Time Spent in School: Another Arne Duncan Lie Exposed
from Valerie Strauss:
A new report concludes that contrary to popular perception — including that of Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s — most U.S. public schools require at least as much or even more instructional time for students than countries touted for their high performance on international tests, including Finland, Japan and South Korea.
The report was issued by the National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education, which measured time based on the minimum number of hours of instruction per year countries require their public schools to provide in a formal classroom setting.
The amount of instructional time students receive has become a popular issue for school
The Horror of Agora, and Other Online Charter Scams
And yes, as Ground Zero for corporate ed corruption, Tennessee is part of this story.
From the NYTimes:By STEPHANIE SAUL
By almost every educational measure, the Agora Cyber Charter School is failing.
Nearly 60 percent of its students are behind grade level in math. Nearly 50 percent trail in reading. A third do not graduate on time. And hundreds of children, from kindergartners to seniors, withdraw within months after they enroll.
By Wall Street standards, though, Agora is a remarkable success that has helped enrich K12 Inc., the publicly traded company that manages the school. And the entire enterprise is paid for by