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The past few years have seen an absolute change in the correlation of forces. It used to be that a few policy wonks would write essays assailing union rules that protected mediocre teachers; these pronouncements were greeted with skepticism in the media and produced no political movement. Now powerful political players, most notably President Obama, [...] Dozens of public high schools in eight states will introduce a program next year allowing 10th graders who pass a battery of tests to get a diploma two years early and immediately enroll in community college. Students who pass but aspire to attend a selective college may continue with college preparatory courses in their junior and [...] You just know that this is going to make some people — younger people and older people — unhappy. We really can’t have people just working without being paid! The thought of her students taking to the road to get to school prompted Karen Kenna, principal of Cardinal Forest Elementary in Springfield, to issue a call for [...] A recent study shows that very young children have a more developed moral calculus than we’ve perhaps previously thought. It came to our attention through a recent report in the New York Times (and its follow-ups). Young children used to be seen as oblivious to the world of values and rules, and as focused entirely on [...] Justice Souter’s ‘Safe Place’, Washington Post, May 25, 2009 The justice went on to lament how many Americans today do not grow up understanding even the most basic truths about U.S. democracy — that there are three branches of government, for example. This ignorance, he said, was “the [...] In his latest Report Card post, Matthew Stone points out that the party lines on merit pay, at least within the State of Maine. have shifted; no longer is it righties for, lefties against. Now that Obama has proposed merit pay, Dems and some of their allies are more favorably inclined. Stone sees little opposition [...] The whip comes down: Michelle Rhee, education chancellor of the District of Columbia — in charge of the worst performing public school system in the nation — has laid down the gauntlet before the Washington Teachers Union (WTU), declaring that she will unilaterally impose a new teacher evaluation system that will result in widespread dismissals of [...] As a break from our usual routine – a post a day, education, legislature, blah, blah — why don’t you treat yourself to a visit to our Au Courant page. The link is up above, or you can click here. Photos there link to explanatory articles. Big announcement: Maine will collaborate with New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to redefine the concept of high school, while sharing ideas for boosting high school graduation rates and enrolling more students in college. A $1 million grant from the Nellie Mae Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will bankroll the effort. Ho hum. Now [...] Lou Gerstner (IBM) is making some radical proposals. Here’s the short version: - Abolish all local school districts, save 70 (50 states; 20 largest cities). - Establish a set of national standards for a core curriculum. - Establish a National Skills Day on which every third, sixth, ninth and 12th-grader would be tested against the national standards. - Establish national [...] The head of a national teachers union — the other one, the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) — gave a significant speech the other day. The aspect of her speech that got the most attention (NYTimes article, HuffPo post) was a new receptiveness to merit pay for teachers and a willingness to discuss the future [...] In a forthcoming issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription only, unfortunately), the principal news publication for higher education, Kevin Carey draws attention to a study from CCSSE (Community College Survey of Student Engagement) which, at first look, might appear counterintuitive. Here’s the gist of it: Among other things, the survey asks students about the difficulty [...] She didn’t come up in the usual way. She’s not necessarily a very nice person. She’s the chancellor of the District of Columbia schools. She wants power, the power to fire principals, teachers, and anyone who stands — in her judgment — between public school students and success. Michelle Rhee charged in as chancellor of the Washington, D.C., [...] If it’s the last thing we ever do! You remember the song. Now New Hampshire is doing something about it. It’s the logical step in an outcomes-based approach, after all. High school sophomores should be ready for college by age 16. That’s the message from New Hampshire education officials, who announced plans Oct. 30 for a new [...] The novelist Carolyn Chute doesn’t have a working phone, a fax or a computer. She writes on a washtub-size electric typewriter that was probably state of the art in the ’70s. Ms. Chute (pronounced CHOOT) and her husband, Michael, live in a small compound at the end of an unpaved road in this rural Maine [...] Noble Street College Prep is a remarkable example of what a school can do for kids who’ve never known success. The public high school in Chicago takes mostly poor and immigrant students. A hundred percent of the students graduate, and almost all go to some of the nation’s top colleges. So begins a report on … [...] It’s hard to shake off very easily the things we’re reading about Charles Murray’s new book, Real Education: Four Simple Truths…. We mentioned the book earlier (here), and we’ll need to keep considering it, it seems. We’ll get our hands on a copy and report back. In the meantime, there’s a pretty interesting article in the September [...] That’s the Hawaii DOE! A great idea, getting the public involved. Click here to see “New DOE Proposed Reductions”. Click here to see the budget reduction proposals. Click here to see the Associated Press article. Click here to see the Maine DOE’s budget reduction proposals (link will be supplied when available!) |
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