The facts that school reformers ignore
This was written by Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit organization created to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers. From 1999 to 2002 he was the national education columnist of The New York Times, and he is the author of several books, including “Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right” and “Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap.” This appeared on the institute’s website.
Read full article >>Newt Gingrich’s ‘elite’ PhD topic
*Correction: An earlier version of this post said Gingrich earned a master’s degree at Emory. He earned a bachelor’s there and a master’s and PhD at Tulane University.* Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich likes to use the word “elites” as a pejorative when he talks about things and people whom he considers liberal. But the former House speaker himself is in pretty elite company when it comes to his PhD. Read full article >>
Dear Michelle Rhee: About that teacher evaluation study
* Dear Michelle Rhee, former D.C. schools chancellor and current leader of StudentsFirst:* I just wanted to dash off a quick note about that commentary you wrote in *Education Week *about the big value-added teacher evaluation study that made headlines this month. Read full article >>
Hawaii teachers reject contract in ‘blow’ to Race to the Top
*Correction: An earlier version misstated the number of people who voted on the contract. It is 9,000.* * Public school teachers in Hawaii have rejected a contract that called for a move to a performance-based evaluation and compensation system, as required by the Race to the Top grant that the state won from the Obama administration. Read full article >>
NCLB waivers: The devil is in the details
* This was written by Jack Hassard, professor emeritus of science education at Georgia State University and a former high school teacher. He is the author of these books: The Whole Cosmos Catalog of Science , Science Experiences , Adventures in Geology , The Art of Teaching Science (2009), and most recently, Science As Inquiry . Specialities include science teaching & learning, global thinking & education, geology, web publishing, blogging, writing, and antiquing. This essay was originally posted at his blog, The Art of Teaching Science, * * and on Anthony Cody’s Living i...more »