The blueprint: more questions than answers.
When we are talking about, say, buildings, the word “blueprint” means a detailed model of what a structure is going to look at. When we are talking about federal education policy, it turns out “blueprint” means something far vaguer. Though it is 41 pages, the “Blueprint for Reform” that the Obama administration has just released does not give me a great understanding of how a [insert new clever name for ESEA here] world would, in practical terms, look different from an NCLB world, aside from a growth model, a tougher definition of restructuring and an eventual move from a teacher qualifications model to a teacher effectiveness one. Or, what a lot of real people truly want to know: Who will be tested, when and how exactly will the scores be evaluated?
