Author
Peter Meyer
Articles
Assessing New York’s Commissioner of Education
With Steiner’s sudden resignation, will the state continue its Race to the Top?
Catholic Ethos, Public Education
How the Christian Brothers came to start two charter schools in Chicago
Can Catholic Schools Be Saved?
Lacking nuns and often students, a shrinking system looks for answers
Brighter Choices in Albany
Reformers in New York’s capital have brought high-quality charter schools to scale, giving hope to a generation of disadvantaged kids.
Blog Posts/Multimedia
Getting Good Ideas to the Finish Line: Choice, Political Will, and a Coxswain
The good news is that we have two trends that are gaining ground on the monster that is our education system: a renewed appreciation for content and the new market mechanisms (i.e. choice) that incentivize innovation and renewal.
Big News in the Bayou State
Passing a set of historic reform bills last week, the Louisiana legislature handed Gov. Bobby Jindal and his new education chief, John White, the keys to reform city.
The Fight’s On: Rhee, Klein, and Moskowitz Team Up in New York
The three have formed a group that intends to raise $10 million annually for the next five years to lobby the New York State legislature to protect the reform initiatives launched by Klein and Michael Bloomberg in New York City and promote reform throughout the state.
Bush Saves Romney From Etch A Sketch Hell!
As was widely reported Jeb Bush endorsed Mitt Romney yesterday. The Times called it a “coveted endorsement”—and indeed it is, no matter how much fun Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich had at poor Eric Fehrnstrom’s expense.
The Race Card: Making Sense of the Duncan Discipline Report
The big news last week was the release of data by the U.S. Department of Education showing that, as the press release stated: “Minority students across America face harsher discipline, have less access to rigorous high school curricula, and are more often taught by lower-paid and less experienced teachers.”
Teacher Evaluation Data, Part 2: The Perfectionist Disease
In Part 1 of my New York City teacher evaluation commentary, I explained the judicial decision which determined that the public had a right to know how individual teachers were doing. Most tellingly, perhaps, was Judge Kern’s dismissal of the argument that flaws in the data mattered to her decision. Referring to a previous ruling [...]
Teacher Evaluation Data, Part 1: The Public’s Right to Know
It is possible that in a different era, a court might very well have concluded that releasing teachers’ names was quite insane. But while this lower court decision (there are, in New York, several higher courts) will not prove to be a major marker in educational jurisprudence, it does show how far we have come in righting a long-listing ship.
The Conspiracy Theory in Search of a Conspiracy
What worries me about the reasoning of some of the anti-Common Corers is that they seem to confuse a popular national trend with nationalism
Education Is No Zero-Sum Game
The point of a liberal arts education—and I include math and science in that education—is to teach some eternal verities so that, when the surface world changes, as it tends to do, we have citizens that possess the most important skill of all: the ability to adapt.
The Poverty Myth Persists
Why have we given up on the idea that education can be the “great equalizer”? The answer, I believe, is that we have accepted the “materialistic fallacy.” We have taken results of our education ineptitudes—more poverty—and made them the cause of them.
Education Malfeasance: The “Reading to Learn” Myth
It is a shame that in 2012 educators continue to ignore the importance of background and domain-specific knowledge as the essence of reading—and of a good education.
Parent Power, Teacher Power, Local Power, and a Word from Michelle Rhee
In case you missed them, a few notable events from the last month (or so): An amazing story from Erik Robelen at Education Week begins… Overriding the governor’s veto, New Hampshire’s Republican-led legislature has enacted a new law that requires school districts to give parents the opportunity to seek alternatives to any course materials they [...]
Scaling Up By Scaling Down
It is not so much that “reform has to go beyond charters” as it is that real reform must embrace choice—choice at the individual level.
Education Reform Comes Home: the state of the states
We shall see tomorrow night, but this is already looking to be the Year of the Education Governor. With NCLB being pummeled from left and right and Race to the Top in suspended inanimation, the feds seem unusually quiet, if not on the run.
King’s Message: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
The best way to honor Martin Luther King would be to commit ourselves to delivering a rigorous, comprehensive, and, ultimately liberating education. Indeed, it would be the best way to let freedom ring for future generations.
Teacher Unions, Mac the Knife, and Dollar Power
That’s the headline above Paul Peterson’s better-than-nifty essay on the Ed Next blog.
What Do Education Policymakers Do About “Toxic Stress”?
My friend Robert Pondiscio and I went head-to-head in a weeklong Facebook exchange about poverty and education over the holidays. Part of the debate was spurred by a draft of his recent Core Knowledge post on “ Student Achievement, Poverty, and ‘Toxic Stress.’” It is well-worth a read. Robert keyed in on a recent study [...]
Will the Real Lobbyist for Students Please Stand!
The responses to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent claim that he was going to be a lobbyist for public school students because no one else was reminded me of the old television game show, “What’s My Line?” wherein a celebrity panel got to quiz three contestants and then guess which one actually performed the job they all said they performed.
Teachers: can’t live with em, can’t live without ‘em
Amidst lots of recent drama about teacher evaluations came a wonderful report by Sam Dillon in the New York Times: In Washington Large Rewards In Teacher Pay.
Educating the Poor in India: Lessons for America
A fascinating story in the New York Times about schooling in India has a few things to teach American educators; mainly, that the poor really do want a good education.
Looking Back to Look Forward: A List of Lists
Last year I attempted to rank the top education stories of the year using Google. It was fun, but it was bit too nuanced (algorithmically speaking) to work.
‘Twas the Night Before De-regulation
The controversy over the recent New York Times front-page slam of K12 Inc. was ostensibly about the company’s inability to deliver online education, but one of the more interesting parts of the ensuing debate was not about computers and education but about delivering education for profit.
The Bold & the Beautiful: The Mind Trust Plan for Indianapolis
By combining mayoral authority and parental choice, the Mind Trust proposal would create a marriage made in heaven.
A Christmas Carol For Our Schools
A new round of the popular education board game, Poverty Matters, began last week with a New York Times op-ed by Helen Ladd and Edward Fiske, titled, “Class Matters: Why Won’t We Admit It?”
What’s Not to Like About Newt’s Education Proposal?
Newt’s never been known for soft-and-cuddly and he does make an easy target for bleeding heart liberals as he joins his Darwinian socio-economic observations with a delivery crisp enough to shatter good china. The problem is, though, that he’s mostly right.
Holiday Feast: STOP THE PRESSES!!! And pass the gravy.
I must interrupt this program to urge readers to cozy up to ednext.org and be thankful for the new issue of Education Next. Cover-to-cover, it’s a blessing.
How About Better Parents? Ask Clarence Lee
Reading Thomas Friedman in yesterday’s New York Times, I couldn’t help but think of the Shel Silverstein classic, “Clarence Lee from Tennessee,” a 1993 poem suggesting that kids could trade in their parents for new ones.
Steve Brill’s Diane Ravitch Moment
It’s hard to tell whether Joe Nocera’s op-ed essay in the New York Times last week, “Teaching With The Enemy,” is wonderfully nuanced or just silly. That’s surely what some education observers might wonder about the notion that Randi Weingarten, former head of New York City’s teacher union and current head of the American Federation of Teachers, should be chancellor of New York City schools.
The Secret to Good Parenting? Good Schools
Schools and parents have different responsibilities – and we need to appreciate the differences.
More Money to the Parents; More Power to the People
University of Chicago economist John List is following more than 600 students in several Chicago schools to find out whether investing in teachers or, alternatively, in parents, leads to more gains in kids’ educational performance.
What money can’t buy: Facebook happiness in Newark?
Reading the New York Times update on the progress of the $100 million Mark “Facebook” Zuckerberg donation to the Newark public schools this morning, I couldn’t help but think of the time our superintendent convened a meeting of parents to announce a $20,000 grant for a “Parent University” project. Wow!
News of the world… Or, catching up on Rupert, Nick, Alexis, and the NAACP
Whatever happens with ESEA reauthorization, I am convinced that the genie of education excellence is out of the bottle; administrators, teachers, aides, security guards – they are getting with the program.
A progressive school finds some accountability religion
I was prepared for a rant against all things reform when I started reading the New York Times Q & A interview with Maria Velez-Clarke, the principal of the Children’s Workshop School in Manhattan’s East Village, about the school’s C-grade from the City.
Back to the Future: Re-Inventing Local Control
As much as it pains me every time I hear Checker Finn say it, school boards may indeed be irrelevant. And Checker’s new essay in National Affairs lays out a pretty persuasive case for why they will disappear; not, why they should go away, but why they will simply die on a vine that is no longer part of a healthy education system.
New York Leaps into the Middle School Trap
What was so odd about Dennis Walcott’s announcement that New York City was opening 50 new middle schools is that the most recent research suggesting that a middle school grade configuration is probably not the way to go was done in his city.
Teachers Breaking Out of the Box
I gave up bashing teachers years ago, when I realized that, as with soldiers in the trenches, they had their hands full just staying alive. What I never understood, however, since this wasn’t really a war, was why teachers seemed to hide behind their unions.
Zen and the Art of School Board Maintenance
The problem is that local school boards can’t wait around for the folks who have caused our cancers to cure them.
A Bronx Cheer for Bloomberg? A New Poll is Harsh
I felt a bit sad reading this morning’s New York Times poll report showing that New Yorkers are now broadly dissatisfied with their school system and that most say the city’s school system has stagnated or declined since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took control of it nine years ago.
A New Leader for New Orleans
Podcast: John White talks with Education Next about his goals for the Recovery School District.
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