November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 10:30 PM
| Category:
Site News
After nine mostly blissful months blogging at EdWeek.org, I'm off to try out a new home at Scholastic. Yes, Scholastic. Me and Harry Potter. I know.
As of Monday, I'll start as a contributing editor and blogger for Scholastic Administrator. You can find my new stuff
here, though the kind folks here have offered to leave this up for a little while so no one gets lost.
Here are my new coordinates:
New URL: here
New RSS feed: here
Master URL: here (if you ever can't find the site)
Contact: thisweekineducation@gmail.com
Thanks, and so long.
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 06:51 PM
| Category:
Site News
Welcome to this blog's new home as part of Scholastic Administrator.
The surroundings may have changed a little bit, but the essence --
timely, independent, and irreverent education news served up to you in
one easy place -- remains the same.
Yes, that even includes taking pot shots at Scholastic, just like I did at EdWeek. I'll continue to call it as I see
it, to connect school issues to current events, and to have a little
fun.
Thanks again to Education Week for all the good things that came
from our partnership. And new thanks to Kevin Hogan, editor of
Scholastic Administrator, and all the other good folks at Scholastic,
for bringing me on board.
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 01:11 PM
| Category:
Campaign '08
Lots of takes from the blogs on the NEA letter from yesterday, which, ironically, is signed by none other than Diane Shust, the NEA lobbyist who used to work for Miller. Joe Williams of DFER who broke the news notes tongue in cheek "Whatever happened to support for multiple measures? Isn't it cruel/unfair to hold a Legislator accountable for the results of a single test?" I love it. PreaPrez, one of the most bilious people in the edusphere (at least towards me), says the NEA is just doing what it's supposed to do. Indeed, that's true. That doesn't make it right for education, though, or wise, or tolerable. Scooped by the blogosphere, The Hoff weighs in to note that until 2005 the NEA only rated lawmakers on votes, not cosponsorships, and that one of the bills on the "good" list comes from a lawmaker who has previously been "bad." Last but certainly not least, Charlie Barone's blog depicts House freshman as dogs on the NEA leash looking eagerly at the NCLB fire hydrant. Funny and mean, it's well worth clicking. (Former Miller staffer Barone noted on the HotSeat last month that Miller's own rating has been affected by his votes in the past on class size and Katrina vouchers and teacher quality.)
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 12:28 PM
| Category:
The Business Of Education
If disgraced shock jock Don Imus can make a comeback, why not somewhat disgraced school management company Edison? That's exactly the plan, according to the SF Schools Blog, which has come across a "secret" document about the comeback plan:
A whole new Edison Schools. After you're done there, check out this May 2007 letter from Edision CEO Terry Stecz which was deleted from the Edison site but recovered thanks to Google Cache. Says Stecz: "We are
on the cusp of releasing E2, our new school design, engineered to drive better outcomes, and, in so doing, we are preparing students for a track that can lead them to higher education -- a goal for every child enrolled in an Edison School."
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 11:58 AM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
Over at the Huffington Post, comedian Bill Maher rips on President Bush for always making sure that his policy ideas benefit his friends and allies financially: "In the next fifteen months, President Bush has to perform at least one act that doesn't make money for someone he knows. Take "No Child Left Behind." At first it just looked like gentle empty bullshit, a way to neutralize the Democrats edge with voters on education issues...It made Lady Bird Johnson's wild-flowers-by-the-highways project look like the fucking Marshall Plan. Except, like all Bush ideas, there was more to it." (No Crony Left Behind)
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 09:34 AM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
The newsiest of recent blog posts is Joe Williams' revelation that the NEA wants politicos to sign a pledge against NCLB (
NEA to Congress: Comply or Perish). Nice. Overwhelmed with all the Shanker coverage, EIA Mike wonders whether Rick Kahlenberg is channeling the dead union leader (
Shanker Seance). Creepy. Out in the real world, Wake County is threatening to take money back from schools because of an error calculating bonuses (
Taking money away from teachers). Doh! Speaking of errors and bonuses, Andywonk covers the Ravitch Vs. NYC back and forth with relish but little reflection (
Ravitch Responds!). At the very least, it's a big gaffe for Bloomberg's folks (and a lot of fun for the rest of us). Last but not least, the folks at TAPPED are vexed by conservatarian views on vouchers (
VOUCHERS FOR WHAT?). They do their headlines in caps cuz they're so angry.
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 09:09 AM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
The folks at Encyclopedia Brittanic are taking a shot at a blog that includes several names you may already know: Karin Chenowith (of "It's Being Done"), Joanne Jacobs, etc. As with the Hufington Post, the idea seems to be to invite a variety of voices in one place to give different perspectives. Check it out
here.
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 08:57 AM
| Category:
Daily News
Prospects Fade for NCLB Bill in 2007 EdWeek
Efforts to revise the law are mired in backroom negotiations in both the House and the Senate and show no signs of gaining the momentum necessary to ensure completion of the reauthorization in 2008.
Knives, Not Guns, Have Been Weapon of Choice, Study Finds WPost
More than 3 percent of 17 million crimes reported from 2000 through 2004 occurred at schools, colleges and universities, with knives being the most commonly used weapon, according to an FBI study released yesterday.
Teachers unions battle school choice for parents and students Detroit News
In today's political taxonomy, "progressives" are rebranded liberals dodging the damage they did to their old label. Perhaps their most injurious idea -- injurious to themselves and public schools
Kids join parents at teacher conferences AP
It’s that time of year when moms and dads across the country are squeezing into uncomfortable kid-sized chairs to discuss with teachers whether their children are off to a good start at school. In some places, the conference comes with a wrinkle: The children sit in. PLUS: US kids get new trend: more active parents Christian Science Monitor.
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 08:50 AM
| Category:
NCLB News
Google Images says that this might be Madison middle school teacher David Wasserman, who refused to administer a test to his students in protest against NCLB and sat in the teachers lounge. No word on whether Jonathan Kozol was the inspiration. News accounts today say he's going to get a letter in his file.
November 2, 2007 | Posted At: 12:12 AM
| Category:
Urban Ed
"It's not fair to put complaints about the non-school-related elements of NYC’s multi-pronged anti-poverty program, OpportunityNYC, on Roland Fryer. The New York Mag story you link to is mostly about parts of the plan Roland has zero to do with. He is connected only with cash incentives around tests.Also, for the record, the ban on cell phones in NYC dates to 1988 (focused on pagers then)."
November 1, 2007 | Posted At: 03:27 PM
| Category:
School Life
God I love this stuff: "I was walking to my math class when I noticed a bunch of little pieces of paper strewn across the hallway. I stole my math teacher's tape, lost my participation points in class and slowly taped it all together, discovering the secret lives of Erin and Tiffany."
FOUND by Laura Warman in Washington [
79 comments]
November 1, 2007 | Posted At: 11:53 AM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
Has anyone noticed I just can't stop blogging lately? Over at the Education Election blog, Cathy Grimes notes a part of the recent Democratic debate that included TIMSS, of all things (TIMSS makes the debate "lightning round"). I must have been sleeping by then. The NSBA blog pushes back on the notion of "dropout factories" that was popularized in a recent AP story. Meanwhile, the NCLB blog compares conservative views on vouchers and the SCHIP (SCHIP's Rationale vs. Vouchers'). Joanne J digs out some standardized misdeeds in Washington State (Sham standards). And The Hoff shares tutoring news (Demand Doesn't Keep up With SES Supply, Civil Rights Project Says). Charlie Barone picks up on the issue with his post (Supplemental Educational Services: End 'em or Mend 'em?). Eduwonkette finishes off her Halloween Edu-Parade with a flourish.
November 1, 2007 | Posted At: 10:44 AM
| Category:
Urban Ed
First, New York magazine revealed that the controversial new program to "incentivize" low-income families with financial rewards may not have dramatic effects because it
didn't seek out those families most in need and instead relied on a sample of families who signed up for the program. Doh! Academic superstar Rolan Fryer (pictured) joined the school system to design and run the effort.
Now, the idea of using
cell phones and cell phone talk time as an incentive for student academics has run into a predictable political buzz-saw. Why? Well, last year, the NYC schools system banned cell phones from schools, a decision that was widely opposed by students and parents and has led many corner stores to "check" students cell phones while they're in school each day.
Neither of these reward-based ideas is necessarily bad, in my view at least, but someone get this guy a (better) handler and a brush-up on selection bias. When you're at the center of the storm, you just can't mess up like this. Or maybe there's more behind this that I don't know.
Meanwhile, the controversy of the city's effort to discredit Diane Ravitch continues with her response (here).
November 1, 2007 | Posted At: 10:31 AM
| Category:
School Life
Worried about cupcakes in schools? Dr. Rob Riggle finds out that cupcakes are the "number one killer" of our children:
From The Daily Show.
November 1, 2007 | Posted At: 09:58 AM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
Much as I love the New York Times' weekly Sam Freedman column on education, or the Post's Jay Mathews, what I'm really liking right now is Will Okun's weekly posts about teaching high school on Chicago's rough West Side. Published on Nick Kristoff's New York Times blogsite, Okun's posts (and their accompanying pictures) are at their best like little scenes from "The Wire" -- vivid, unsentimental, and complex.
Last week's profile of a smart, independent student has generated 200 comments so far and the creation of a scholarship fund (
Nicholas, pictured). This week's post is about a different student who dropped out of Okun's school despite all attempts and ended up dead (one of 54 Chicago students who have been killed this year):
"
Our school’s faculty tried everything to reach Gregory Dugar...We tried tough love, then unconditional love. We kicked him off the basketball team then allowed him to rejoin. We made him read books by rehabilitated gang members. We had higher-ranking gang members speak to him about the importance of education. We found him legal employment. We initiated counseling. We visited colleges and took him on weekend retreats to the country. Our school’s mentors talked with him on a daily basis. And still, Gregory just disappeared one day."
November 1, 2007 | Posted At: 08:48 AM
| Category:
Campaign '08
Another seemingly overlooked article comes from the most recent NYT Sunday Magazine, in which Ann Hulbert charts the growing tide of interest and action towards universal preschool (Universal Prekindergarten). We all know that, of course. But Hulbert points out a couple of worthwhile reminders.
First, that increasing access creates quality problems (spending per pupil is going down, see chart). Second, that the kind of preschool that advocates would design for low- and middle-income children is not the "free play" preschool that progressives (and wealthier families) seem to want for their own children. Advocates are pushing UPK in "notably wonky, rather than warm and cuddly, terms," notes Hulbert in her roundup of recent books by Fuller and Kirp, focusing on cost-effectiveness and brain research. So do we end up with a two-tiered system replacing the current patchwork, or a mix of progressive and readiness? I don't know. For her part, Hulbert thinks that a dose of structure might not be such a bad thing for kids, rich and not so. For my part, I think that recent experience with the SCHIP suggests that anything on this front is going to have to happen in 2009 at the earliest, and even then will face an uphill battle.
November 1, 2007 | Posted At: 08:44 AM
| Category:
Daily News
Bush administration turnover plays like Survivor: Texas Houston Chronicle
With Karen Hughes' resignation announcement Wednesday, nearly every prominent Texan who came to Washington with President Bush has left the administration.
Wis. teacher protests NCLB law by sitting out testing; discipline threatened AP
A middle school teacher is protesting the federal No Child Left Behind law by refusing to administer a standardized test to his eighth-grade students.
Md. keeps tests as graduation requirement but allows alternative AP
High school students who fail one or more of Maryland's exit exams will have the option to earn their diplomas by completing projects in the subjects where they fall short.
Top U.S. Language Official Resigns EdWeek
Kathleen Leos, director of the office of English-language acquisition in the U.S. Department of Education, resigned last week.
November 1, 2007 | Posted At: 12:12 AM
| Category:
School Life
The Daily Show's Demetri Martin shows the latest "advances" in standardized test prep (Princeton Review podcast tutorials, Kaplan MySpace pages, comic books with words like "alacrity" in them, bad pop songs with the same):
"I know this test seems like a big deal that will determine your entire future. And it is. Because it will."
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 02:27 PM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
A quick spin around the block before I head out in my Reading First costume to get as many razor-filled apples as I can find:
Over at Early Stories, RLC digs out an overview of
Where the Democratic Candidates Stand on Child Care and Preschool. Meanwhile, Charlie Barone writes from his hidden lair about educational triage and NCLB:
Is the NCLB "Bubble Kids" Theory About To Burst?
The AFTies win the best headline of the day award for their post about how NCLB is affecting Chicago area schools:
Give Us Growth Models...Or The Nation Will Explode. EIA Mike keeps tabs on the NEA's anti-voucher budget in Utah (
NEA Contribution to Anti-Voucher Campaign Is... $3 Million). Speaking of vouchers, Joanne Jacobs links to a story about progressive parents who send their kids to private schools (
Voucher hypocrites). And, as you know, it's Halloween. What a good day for the Carnival (
Let's Carnival!).
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 01:08 PM
| Category:
Media Watch
When an oped piece came out yesterday
criticizing Diane Ravitch for flip-flopping on her criticisms of various Bloomberg school reform ideas,
some folks (Whitney, Andy and the performance pay mafia) seemed pretty happy about it. Today, however, Elizabeth Green in the NY Sun reports that the column was actually the result of some good old
opposition research done by the NYC Department of Education. That doesn't mean the criticisms of Ravitch are all off, of course. It just shows you how far some people will go to try and swat away an annoyingly persistent and knowledgeable critic. Next thing you know, the NYC DOE will be staging fake press conferences and paying columnists to help them out, not just supplying dirt. Ravitch's response is coming out tomorrow, she says.
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 12:30 PM
| Category:
Urban Ed
Perhaps the most overlooked article of the week is this one from New York magazine (
Can Cash Incentives Pull a Poor Family Out of Poverty?) looking into the prospects of success for New York's much-debate cash incentive program. We've heard what everyone thinks about giving incentives (aka bribes) to poor families for health and educational behaviors -- I'm OK with them, most folks aren't. Now take a look at how they work in the real world.
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 12:19 PM
| Category:
School Life
"The Texas State Library and Archives Commission spent 18 months and canvassed more than 170 agencies and public colleges and universities, checking on all the reports they are assigned to do.The commission found more than 1,600, and state records administrator Michael Heskett is pretty sure his team hasn't found them all." (State report: Texas has too many reports)
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 12:01 PM
| Category:
School Life
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 11:23 AM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
Eduwonkette is at it again -- and I love it. She's got mad Photoshop skills (or at least knows how to cut and paste), and has me and Andywonk dressed up as peas in a pod. It isn't pretty. I'm not sure how that would work, since co-existence is required. I was hoping for me as K-Fed and Andy as Britney. But this will do. Check it out.
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 11:14 AM
| Category:
Urban Ed
Sick of being told that scores are going up when you think they're really not? Well the cat is soon out of the bag, for 11 big urban districts at least (Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Cleveland; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; San Diego; and Washington, D.C.). A couple weeks from now the latest reading and math scores are coming out for some of the country's biggest districts. Called the urban NAEP, or TUDA, the new data will include trend lines going back to 2003, linked to NAEP. Based on NAEP data, not all of the nation's biggest cities are doing as well as their superintendents and mayors claim.
Continue reading "A "National" Test For Urban Districts" »
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 09:56 AM
| Category:
Site News
Within the next few hours (or days, as the case may be), this blog is going to move to a new home on another site. I'm going to keep posting here for a little while longer until things are ready over there but just wanted to let you know. An opportunity presented itself and I decided to make the move.
It's been great working with the EdWeek.org folks, most especially the site's ME, Jeanne McCann, who has been incredibly helpful and patient. (We bloggers are a temperamental lot, it turns out.) And of course Ginny Edwards, the head honcho. EdWeek built me a great-looking page, with lots of functions and features, and promo'd me on the front page (and in print) nearly as often as my mother bugged them to. The number of readers has gone up tremendously. The overall experience has been excellent.
Where the blog is moving is something that I hope to be able to announce as soon as tomorrow morning. I'd tell you now, but it would be confusing since nothing's there yet. Starting tomorrow, you can check here to see if there's anything new, or check This Week In Education. See you soon!
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 09:06 AM
| Category:
Teachers & Teaching
Hello, India? I Need Help With My Math NYT
In a new wave of the global outsourcing of services, personal chores are moving offshore, and this is leading to some daunting challenges, both economic and cultural.
On Education: Classroom of the Future Is Virtually Anywhere NYT
There is no blackboard and no lectern, and, most glaringly, no students in the university classroom of the future.
With World Growing Smaller, IB Gets Big EdWeek
Amid heightened concern about preparing students for a global economy, the academically demanding International Baccalaureate program is catching on fast in U.S. schools.
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 09:05 AM
| Category:
On The Hill
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 09:01 AM
| Category:
Daily News
Standardized high school exit exams put states to the test USA Today
Twenty-two states have some type of exit exams; four are phasing them in. But the tests are proving controversial. Maryland has delayed exams by two years. The state Board of Education meets today and Wednesday to decide whether to move the date again.
School Issues Vary on States’ Ballots EdWeek
Voters will decide some notable education- and child-related questions when they go to the polls next month.
Elementary Absenteeism AP
Absenteeism among children in the early-elementary grades is highest in kindergarten and has a positive correlation with poverty, says a study.
Libraries luring students with coffee AP
Coffeehouses are springing up in high school libraries around the country, marking a departure from the days when librarians prohibited food, drinks and talking. School officials say these shops are promoting reading by attracting teenagers who might not otherwise hang out in a library.
October 31, 2007 | Posted At: 08:50 AM
| Category:
Teachers & Teaching
Using ball as chair helps focus, third-graders sayGrand Rapids Press
Katie Messina teaches to a sea of bobbing heads. Messina first experimented with using balls as chairs six years ago in another school, where her class included seven second-graders with attention deficit disorders.
October 30, 2007 | Posted At: 01:23 PM
| Category:
NCLB News
There's been a recent lull in any real NCLB reauthorization news since Kennedy's folks put out the boring parts of their discussion draft and the rest of the Hill was focused on appropriations. But the AFTies report that Ted Kennedy is back on the march and The Hoff (how come that guy never links to me?) says that the House links have gone dead. Next thing you know, the lights will go out, a door will creak open, and Margaret Spellings -- face lit from below with a flashlight -- will cackle like a witch.
October 30, 2007 | Posted At: 11:33 AM
| Category:
Foundation Follies
Last week I linked to an article that mocked education research as a circus, to which some understandably took offense. Here's a recent ASBJ article on the same topic that may be more balanced but is no less scathing (Politics and Research). Advocates have learned to attack research methods ever more swiftly, even as research has gotten better, some say. Think tank "research" has all but eclipsed academic research in the policy debate in Washington. Not that better research would make a difference. Remember class size? Politics, budgets, ideology, and -- my favorite -- personal experience -- trump even the best studies. But there are a couple of folks out there doing good work, we're told -- not the usual suspects.
October 30, 2007 | Posted At: 11:30 AM
| Category:
Site News
There's some big news coming out about this site, which has with typical over-enthusiasm adopted Kanye West's "Better, Faster, Stronger" as its mantra. (I tried to get EdIn'08 to take it, but no go.) More on this tomorrow. Stay tuned.
October 30, 2007 | Posted At: 11:29 AM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
Not that much is catching my eye this morning: Web Watch riffs off of yesterday's NYT story about de-stressing schools (
8th Period Stress Relief). EIA Mike asks if the NEA is stalling on its endorsement to help Obama (
The October 29 Communique' Is Up!). The conversation between Ravitch and Meiers is heating up (
This Is Not Good Education). The Washington Monthly's uber-blogger Kevin Drum opines on gaps in the voucher argument (
School Vouchers). And Joe Williams apparently forgot to invite me to one of those DFER shindigs where I get to drink beer on his tab (
Talking About Ed Reform).
October 30, 2007 | Posted At: 10:02 AM
| Category:
Media Watch
Wondering what this whole "dropout factory" thing is about? Me, too. Check out AP's interactive map here to see the national view and see where your state fits in. There's also district by district information if you click on the state map
here.
October 30, 2007 | Posted At: 09:09 AM
| Category:
Foundation Follies
Lincoln Caplan provides us with some impressive new numbers in his recent Slate magazine article on Wendy Kopp's Teach For America: Almost $500 million raised, a goal of 4,000 new teachers per year by 2010, a 98 percent acceptance rate, annual revenues nearing $120 million (up from $10.5 million seven years ago). Caplan names TFA the country's largest reform effort in the K-12 education space.
I've got no argument with any of that. But Caplan seems to buy into the idea that TFA is "leveraging" widespread school reform success. That I just don't see. I don't think TFA deserves all the credit for what TFA alums do after they leave. (I don't think TFA alums think so, either.) I don't think the direct impact of TFA's classroom corps members is nearly as long or strong as it could, despite the popularity of the program. And, I don't think that the cumulative effect of TFA alumni is much more than a drop in the bucket when it comes to improving public education, writ large.
To be sure, Caplan alludes to some of this. He refers to the TFA "fable." He points out that no one has yet written a major investigative take-down of the organization (someone has, actually, it just hasn't been published yet). He jokes that depending on who you talk to, TFA is either Google -- or Enron. But Caplan's main focus is how TFA is shaping up to be a powerful and self-sustaining nonprofit institution. Mine is whether TFA is -- or will anytime soon be -- shaping up to have anywhere near as big an impact on public education as its accolades (and revenues) suggest.
October 30, 2007 | Posted At: 09:00 AM
| Category:
Daily News
South's schools swell with poor kids News & Observer
For the first time in more than 40 years, the majority of children in public schools in the South are poor, according to a report released today. In 11 states, over half of students live in poverty.
A juggling act on No Child Left Behind Los Angeles Times
As Miller pushes to renew the landmark education law known as No Child Left Behind, he faces so many fights that the fate of the bill is increasingly in doubt.
Bush greets teen who told Pa. authorities of school attack plan AP
Bush greets teen who told Pa. authorities of school attack plan.
One-Tenth of High Schools Are 'Dropout Factories' AP
There are about 1,700 regular or vocational high schools nationwide that fit that description, according to an analysis of Education Department data conducted by Johns Hopkins for The Associated Press. That's 12 percent of all such schools, no more than a decade ago but no less, either.
Disabilities Fight Grows as Taxes Pay for TuitionThe New York Times
Without Justice Kennedy, the court split 4 to 4 in a New York City case on whether Tom Freston, the former chief executive of Viacom, should have put his learning-disabled son in a public school before sending him to a private school and seeking tuition reimbursement.
October 30, 2007 | Posted At: 08:45 AM
| Category:
Campaign '08
Obama Fields Tough Questions At MTV/MySpace Forum
Obama slammed the Bush administration for not properly funding No Child Left Behind, saying he'd rethink the system to include art and music and more creative pursuits that foster student's imaginations, as well as emphasizing early childhood education. (When the student who asked the question seemed unimpressed, Obama replied, "What more do you need, Mike?," before assuring him that students for whom English is a second language would not be penalized under his revised system.)
PLUS: Richardson: Teachers should get minimum of $40,000 a year AP
Teachers should get minimum of $40,000 a year
October 29, 2007 | Posted At: 12:06 PM
| Category:
Best of the Blogs
A quick spin around the edusphere to see what looks interesting: Scott Elliott from Dayton says that there's a Big Obama education plan coming in November.I can't wait, though I'm not particularly hopeful. It's going to take lots more than a new education plan for Obama to catch up to Clinton. The New York Times' newest blog cracks wise about schools' efforts to de-fang Halloween celebrations: "The parade included a devil with no pitchfork, a Power Ranger without a laser blaster and a pint-size Batman who had been told to leave his utility belt at home." (Are We Having Fun Yet?). Reacting to a post I made last week, Kevin Carey from the Ed Sector says that Time writer Cloud's characterization of education research is exaggerated and, frankly, kind of obnoxious: "What a shame that education research doesn't enjoy the pristinely empirical, de-politicized, consensus-rich environment that characterizes debates over tax policy, entitlement reform, and other issues studied by economists like Martin Feldstein."Meanwhile, In These Times has a piece about how a two year-old split within the labor movement has affected union organizing not nearly as much as predicted: Has the Change Led to Wins? Last but not least, the Times has a fun article about parents being asked to pay for kids' Internet games: Pay Up, Kid, or Your Igloo Melts.
October 29, 2007 | Posted At: 09:58 AM
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff are holding a press event tomorrow in Fairfax County on the issue of emergency preparedness. No word on whether it will be faked or not like last week's fake FEMA press conference (
US disaster-relief agency stages fake press conference).
October 29, 2007 | Posted At: 09:51 AM
| Category:
Urban Ed
On Friday, New York state officials approved Green Dot, a unionized charter school model from LA, to open in the South Bronx of New York City in partnership with the teachers union there. There are a couple more steps towards final approval, as you can see below from the joint press release.
Continue reading "Unionized Charter Schools Headed East" »
October 29, 2007 | Posted At: 09:45 AM
| Category:
Daily News
A Whole School Left Behind Washington Post
But in Como and other poor, rural districts around the country, the law's regimen of testing and sanctions has had little, if any, effect.
Minnesota Plan Gives Scholarships for Child Care NPR
A new initiative in St. Paul, Minn., aims to make high-quality early childhood education more accessible to low-income residents by providing scholarships. The program is the brainchild of an economist who says it will save the state money.
Lead exposure, crime seem to correlate USA Today
For decades, researchers have known that lead poisoning lowers children's IQs and puts them at risk for severe learning disabilities and more impulsive, sometimes violent behavior. New research increasingly suggests that lead also affects long-term juvenile and adult crime rates.
A Principal Who Cracks Down on Stress NYT
Some administrators are pushing back against an ethos of super-achievement at affluent suburban high schools.
October 28, 2007 | Posted At: 05:17 PM
| Category:
Site News
