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Well, I’m featured in a new YouTube video sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers attacking Campbell Brown’s efforts to rein in teacher tenure in New York (h/t to Alexander Russo for flagging it). It takes a snippet from a … read more
Was Bill Gates right, then? Does school size really matter? It’s possible Gates fell victim to what Rick Hess calls “Spinning Wheels”: educational leaders are under pressure to “make a difference” quickly, prompting them to continuously adopt new reform ideas and then jettison them when they don’t show immediate results. read more
This week began the long-awaited trial of 12 former Atlanta Public Schools employees involved in a years-long cheating scandal. It promises to reveal plenty of damning evidence from students, parents, and other APS employees that supplements the 800-page Investigative Report released in 2011. The most serious charge is federal racketeering under the RICO Act, which carries a penalty of 5-20 years in prison. read more
On Friday, I participated in “Tweet the Press” with NBC’s Chuck Todd to discuss the controversy surrounding the content of the AP US History curriculum. It was tough to discuss in 140 characters, so given that I have a few more words here, I’d like to go into depth on a couple of topics. read more
It would seem like the most straightforward explanation of the public’s interest in the Common Core is that 45 states and the District of Columbia (educating some 40 million-plus students) chose to align their K-12 instruction to the standards. That’s more than 40 million reasons for parents to care. Not so, says Max Marchitello. read more
As mid-term election season rolls around and presidential hopefuls look ahead to 2016, conservatives are asking the question: what to do about universal pre-K? It’s an important question. Over the past couple of years, a number of red and blue states across the country have joined the pre-K bandwagon, including Republican strongholds like Oklahoma and Georgia. And the trend might continue: last month, the Obama administration announced its new Preschool Grant Program in which states are eligible for a chunk of $250 million to build or expand preschool programs. read more
If there’s one thing that’s important for good schools, it’s good teachers. That’s the central point of Davis Guggenheim’s widely-acclaimed documentary, “Waiting for Superman,” released four years ago today. Yet, as the film vividly depicted, it’s virtually impossible to dismiss poorly performing teachers in many public school systems across the country. Four years later, the issue raised by the film is still one of the most serious problems facing public schools. read more
