A research study published last week by Science Magazine is drawing a bit of attention. The Flypaper fellows are talking about it, the NY Times wrote about it (via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), and theNorthwest Evaluation Association tweeted about it:
All three give the impression that taking a test helps with learning. It's fair to say the assumption is that
"Learning, real learning - trying to make more sense of what's happening - is as natural and satisfying as breathing. If your big reform idea requires laws, mandates, penalties, bribes, or other kinds of external pressure to make it work, it won't work. You can lead the horse to water, and you can force it to look like it's drinking, but you can't make it drink."
THE past year was a sobering one for American educators, as we learned that the United States is falling farther behind in international student rankings. To his credit, President Obama put forward a plan for change that hit the mark, a brilliant stroke that even the “abolish the Department of Education” crowd had to admire. Race to the Top, the competitive grant program that harnesses stimulus dollars to drive reform, convinced a surprising number of governors and legislators from both parties to pay the entrance fee by proving they could strengthen their education laws.
Politicians, journalists and experts in various fields share what issues they would like addressed in the President’s State of the Union speech.
Twelve states improved their evaluation tools so that they can identify effective teachers and make sure they are prized in the classroom. Six states reversed policies that had made it impossible to use student achievement to evaluate classroom teachers. And 27 broadened their public charter school laws, giving parents more choices and reminding everyone that competition in education is a good thing.
What should Obama say in his speech to Congress on Tuesday? Now that Joel Klein, Ron Huberman and Michelle Rhee are gone as school chiefs, we should continue the process and keep only the top administratorsand fire the rest.
Send Rooster Cogburn and Mattie Ross after Larry Summers and the Wall Street crooks. Frank Richtakes a look at what the popularity of
Tunis.
EnlargeNewark Mayor Cory Booker (left) joined the other volunteers from PENewark as they canvas Newark residents for their opinion on Newark schools and school reform. He spoke to Rayshon Cross while going door-to-door. (Amanda Brown/The Star-Ledger)Hitting the streets in Newark gallery (4 photos)NEWARK — After a hasty start and a heap of criticism, PENewark is rolling out a second survey this weekend to glean the thoughts of Newarkers on education reform in the state’s largest city.
The group was set up by Mayor Cory Booker as the outreach arm of his reform effort, sparked by a $100 million donation from Mark Zuckerberg to Newark schools.
From the outset, PENewark faced criticism for what many educational leaders considered a shallow and ill-conceived survey. Now, with the
The President will have to devote a big part of his speech to the economy, but which economy? Corporate profits are up but jobs and wages remain in the doldrums. People with lots of financial assets, or who are deemed “talent” by large corporations, are enjoying a solid recovery. But most Americans continue to struggle.
In order for the public to understand what must be done, the President has to be clear about what has happened and why. Corporations are profiting from sales of their foreign operations, especially in China and India. Here at home, they’re catering to rich Americans. But an important key to their profits is their reduced costs, especially payrolls. The result has been fewer jobs and lower pay.
The Great Recession accelerated trends starting three decades ago — outsourcing abroad, automating work, converting full-time jobs to temps and contracts, undermining unions, and getting wage and benefit concessions from remaining workers. The Internet and software have made all this easier.
He should point out that the U.S. economy is now twice as large as it was in 1980 but the real median wage ha
