Author
Martin West
Articles
The Public Weighs In on School Reform
Intense controversies do not alter public thinking, but teachers differ more sharply than ever
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, [...]
Meeting of the Minds
The 2010 EdNext-PEPG Survey shows that, on many education reform issues, Democrats and Republicans hardly disagree
The Persuadable Public
The 2009 Education Next-PEPG Survey asks if information changes minds about school reform.
The 2008 Education Next-PEPG Survey of Public Opinion
Americans think less of their schools than of their police departments and post offices
School Reform Economics
Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies? by JAMES J. HECKMAN AND ALAN B. KRUEGER, EDITED by BENJAMIN M. FRIEDMAN
Blog Posts/Multimedia
Grounds for Dismissal
Podcast: Eric Hanushek and Marty West discuss two new studies that look at teacher dismissals.
On Winning (and Losing) the National Spelling Bee
The 84th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is underway this week. George Thampy, who won the bee in 2000, spoke with Education Next in an interview recorded last year.
Profiles in Courage and “Thuggery”
NEA Rhode Island assistant executive director John Leidecker was arrested Tuesday and charged with using his computer to impersonate state legislator Doug Gablinske in the context of the recent election campaign. Gablinske, a Democrat from Bristol, lost to an NEA-backed challenger in the primaries and mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign to keep his seat.
The Passing of a Fighter
I was saddened to learn recently of the death of Lovett “Pete” Peters, the legendary philanthropist, education reformer, and founder of the Boston-based Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, who passed away on November 11th at the impressive age of 97.
A Blown Analysis of Tolerance in Private Schools
Charles Blow, the “Visual Op-Ed Columnist” for the New York Times, devotes his Saturday column this week to the “private school civility gap” – a phenomenon he deems a “not-so-little, not-so-secret, dirty little secret among the upper crust.”
How Middle Schools Hurt Student Achievement
Today’s Wall Street Journal reports on a new Education Next study showing that, at least in New York City, attending a standalone middle school rather than a K-8 school has a big negative impact on student achievement and attendance rates.
How Do Citizens Grade Schools?
For several decades pollsters have asked American citizens to grade the nation’s public schools, both nationally and within their local community. Yet we know next to nothing about how citizens go about answering.
EdNext Poll Shows Civil Rights Groups Out of Touch on Charters
Support for charters among the public at large has remained relatively stable since 2008. Among African Americans, however, support has increased from 42 percent to 64 percent. Meanwhile, Hispanic support for charters has increased from 37 percent to 47 percent. It is puzzling, then, that a coalition of prominent civil rights organizations last week issued a statement criticizing the Obama administration’s current emphasis on chartering as a strategy to turn around low-performing schools.
What Should Charlie Do? Latest Poll on Tenure and Merit Pay in Florida Finds Support for Change
In 2009 Education Next asked a representative sample of Floridians their opinion about teacher tenure and merit pay, the very issues that have just landed on Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s desk. Although Crist initially supported the bill, he has given hints that union-backed protests are causing him doubts. “Shame on any public servant who doesn’t listen to the people,” he told the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday. So let’s have a look at what the people think.
Cash Incentives for AP Scores Yield Long-Term Benefits
In the Fall 2008 issue of Education Next, economist C. Kirabo Jackson reported that the Advanced Placement Incentive Program boosted AP participation rates in participating schools, the share of students receiving solid SAT or ACT scores, and the share of students going on to post-secondary education. The results were no doubt encouraging, but they left unanswered questions as to what would happen to students after they had enrolled in college. A follow-up study now available in the NBER Working Paper series puts these concerns to rest.
International Benchmarking
Video: Mark Schneider talks with Education Next about the limits to what we can learn from international tests.
The Lost Art of Book Reviewing: Editors Defend School Money Trials
The academic book review is a lost art. In days gone by, one could count on fellow scholars to lay out the books’ argument, skewer it, then identify a laundry list of factual errors that demonstrate the author was careless or worse.
Which Students Graduate from College?
Video: Matthew Chingos, an author of Crossing the Finish Line, talks with Education Next about which factors best predict whether students will graduate from college. High school grades and AP test scores are stronger predictors than SAT or ACT scores, this new study finds.
Swaying Public Opinion
Video: Martin West talks with Education Next about what it takes to change public opinion about reforms like charter schools.
Alternate Route Principals Not So Bad After All, New York Times Admits
A new NYU study finds that schools assigned new elementary and secondary principals trained by the Aspiring Principals Program of the New York City Leadership Academy outperformed other city schools with new principals who came through traditional routes in English Language Arts, and matched their performance in math.
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