Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

UPDATE: Sequestration In Your Schools? + Mathematica 2013 Study: KIPP Charter School Students Outperform Public School Peers

Mathematica 2013 Study: KIPP Charter School Students Outperform Public School Peers:



Sequestration In Your Schools? Mexico Teachers Union Leader Busted -- Ed Today

What's Sequestration, And Why Should You Care About It? The good folks at Politics K-12 have a lengthy, 12-part explainer on sequestration and schools.

Union Leader Busted In Mexico? The head of Mexico's teachers union has been detained for embezzlement charges, reports the Associated Press. Plastic surgery, a private plane and Neiman Marcus -- these are things the government is alleging that union chief Elba Esther Cordillo paid for with union funds. Yikes!

More Common Core Resistance? Over at the Washington Post, Valerie Strauss has started a series of guest posts featuring opponents of the Common Core State Standards in states such as Indiana and Alabama that are rebelling against the learning tools they once adopted. The first one features Indiana's Russ Pulliam, who says "[Glenda] Ritz soundly defeated the state's biggest advocate of Common Core, Tony Bennett. Republican leaders in the General Assembly will ignore that election result at their future political peril."

Worse Than A Snow Day? Yesterday, 60 students and their teachers were stranded at a Colorado high school 


Mathematica 2013 Study: KIPP Charter School Students Outperform Public School Peers

As charter schools enter their third decade, the advocates who created them still wonder whether they're living up to their promise. A study released on Wednesday suggests some may be on the right track.

The study, conducted by independent research firm Mathematica, is the most rigorous research showing that the Knowledge Is Power Program, an acclaimed national chain of charter schools, provides a significant learning boost to middle school students in multiple subjects. It also found that while KIPP serves more low-income students than public school peers, it serves fewer special education students and English language learners.

Three years after students enroll in KIPP schools, they had 11 more months of math knowledge than their peers, according to the study. The research showed KIPP students had eight more months of reading knowledge, 14