The School Inspector Calls
Low ratings drive improvements for schools in England
Low ratings drive improvements for schools in England
Am I a Part of the Cure … or the Disease?
Will testing and accountability make matters worse? No, they will make matters marginally better.
What We’re Watching: Vouchers and College Attendance
Eric Hanushek and Paul E. Peterson discuss a new study of how vouchers increase the likelihood of college attendance.
Conservatives and the Common Core
When a group of state leaders, many of them Republicans, can come together to set expectations for the curricular core that surpass what most of them set on their own, conservatives ought to applaud, not lash out
The State of Charter Authorizing
It is troubling that many authorizers still don’t have high-quality practices in place.
Will the Assessment Consortia Wither Away?
If ACT and College Board scarf up much state business, there won’t be a lot left for the consortia.
The Right Response to the Atlanta Cheating Scandal
The burden rests on those who want to eliminate testing and accountability to provide assurance that the system won’t revert back to its bad old ways.
Left-of-Center Reformers: Join the Voucher Movement Today
If the lack of accountability is reformers’ beef with voucher programs, that concern has been alleviated, at least in several states.
The Truth about Common Core
Why are prominent conservatives criticizing a set of rigorous educational standards?
Update on the Milwaukee School Choice Evaluation Dust-Up
Even in the face of substantial program attrition, students who were in the MPCP in 9th grade in 2006 graduated from high school, enrolled in college, and persisted in college at rates higher than similar students in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS)
Ravitch Blow-Up on School Choice
Diane Ravitch is angry. She is upset because parental school choice is thriving in Milwaukee.
What Happened to 2007?
We need to return to the task of 2007 and to judge what might or might not usefully change in NCLB.
Yes, Valerie, School Choice Does Help Poor Kids
Yesterday, WaPo’s Valerie Strauss accused scholarship tax credit (STC) programs of operating as Reverse Robin Hoods, robbing from the poor to give to the rich.
What We’re Watching: StudentsFirst’s 2013 State Policy Report Card
Eric Smith, Tom Luna, Ulrich Boser and Rick Hess discuss the grades given to the 50 states by StudentsFirst in its state policy report card.
Can Bad Schools Be Good For Neighborhoods?
Might there be compelling civic or social reasons for keeping open persistently failing or unsafe inner-city schools?
The Common Core Implementation Gap
A new report on state-level implementation of Common Core merits some attention—but less for its top-line findings and more for how it confirms what I’m now calling the “Common Core Implementation Gap.”
Putting Charter School Conspiracy Theories to Rest
A review of Zero Chance of Passage: The Pioneering Charter School Story by Ember Reichgott Junge
It Can Be Done
Charter successes show how all schools might improve
A review of Born to Rise, by Deborah Kenny, and Mission Possible, by Eva Moskowitz and Arin Lavinia
Science Standards 2.0
If states are going to make rational decisions to replace their own science standards with these new ones, it’s only right to insist that the new ones be stronger
We Can Change
Public education is a set of guiding principles—a combination of beliefs about something that ought to be provided. How we bring them to life is up to us.
What We’re Watching: Can Chartering Replace the Urban District?
Bellwether hosts a discussion of Andy Smarick’s new book, The Urban School System of the Future.
Revelations from the TIMSS
Half or more of student achievement gains on NAEP are an illusion
Half or more of student achievement gains on NAEP are an illusion
The Real Problem with Highly Regulated ‘School Choice’
The problem is not that private schools won’t participate in heavily regulated school choice programs. The problem is that they will.
‘No Excuses’ Kids Go to College
Will high-flying charters see their low-income students graduate?
Will high-flying charters see their low-income students graduate?
The Seattle MAP Flap
Teachers of Seattle’s Garfield High School are “boycotting” the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment, which is required by the district, though the MAP is precisely the type of “good” assessment that many educators claim to favor.
