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Friday, November 12, 2010

Brock Cohen: Debunking the Fairy Tale of School Reform

Brock Cohen: Debunking the Fairy Tale of School Reform
Brock Cohen

Brock Cohen

Posted: November 11, 2010 06:35 PM

Recently, I attempted to unpack the media-augmented narrative -- and national hot button issue du jour -- of public education reform within the context of a fairy tale. I chose the fairy tale as my medium because I couldn't think of any other storytelling device that was simultaneously so magnificently far-fetched and so widely recounted.

And yet, for me to sit here and claim that this fable from hell is complete fiction is just as disingenuous as the media's repeated insistence on its utter veracity. Because embedded among the sweeping generalizations, circular reasoning, scapegoating, and causal oversimplification of this grand morality tale are baby-corn kernels of truth. Which is why it makes for such superb propaganda.

So, allow me to clarify.

Never have public school teachers been more

Time to leave No Child Left Behind, behind

Time to leave No Child Left Behind, behind
Time to leave No Child Left Behind, behind
By Steve Farrell

It has been said that the most effective way to conquer a man is to capture his mind. There is no slave more devoted, no disciple more dedicated than one who has become completely obsessed with the vision of what he considers to be a great idea. [1]

Thus, education has long been a proper object of concern among both freemen and Statist, among both the good and the evil. Most everyone senses that what a child is taught in his youth has an enormous prospect for good or ill in individuals and in civilizations.

In 386 BC, Plato laid out one the most complete and oft studied handbooks on communist totalitarianism in his work Republic. A grand key of successfully implementing the plan was education.

As maverick school chiefs leave, will their changes stay? | McClatchy

As maverick school chiefs leave, will their changes stay? | McClatchy

As maverick school chiefs leave, will their changes stay?

NEW YORK — The recent resignations of high-profile school chiefs Joel Klein in New York and Michelle Rhee in Washington, D.C., raise questions about the future of education reform at a time when school districts across the U.S. are adopting policies the two icons of change pioneered.

Klein stepped down on Tuesday after eight years at the helm of the nation's largest school system, while Rhee left Washington last month after District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty lost his re-election bid. Klein and Rhee have championed holding teachers and principals accountable for student performance, weakening union protections and closing down failing schools.

Klein called his overhauls "the most far-reaching" in the country at a conference Wednesday in New York. "If (school change) is not controversial, it's going to be meaningless."

Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said that what happens next will depend on replacements for the two leaders and the agenda of the mayors who hire



Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/10/103536/as-maverick-school-chiefs-leave.html#ixzz154eNSy8V

Poll: N.J. voters say not enough state money spent on education | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/12/2010

Poll: N.J. voters say not enough state money spent on education | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/12/2010

Poll: N.J. voters say not enough state money spent on education

Ninety-nine percent of New Jersey voters believe the state's budget problems are very serious or somewhat serious, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. But recession-weary voters say the state should spend more on education.

In a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released this week, 59 percent of registered voters who responded said not enough was being spent on education, while 15 percent said too much was being spent.

"The spending results are consistent with our earlier polling," said David Redlawsk, director of the poll. "New Jerseyans generally support their schools and want to see them better funded, even while they want the state to cut back on funding in other areas."

That support for education is not unconditional, however. In the Rutgers poll, 90 percent said teachers should be tested for reading and math proficiency, and 70 percent said tenure was a "barrier to eliminating bad teachers." Still, 63 percent said they opposed basing a teacher's salary on test scores.

Twenty-six percent of the parents of school-age children among the respondents said budgets were the bigges



Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20101112_Poll__N_J__voters_say_not_enough_state_money_spent_on_education.html#ixzz154dXDcVW
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News: Tightening Reins on Tuition - Inside Higher Ed

News: Tightening Reins on Tuition - Inside Higher Ed

Tightening Reins on Tuition

While individual college boards have authority to set charges in South Carolina, a powerful political board shows it can punish colleges and temper hikes.

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Internal Barriers to Online Expansion

New survey suggests budget woes are more likely to impede the growth of online programs than skepticism and regulation; access for disabled students also a concern.

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Church vs. Adjunct Union

Manhattan College says collective bargaining for those off the tenure track would endanger its Catholic heritage; labor organizers say the argument betrays institution's mission and workers.

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'Saints and Scamps'

A guide to ethics in academe is reissued on its 25th anniversary -- with the author making very few changes.

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NJ Spotlight | Dicing the Data on Charter Schools

NJ Spotlight | Dicing the Data on Charter Schools

Dicing the Data on Charter Schools
What do the numbers say about charter school performance? It all depends on who you ask

The debate over the performance of charter schools isn’t new in New Jersey, but it’s growing louder -- and possibly more strident -- with Gov. Chris Christie’s vow to expand them in number and scope.

But a related dispute also is being carried out both in and outside of the state over how to evaluate the performance of charters, an argument that pits academia against advocacy.

Running the Numbers

Over the past several months, a flurry of data has been parsed and prodded to determine how New Jersey’s 73 charters schools fare against the state’s traditional public schools. And often depending on the numbers being used, the answers have varied significantly.

The state’s charter school advocates, both inside the state Department of Education (DOE) and within the schools and their umbrella organizations, have pointed to a handful of charters as some of the highest-performing schools in their respective cities, if not in the state.

Compared with district averages, most charters have done better, they say, especially in eighth

Q&A Spotlight: Superintendent Headhunter
School board and salary are among a candidate's key questions -- as is location, location, location

At a time when school superintendent pay is all the talk in New Jersey, NJ Spotlight talks withWilliam Attea, senior associate and chairman of the national school leadership search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates. The Illinois-based firm has been conducting nationwide searches for more than two decades, including in scores of New Jersey districts, most recently in Marlboro, Moorestown, Westfield and Lawrence. It is now conducting a search in Livingston for an assistant superintendent.

Question: How does New Jersey rate when it comes to superintendent searches?

Answer: New Jersey is looked upon as an attractive place to work. You have some very good school districts, and we always get very good response. The one problem we have had in New Jersey is you have a pretty rigid certification system. The lack of reciprocity with other states is one