Why Send My Son to Public School?
Earlier this week, Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced the latest hopeful sign for D.C.’s public schools – a spike in citywide student reading and math scores. “We’re thrilled at the progress...
View ArticleThe Testing Carousel Goes Round and Round . . .
Today’s Washington Post reports that the test scores of elementary school kids slipped this year after two successive years of growth, “a setback to Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee as she seeks to overhaul...
View ArticleTime for Obama to Become Our Teacher-in-Chief
On March 4, during an appearance in Miami with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, President Obama announced he will spend the month of March conducting a listening tour across the country, and “talking...
View ArticleNew Rules for School Reform
You know there’s a dearth of creative thinking in education when an article trumpeting cutting-edge teaching quotes somebody, without irony, saying the following: “Get a computer, please! Log on . . ....
View ArticleE Pluribus Pluribus: Is Differentiated Instruction Possible?
It’s not even Noon, and nine-year-old Harvey is already back on the floor. His three tablemates, their efforts at independent reading on hold, watch and wait for Ms. Serber to arrive and restore order....
View ArticleNYC Teacher Data Reports: A Good or a Bad Idea?
This morning, I appeared on CNN to debate whether the recent release of data linking individual NYC public school teachers to the test scores of their students was a good or a bad idea. On Tuesday,...
View ArticleWhen did teacher bashing become the new national pastime?
With spring training under way, fantasy baseball owners across the country are hard at work readying their draft boards and preparing to select their championship rosters. As they do, I have a modest...
View ArticleWhen it comes to a longer school day, something’s gotta give
Now that five states are planning to add 300 hours of class time in an effort to close the achievement gap and re-imagine the school day, I can only come to one conclusion: Something’s got to give....
View ArticleThis is Your Brain on Test Scores
There are two seemingly unrelated columns in today’s Opinion page of the New York Times that provide a crisp summary of where we stand in our current thinking about school reform — and where we need to...
View ArticleWhat Happened in DC in 2008 – & Does it Still Matter in 2013?
If a prominent urban school leader told you he couldn’t recall being informed that half his city’s schools may have allowed the gross mistreatment of students to occur, would you believe him? And even...
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Has Testing Reached a Tipping Point? (Part Deux)
It appears I was premature. Exactly one year ago, in an article for the SmartBlog on Education, I asked: “Are we witnessing the early signs of a sea change in how we think about the best ways to...
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