Statisticians slam popular teacher evaluation method
You can be certain that members of the American Statistical Association, the largest organization in the United States representing statisticians and related professionals, know a thing or two about data and measurement. That makes the statement that the association just issued very important for school reform. The ASA just slammed the high-stakes “value-added method” (VAM) of […]
Where kids get suspended for not sitting up straight
Some school disciplines are lenient. Some are strict. And then there’s the Noble Charter School network in Chicago. At the 14 Noble campuses, kids get suspended for infractions such as not sitting up straight in class, being a minute late and not looking at the teacher when instructed. And until last week, students ordered into […]
‘We’re real parents in a real crisis’
QUEST, or Quality Education for Every Student, is a volunteer parent group in Massachusetts working to persuade state legislators to adequately fund public education and maintain the current cap on the number of charter schools. Mary Battenfeld, a member of QUEST and a parent of three Boston Public School students, writes in this post why […]
All Week @ The Answer Sheet 4-12-14
The Answer Sheet:All Week @ The Answer SheetThe new school reform model: ‘dumping the losers’Since 2011, the state-run Philadelphia public school district has adopted what is called the “portfolio model” of school reform as its “theory of change.” The model is a move away from the traditional school district, in which a centralized administration controls a set of public schools, to an arrangemen