—Education Next

Peterson and Matthew Chingos published a study in the Summer 2013 issue of Education Next, “The Impact of School Vouchers on College Enrollment,” that found that African-American students benefited the most from receiving vouchers.

—Education Next

Andy Rotherham, of Bellwether Education Partners; Neal McCluskey, of the Cato Institute; Chester E. Finn, Jr. of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute; Rick Hess, of American Enterprise Institute; Patricia Levesque, of the Foundation for Excellence in Education; and Jay Greene, of the University of Arkasas, each took a moment to share their thoughts on the Common Core and how it will effect education in America.

— Education Next

The TED Talks Education one-hour program brings together a diverse group of teachers and education advocates delivering short, high-impact talks on the theme of teaching and learning. These original TED Talks are given by thought leaders including Geoffrey Canada, Bill Gates, Rita F. Pierson and Sir Ken Robinson.

In the talk featured here, Rita Pierson calls on teachers to build better relationships with their students.

—Education Next

—Education Next

—Education Next

In this video, David Steiner, Dean of Hunter College School of Education, and Mark Bauerlein, professor of English at Emory University, discuss whether and how the Common Core standards for English language arts will transform learning across the country. The discussion is moderated by Peter Meyer.

—Education Next

Meredith Liu writes about this and other innovative teacher training programs in “Disrupting Teacher Education: High costs for brick-and-mortar degrees create opportunities for online programs,” in the Summer 2013 issue of Ed Next.

—Education Next

In the Summer 2010 issue of Ed Next, June Kronholz wrote about the growth of academic bees and bowls like the Scripps National Spelling Bee in “Competition Makes a Comeback.”

—Education Next

Participants included Mickie Tubbs, principal of a blended learning high school in Los Angeles; John Bailey of Digital Learning Now!; Bill Tucker of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Erin Rubinstein from the Virginia Virtual Academy.

—Education Next

The forum was moderated by Cynthia G. Brown, Vice President, Education Policy, Center for American Progress, and featured Cami Anderson, Superintendent, Newark Public Schools; Heather Harding, Senior Vice President, Community Partnerships, Teach For America; Allan Odden, Director, Strategic Management of Human Capital Consortium for Policy Research in Education and Director, Strategic Management of Human Capital Consortium for Policy Research in Education; and Bill Baabe, Director, Center for Great Public Schools, National Education Association.

—Education Next

Following their presentation, Michelle Rhee of Students First shared insights from her time as schools chancellor for Washington, D.C.

—Education Next

For more on preschool, please read “What Happened When Kindergarten Went Universal,” by Elizabeth Cascio, Ed Next, Spring 2010, and “The Preschool Picture,” by Chester E. Finn, Jr., Ed Next, Fall 2009.

—Education Next

In this video, Tom Loveless discusses the second study, on the resurgence of ability grouping.

—Education Next

—Education Next

—Education Next

This is the first in a series of videos featuring Hanushek and Peterson produced by the Hoover Institution.

—Education Next

James Roldan, a 12th grader from Westminster Academy in Ft. Lauderdale, won second place for his entry Education: America’s Challenge, which looks at how American students compare to their peers in other countries and what could be done to fix things.

—Education Next

—Education Next

In this video, Eric Smith, Tom Luna, Ulrich Boser and Rick Hess discuss the report card at a forum hosted by the Fordham Institute and moderated by Mike Petrilli.

— Education Next

—Education Next

Hess moderated the forum, and panelists included Chris Barbic, of the Tennessee Achievement School District; Deb Gist, of the Rhode Island Department of Education; Kaya Henderson, of DC Public Schools; Adrian Manuel, of Kingston High School; and Michelle Rhee, of StudentsFirst.

An article based on the book, “Combating the Culture of Can’t,” was recently published by Education Next in advance of the Spring 2013 issue.

—Education Next

June Kronholz profiled Rhee during her time as chancellor of Washington, D.C., schools in the Winter 2010 edition of Education Next.

— Education Next

John White, Kaya Henderson, and Mike Casserly participated in the panel discussion, which was hosted by Andy Rotherham.

Smarick first wrote about this topic in “Wave of the Future,” which appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Ed Next.

—Education Next

The program grew out of a partnership between Franklin & Marshall College and KIPP aimed at helping KIPP alumni succeed in college.

Robert Pondiscio describes the program in a new article, “No Excuses Kids Go to College: Will High-Flying Charters See Their Low-Income Students Graduate?”

—Education Next

The video accompanies Ed Next editor Rick Hess’s new book, Cage-Busting Leadership, which will be published on February 12. Education Next has just published an article based on the book, “Combating the Culture of Can’t”

As Rick explains in the book

I believe that two things are true. It is true, as would-be reformers often argue, that statutes, policies, rules, regulations, contracts, and case law make it tougher than it should be for school and system leaders to drive improvement and, well, lead. However, it is also the case that leaders have far more freedom to transform, reimagine, and invigorate teaching, learning, and schooling than is widely believed.

In the book, Rick talks with school leaders who have busted out of the cage.

An event to launch the book will be held at AEI on February 12.

More videos on cage-busting leadership can be found here.

—Education Next

-Education Next

-Education Next

Jonathan Schorr and Deborah McGriff wrote about Rocketship in “Future Schools: Blending Face-to-Face and Online Learning,” which appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of Ed Next.

-Education Next

The results have been described as mixed

Two-thirds of the schools made gains in math or reading scores, but the other third saw achievement decline. Program supporters contend that one year of data is not enough to draw conclusions about the program. Critics ask whether taxpayers should expend a single cent more on what they deem a failed experiment.

In this discussion, hosted by the Fordham Institute, Andy Smarick, Carmel Martin, and Jean-Claude Brizard debate the issue.

-Education Next

The Recovery School District in New Orleans topped the Education Choice and Competition Index this year. In his keynote address, Gov. Jindal spoke passionately about the challenges of remaking schools and described statewide education reforms in Louisiana aimed at increasing school choice.

HT: Quick Hits

Hanushek, along with Paul E. Peterson and Ludger Woessmann, recently wrote about the performance of different countries in “Is the U.S. Catching Up?” which appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of Education Next.

As Therese Vargas of the Washington Post explains

The same year that No Child Left Behind was born, so, too, was a program at a Maryland elementary school that gave a rare opportunity to a class of second-graders, many from low-income neighborhoods and homes where English wasn’t regularly spoken. That year, infused into every part of the students’ curriculum was the creation of an opera.

Their teachers describe seeing striking changes in them. Shy students began to speak more. Students who hated writing began filling pages on end with their thoughts. Students who were ambivalent about school suddenly began showing up every day.

The students talk about their experience in the video above.

In Fall 2010, Mark Bauerlein wrote about the purpose of arts education for Education Next.

Chubb is a fellow at the Hoover Institution (which published this book) and is serving as interim CEO of Education Sector.

He has written about the book on the Ed Next blog. He has also written for Ed Next about the future of No Child Left Behind and about how technology will change the role of the teacher and the future of learning.

-Education Next

Chester E. Finn, Jr., and Michael Petrilli wrote about the report for the Ed Next blog here.

-Education Next

Participants included: Katherine Haley from the office of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio); Frederick M. Hess of AEI; Alyson Klein of Education Week; Andy Rotherham of Bellwether Education Partners; Massie Ritsch, deputy assistant secretary for External Affairs and Outreach at the U.S. Department of Education; and Kristen Soltis Anderson of The Winston Group.

Click the image above, or go here, to watch the discussion on CSPAN.

- Education Next

In the speech, Johnston talks about his work as a principal in Colorado. The graduation rate at the school had been 50 percent. In his first year, Johnston got that up to 100 percent, with all students admitted to college.

Nick Morgan concludes, “Watch the speech and reaffirm your faith in teaching and teachers – and most of all students.”

-Education Next

HT: Whitney Tilson

AEI hosted a discussion featuring education policy advisors from the Obama and Romney campaigns and the event video is now available. Jon Schnur represented the Obama campaign and Marty West represented the Romney campaign. As the AEI website notes:

While education has been largely sidelined throughout the U.S. presidential campaign trail, a well-trained, highly skilled and globally competitive workforce is crucial to solving some of America’s biggest challenges. Whoever wins the 2012 presidential election will set the federal education mandate for states, districts and schools, but the true test will be whether America can successfully close the domestic and international achievement gaps facing U.S. students.

Education policy advisers from the Obama and Romney campaigns will join AEI’s Frederick M. Hess to discuss the best ways to allocate limited resources, improve teacher quality, increase accountability and maximize student achievement during the next presidential term.

Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, and Terry Moe, professor of political science at Stanford and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, debated, with Mike Petrilli of Fordham and Ed Next moderating.

As the event web page notes

The Chicago Teacher’s Union approved their new contract last week, but what is the fallout? Did the strike prove Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker right? Will unions continue to slow reform so long as they have collective bargaining rights?

-Education Next

For more on Khan Academy, read “Can Khan Move the Bell Curve to the Right?,” by June Kronholz in the Spring 2012 issue of Ed Next.

HT: This Week in Education

Andrew Kelly reviewed the movie for Ed Next here.

Coursera offers students online courses from top universities for free, but Coursera is not just a set of free lectures, it is an effort to research how people learn.

While universities have been putting lectures online for years, Coursera supports the other vital aspect of the classroom: tests and assignments that reinforce learning. And each quiz, assignment, and keystroke entered by the student builds a pool of data that is studied to better understand how people learn.

Earlier this week, Coursera announced partnerships with 16 new universities.

HT: Jay P. Greene’s Blog, where Matt Ladner wrote about the implications of Coursera for K-12 education.

Tuesday’s  schedule includes a taped interview with President Obama, a live visit from Governor Romney, and discussions on college/career readiness. The summit wraps up on Tuesday at 12:30 pm.

The event is being live tweeted by Caroline Hendrie of the Education Writers Association (@chendrie)

Mike Petrilli has written about the strike for the Ed Next blog here and here and here.

Ed Next authors and bloggers have weighed in on the strike in various articles already:

“Conflict is Unavoidable”

“Reform vs. Rights”

“Poor Students Can’t Afford Teacher Strike”

“It’s Hard to Imagine Teachers Winning in the Court of Public Opinion”

“Strike Phobia”

The documentary was filmed in Memphis in front of an audience of KIPP Memphis and was released as A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform, by Bob Compton.

Additional information and a preview of the video can be found here and slides of the presentation can be found here.

Tilson was profiled in the Education Next article “”Hedge-Fund Guy” Emails Support to School Reforms” (Winter 2012)

You can read the study here.

A Wall Street Journal op-ed on the study is here.

And a blog entry about how the study came about is here.

On Friday, August 24, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute will be hosting Chester Finn and Jessica Hockett, authors of the new book “Exam Schools: Inside America’s Most Selective Public High Schools,” and a pair of educators instrumental in the creation of two of the “exam schools” profiled in the book.

The two educators are Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus of George Washington University and a key player in the establishment of D.C.’s selective School Without Walls, and Geoffrey Jones, founding principal of Alexandria’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

You can register to participate in this important discussion in person or via webcast which will be taking place from 9 to 10:30 AM EDT.

An article by Finn and Hockett, “Exam Schools from the Inside ,” which is based on the book, appears in the Fall 2012 issue of Ed Next.