle-Class Parents
The way to get upper-middle-class parents engaged in school reform is to leave their schools alone.
Meet Those Who Tweet
This morning, Education Next published “All A-Twitter about Education.” In it, I report on the Twitter phenomenon and how it’s impacting the education “war of ideas.” And because everyone loves lists, I also put together rankings of the top-25 tweeters in education policy and the top-25 educator tweeters–almost all of whom tweet (and blog) about education technology.
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