Hillary and Jeb: Clinton to appear at Bush education conference
Hillary and Jeb? I’m not talking about the 2016 presidential race — at least not yet. For now, Hillary Clinton has accepted an invitation from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to appear at a conference in Texas that he is co-hosting next week on higher education. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be there, too. The […]
Weird list of topics ‘avoided’ on California high school exit exam
How’s this for slightly strange? Here’s a list of topics deemed to be “potentially biased, sensitive, or controversial” that are “avoided” on the California High School Exit Examination, as listed on the California Department of Education Web site. Look at the list. In California, subjects deemed too controversial for high school seniors to deal include […]
Who (Obama, Gates, etc.) is speaking at 2014 graduation ceremonies
President Obama will speak at the 2014 University of California, Irvine commencement on Saturday, June 14, in Angel Stadium of Anaheim, heading an all-star list of speakers for the upcoming graduation season at colleges and universities around the country. Here are some of the announced speakers: George Washington University, Washington D.C. — José Andrés, renowned chef and […]
So how overblown were No. 1 Shanghai’s PISA results?
In December, I wrote a post questioning the No. 1 ranking of Shanghai in the most recent Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA. Shanghai came out with the No. 1 international ranking in the 2012 administration of PISA in math, reading and science, while 15 year olds in the United States performed no better than average […]
Avoiding the most common financial aid application errors
If you have kids in college, or kids who are going to be in college, you want to read this advice on how to get financial aid without making big mistakes. It was written by Mark Kantrowitz, senior vice president and publisher of Edvisors.com, a group of web sites about planning and paying for college. […]
Everybody else has seen this. It’s your turn
In 2006, Sir Ken Robinson, an author and expert on innovation and creativity in education and business, gave a TED talk titled “How Schools Kill Creativity” that became the most watched in TED’s history with more than 25 million views on the TED website and more than 6 million on YouTube. If you haven’t watched […]
The Answer Sheet 3-19-14 School reformers love ‘choice,’ except when …
School reformers love ‘choice,’ except when …: School reformers love ‘choice,’ except when …School “reformers” love to promote “choice.” Charters. Vouchers. Tuition tax credits. It’s all about giving parents choices, right? Well, not always. Reformers don’t actually like choice quite so much when: * Parents decide they want to opt their children out of taking a high-stakes standardized test that h