Teacher Bloggers At EDIN08 Summit Can Kick My Ass

There are lots of folks I'm looking forward to hearing and/or meeting at next week's blogger summit, including in particular Kilian Betlach of Teaching in the 408, who I have always liked but read too little, and of course Will Okun, the Chicago teacher whose posts I've made you all read over the past few months.  I'd be OK with either of these guys beating me out for education blog of the year.  Check out the current list here: Speakers. 

Best Of The Blogs

Who's on Deck for EdSec?
Eduflack floats some names -- some familiar, some unfamiliar, some horrifying. 

From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Jezebel reviews this late 60's young adult novel about a night in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  May be NSFW.

Memphis High School in ACLU Crosshairs for Outing 2 Gay Students
Detension Slip outs principal who hates PDA.

On Reading First, read the report first
Petrilli defends RF -- big surprise, but still worth reading.

Exaggeration
Kevin Carey critiques coverage of RF report.

Here Come the Interns: What's Your Blogging Policy?
How to muzzle your interns, by the Poynter Institute.  Not really.

Chicago Public Radio Reporter Ousted Over Frabrication Allegations

Every beat has its problems with fabrication and plagiarism, it seems.  Why not education?  In a story first reported here earlier this week, the Sun Times is now confirming that WBEZ's Jay Field has been forced to resign due to allegations that he fabricated at least one story. "Field, who most recently was on the education beat, was forced to resign over allegations that he had fabricated a story, sources said. The story never made it on the air."  I'm told that the station is combing previous stories to see if there's any obvious evidence of other fabrications.  Thus far, Field has refused any real comment, responding briefly to an email saying that he had left the station and was looking for other opportunities.  Well, it looks like it's going to take more than that for Field -- and Chicago Public Radio -- to get things back in order.  Previous Post:  Chicago Public Radio Education Reporter Resigns Suddenly

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This Week In Education

Cooking The Books -- Not Just An Education Thing Posted: 02 May 2008 10:38 AM CDT Think that gaming the numbers is something that only happens in education or maybe crime? Think again. Last weekend's On The Media show on NPR included this segment (Cooking the Books). In it, an economist explains how the government's economic...

Big [Reading First] Stories Of The Day Posted: 02 May 2008 09:46 AM CDT An Initiative on Reading Is Rated Ineffective NYT President Bush’s $1 billion a year effort to teach reading to low-income children has not helped improve their reading comprehension, according to the Department of Education. PLUS: Federal Reading Program Hasn't Helped,...

Best Of The Blogs Posted: 01 May 2008 03:00 PM CDT Bush Announces "Good News," But Doesn't Mention Bad News The Hoff What he didn't mention was Reading First. Who Knew He Could Sing? Alyson Klein For someone who just a few years ago seemed pretty skeptical of multiple measures, Miller...

Return Of The Reading First Ruckus Posted: 01 May 2008 02:07 PM CDT First, everyone said that Reading First was the best thing since sliced bread -- early intervention on literacy to reach kids that Title I sometimes missed. Then came lots of accusations about conflicts of interest, and the departure of that...

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Cooking The Books -- Not Just An Education Thing

Think that gaming the numbers is something that only happens in education or maybe crime?  Think again.  Last weekend's On The Media show on NPR included this segment (Cooking the Books).  In it, an economist explains how the government's economic measures (like unemployment) have, over time, been softened to make things look better than they really are.  The real unemployment rate, for example, is roughly double what the reported number is.  And the media goes along with it.  It's apparently called the Polyanna Effect.

Big [Reading First] Stories Of The Day

An Initiative on Reading Is Rated Ineffective NYT
President Bush’s $1 billion a year effort to teach reading to low-income children has not helped improve their reading comprehension, according to the Department of Education.

PLUS: Federal Reading Program Hasn't Helped, Study Says AP
Study: 'Reading First' Program Fails to Boost Reading Skills Washington Post

Debate Emerges Over Proposed NCLB Rules on Tutoring, Choice EdWeek
If the Bush administration has its way, school districts will be required to take a series of actions to ensure that parents and students know about their rights to free tutoring and school choice under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Educators Recognized for Their Devotion Washington Post
Ward Merritt begins every school year the same way. Standing in front of a roomful of wide-eyed second-graders, he tells them: "I have two jobs: to make sure that I keep you all safe and to see that all of you learn.

Best Of The Blogs

Bush Announces "Good News," But Doesn't Mention Bad News The Hoff
What he didn't mention was Reading First.

Who Knew He Could Sing? Alyson Klein
For someone who just a few years ago seemed pretty skeptical of multiple measures, Miller was enthusiastic, noting that colleges "are asking for portfolios" from applicants, not just test scores.

A New Player Thomas Toch
To help frame the conversation, the institute's Allison Armour-Garb compiled an array of new ideas in a report titled "Intergovernmental Approaches for Strengthening K-12 Accountability Systems."

Laptopmania Teaching Generation Z [NEW!]
Seeing that we’ve had our twenty wireless laptops running for the whole eleven week term in the four upper primary classrooms, it is a good time to review the program and make some observations.

 It's May Day: Do you know where your children are? School Me.
We got a call at home last night from L.A. Unified Supt. David Brewer -- one of those messages that must have gone out to hundreds of thousands of families. He called to talk about the possibility of students "ditching."

A year later, teacher pay reform is still a distant dream Schools For Tomorrow
It’s a landmark day. One year ago today this site launched, and one year ago today I wrote my first post for what was then known as the HeadFirst blog about a new report “depolarizing the teacher pay debate.”

Middle-class teens and Leopold II  Joanne Jacobs
Middle-class teens may be rotten to their parents but not to other adults, notes Brian Micklethwait. Why? The difference in behavior is explained by the fact that the parents are defenseless against their own teenagers.

Return Of The Reading First Ruckus

First, everyone said that Reading First was the best thing since sliced bread -- early intervention on literacy to reach kids that Title I sometimes missed.  Then came lots of accusations about conflicts of interest, and the departure of that Doherty guy from the USDE.  But still, there were reports that the program was popular and considered effective by states and districts that had implemented it.  Now, USA Today's Greg Toppo is reporting that a new study from IES, the research arm of the USDE, shows that Reading First is... ineffective. Doh! Read all about it. 

Big Stories Of The Day

Music can be path to language and math AP
Michael Bitz won a national competition with his idea for helping students learn academic subjects while creating their own record labels.  Now, he ll try to bring that idea to schools across the country as the first recipient of a fellowship awarded this week through the Mind Trust, an Indianapolis nonprofit.

Obama, Clinton Messages Get Lost in Shuffle of Long Campaign Bloomberg
Hillary Clinton's most reliable applause line is about ending the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education program. Barack Obama often spends more time on taxes than Iraq. And both routinely praise Republican John McCain.

PLUS: Obama Urges More Responsible Parenting WSJ
Obama has cast himself as a "truth-talker" with the refrain that one of the biggest problems facing the country is "parents who don't parent." He has folded the line into his stump speech and a North Carolina TV ad.

With This Test, Teachers Can Be Left Behind Washington Post
A new report from the Montgomery County school system says the county's special-education teachers are having so much trouble administering an alternative version of the Maryland School Assessment to severely disabled students that nearly one-fifth of students tested last year failed solely because...

Ed. Dept. Again Rejects Utah’s Bid to Use ‘Growth Model’ for NCLB EdWeek
Utah education officials had hoped to use the state’s system for measuring school success.

Rising scores may not mean students are learning more San Jose Mercury News In response to the intense pressures of No Child Left Behind, which results in schools being closed if they fail to meet proficiency targets, some schools ...

A Snap Of Steve Barr's Fingers, A Magic Bill Gates Spray Can

Got something you want fixed?  Call Steve Barr -- or just spray a magic can of Bill Gates on it. 

That's according to this hilarious commentary (Spray On Some Bill Gates), which claims that Barr "can snap his fingers and get thousands at a rally" and that pretty much anything can be solved if you spray a "magic can of Bill Gates Money on it."

Thanks to PBGT for the tip. 

Schools Still "Reclassifying" Kids To Look Better On NCLB

Imagine if someone walked up to you (or your child) and asked if they could call you white instead of black, or Native American instead of Hispanic.  You'd be startled, I'm guessing, and probably want to know why.  Now imagine that they told you it was so that they would look better under NCLB. 

Kudos to the Sacramento Bee for its recent analysis of California schools using NCLB loopholes to -- big surprise -- make themselves look better under the law (Schools reclassify students, pass test under federal law).  Eighty schools flipped from not making AYP to passing muster last year by reclassifying kids' subgroup status to get below the subgroup minimum (100 kids!).  It's an August "cleaning" of the data that schools in many states go through.  It's also a loophole that the newly proposed NCLB regulations may help close, finally.

Racial identification is a complicated thing, no doubt, but shouldn't be motivated by a desire to game the accountability system. 

Attack Of The New Teacher Project

Watch out, lazy school districts and obstructionist teachers unions!  Here comes the New Teacher Project.  They may have lost Michelle Rhee when she went to DC, but they apparently haven't lost their energy. 

That came clear earlier this week when TNTP released a report denouncing a New York City contract provision that is expensive and potentially undercuts principals' ability to choose their own teachers. 

On the HotSeat, fresh-faced TNTP president Tim Daly describes what life after Rhee is like, why the organization went public with its scathing report, what TNTP did -- and didn't -- do to help the city and the teachers come to agreement, and why so few ed reform organizations take such a public step.

Click below for the full interview.

Best Of The Blogs

Things Are Tough All Over The CKB
Any teacher who has ever felt disrespected and antagonized by disruptive students might take comfort from the actions of this instructor, who is threatening to sue her students for discrimination.

 Mayor Bloomberg and The Teacher Contract That Got Away... DFER
A couple of years ago I took considerable ribbing from some NYC teacher friends following an op-ed I wrote in the NY Daily News which argued that a recent contract settlement with the United Federation of Teachers wasn't as great...

 All about the Benjamins? Flyboys
I tend to agree with Liam and most other opponents of this strategy that a) learning is deeply rewarding for its own sake and is degraded when treated as an article of commerce...

One Good Thing About This Long, Drawn-Out Primary Michele McNeil
If Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton weren't in a fierce political battle for their party's nomination, then students like Brian Griffin and Kaci Gardner probably wouldn't have gotten so involved in the campaign. 

 

NCLB Good, NCLB Bad

S & C Comments on The Proposed NCLB Regs Charlie Barone
We think it’s generally a good package, but falls short in a few key areas. We’re sure she knows that she is in for a rough ride. And we wish her luck.

You, Too, Can Voice Opinions on NCLB Rules The Hoff
Whether you're the mother of a special education student in Massachusetts or a school administrator in Kansas, you can voice your opinion.

Black no more Joanne Jacobs
Black students’ low test scores caused Will C. Wood Middle School to miss its No Child Left Behind goals. But the Sacramento school met NCLB after all by persuading parents of four previously “black” children to let the school reclassify their kids as white or American Indian.

Chicago Public Radio Education Reporter Resigns Suddenly

Chicago Public Radio education reporter Jay Field (pictured) has resigned, in what appears to be a sudden departure.  Field has not so far responded to my attempts to find him.  Earlier today, however, WBEZ managing editor Sally Eisele stated that Field had resigned, as of Friday, April April 18th, but said she could not provide any further details.

It looks like Field was at the station for roughly seven years, the last two and a half of them on the education beat.  The first education story that I can find from Field is from October 2005.  The last story that I can find posted on the WBEZ site is April 14th -- about students returning to DuSable after a recent scare.  A list of his pieces is here.  (A bunch of his work was also picked up by the national, NPR.  See list here.) 

His LinkedIn profile says he's a graduate of Colby ('94).  He won a Lisagor for a piece he did with Julia McEvoy in 2003 -- perhaps as a freelancer.  According to this website, he joined the station in 2001 as a general assignment reporter.

Field's departure seems sudden and may have been unexpected, given that he only recently returned from paternity leave.  I'm still hoping to find out what, if anything, happened, and who, if anyone, will replace him. [Cross-posted from D299.]

Times Higher Ed Reporter May Be Leaving Paper

We're losing education journalists like mad this week.

First we lose the Chicago Tribune's Stephanie Banchero for a year to some silly fellowship in California. 

Now, word on the street is that New York Times higher education reporter Karen Arenson is leaving the paper sometime soon as well.*

What next?  Jay Mathews decides he wants to be a crime reporter?

Not sure what she's written?  You can find tons of her stories here.   

*Remember:  this rumor is worth what you paid for it.  I still haven't gotten official confirmation.  I'm not even sure if this picture is really of her.  But, assuming it's true, congrats, condolences.

UPDATE:  Arenson confirms via email that she's leaving, after 30 years at the paper and 12 on the higher ed beat.

Next Up For Edublogging: Full-Time, Professional, Mainstream

Hard as it may be to believe, all this education blogging that's going on is still so far part-time and/or amateur (unpaid), and little of it part of mainstream news sites.  But that won't last for much longer, I don't think.  Someone will soon get hired to blog about education full-time on a mainstream site.  Things have already gone far beyond the first fulltime mainstream hire in other areas.  For example, many of the best bloggers who cover economics have already been hired, writes Megan McArdle on the Atlantic blog (Blogging goes professional).  Ditto for politics.  It could be ether someone new we've never heard about or someone already on the scene.  It probably won't be me, though of course I'm open to any big-money proposals. Whoever it is, I'm just hoping that they're good.

Kudos To Big Cities For Joining NAEP Pilot Program

I don't think that I gave enough credit when it happened a few weeks ago to the seven new big city school districts that are joining the NAEP TUDA program (Detroit & Other Urban Districts Part of The Nation’s Report Card for Grades 4 & 8).  While lots of other folks are watering down standards and blunting accountability, these seven are putting themselves up for additional scrutiny.

Big Stories Of The Day

Teacher of year: 14,000 volts of energy MSNBC
Crook County Middle School science teacher Michael Geisen was in the middle of a lesson when he got a message from the school's front office: The White House was on the line.

Unfunded Mandates, State Budgets, Common Sense Wall Street Journal
States can unilaterally opt out of some federal programs, like No Child Left Behind. Most governors can also reduce agency spending through executive action.

Judge Dismisses Connecticut’s Challenge to Education Law NYT
A federal judge ruled that Connecticut failed to prove that federal officials had forced the state to spend its own money to comply with President Bush’s signature education law.

School's eyebrow-mark edict: Shave 'em MSNBC
A Portland high school is raising eyebrows with its brow grooming policy: shave 'em or go home.

Let's Get Political, Says The New Teacher Project

For years, the New Teacher Project has presented itself as a smart but fundamentally low-profile outfit, working with districts and teachers unions to improve recruiting, hiring, and placement practices of several big-city school districts.  All that's over now that a report estimating the $81M cost of unwanted teachers in New York City has come out, prompting a strong rebuke from UFT president Randi Weingarten. 

Weingarten called the NTP a “wholly owned subsidiary” of the Education Department and called the district's failure to find jobs for unassigned teachers "repulsive," according to published reports (NYT).  But there's no real surprise there.   What really jumps out is that, just months after having its head leave to run the DC schools,  the NTP is trying to play such a prominent role in this dispute -- developing the report, attempting to lead mediation efforts, and finally -- acccording to the Sun -- deciding to release the report publicly. 

Having done so may or may not help resolve the issue in New York, and will almost certainly shade its work in other districts.  The NTP may regret this.  But it's also a notable example of a school reform organization doing what few school reform groups do:  getting involved in the deeply political work of school reform, rather than merely writing reports and providing behind the scenes services.  I'm inclined to applaud the move. 

"E" Is For Easy: Sign Up For Daily Email Updates

There's a new and easy way to keep up with the latest education news, gossip, and analysis:  a daily email.  That's right.  All you have to do is click here:  Subscribe to This Week In Education and then confirm your subscription via email.  Then you'll get a daily update of what's been posted -- usually 4-5 posts -- including the morning's big news stories and a roundup of what's good on other blogs.  Free.  Easy.   Give it a try. 

Best Of The Blogs

All sorts of counter-intuitive and contrarian stuff out there today.  I like!

Did School District Boundaries Lead to Mortgage Crunch? EIA
Writing in the Post, Frank suggests families fell victim to overborrowing in order to get their kids into better public schools.

Rev. Wright for Education Secretary The Corner
He drew some rather stereotyped distinctions in the way white and black children learn — white children learn diagrams and numbers, while black children memorize reams of hip-hop lyrics. He was dead serious about it. [via Flyboys]

Grownups Of This World, Just Get Off Facebook Already Jezebel
The Washington Post dives deep into the subject of teachers with slutty Facebook pages today, and it is not pretty.

McCain's education temptations Richard Whitmire
I'm not alone in writing about the school choice options McCain could push in the campaign -- if the campaign chose to elevate the issue.

Teacher Stole Senior Trip Money To Disney World Detention Slip
Did he think that no one would catch on when a hundred kids lined up an no busses ever showed up? Was he planning on just shrugging his shoulders and hoping that no one would ask for a refund?

When Research Matters Paul Baker
Book Review When research matters: How scholarship influences education policy. Frederick M. Hess, editor. Harvard Education Press, 2008. 312 pp.

Despite Praise, Massachusetts' Standards Don't Measure Up The Hoff
The state's standards aren't challenging enough to prepare high school students for college, according to a new study.

Last Words On The Education Writers Conference

I thought I was done writing about the EWA conference (and lost my notes somewhere along the way), but apparently there's more:

You Talkin' To Me?  Bad enough that he's white and male, but single-sex advocate Leonard Sax may be too argumentative to lead this fledgling movement into the mainstream.  And I'm not just saying that because he's a guy.   

Still On The Honeymoon:  Despite an awkward start, Michelle Rhee's lunchtime interview gave education reporters an up-close look at Rhee's fresh-faced, blunt approach to revamping a struggling urban district.  Rhee also made some news by effectively endorsing mayoral control -- no surprise -- and NCLB. 

They're Everywhere:  TFA is now infiltrating the mainstream news community, I am slowly figuring out.  I'm told that TFA alumns who are education reporters include David Hunn from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Amanda Millner-Fairbanks of the New York Times, and...?

Post First, Ask Questions Later: Asked about how the Internet has changed his reporting and his relationship with those he covers, the Dallas Morning News' Kent Fischer said, "I'm no longer waiting for the district to respond." Fischer also urged communications folks in districts and organizations to "roll up your sleeves" and get involved in online debates about education issues.  Associates I talked to seemed really cautious about doing this.

"They treat physics the way that we treat sports," remarked Two Million Minutes producer Bob Compton comparing the US obsession with sports and extracurriculars with the focus on academics in China and India. Indeed.  Where would I be without having had those drum lessons in 9th grade?

The Webster Way: Eye Contact, Holding Back, & Other "Soft" Skills

Some educators are uncomfortable talking about -- much less teaching -- student behavior that may be related to home culture or poverty.

Not these folks in San Diego, who have found that making student behavior an explicit part of their lesson plans has made a real difference (School Turnaround Built on Teaching Students to be Students).

"Teachers chalk up the turnaround to a homegrown program that explicitly teaches students how to behave in class...Such skills are usually expected but not actively taught, White said."

Big Stories Of The Day

Rhee Gains Authority Over Teacher Transfers Washington Post
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has signed a controversial agreement with the president of the Washington Teachers' Union giving her the right to reassign all teachers at 23 schools slated to be closed with no guarantee that they would move to the schools where their students are to be...

Schools use cash as an incentive Christian Science Monitor
Baltimore schools teach students about the stock market and let them keep money from their portfolios. Are cash rewards bribery or a creative way to inspire students?

In Pittsburgh, Reform Plan Includes Community Schools AP
While the definition of a community school varies, the concept has taken root in cities nationwide, with officials recognizing that what happens outside school affects children’s performance in the classroom.

Judge dismisses state's No Child suit AP
A federal judge has dismissed the last of four claims in Connecticut's challenge to the federal No Child Left Behind law.

To cheat or not to cheat Christian Science Monitor
...or kids who cheated on a standardized test, sometimes with the aid of teachers trying desperately to meet their No Child Left Behind benchmarks.

Tribune Education Reporter Gets Knight Fellowship

Stephanie Banchero from the Chicago Tribune has just bean named one of 12 journalists to receive the John S. Knight Fellowship to study at Stanford during the 2008-09 academic year (Knight Journalism Fellows announced for 2008-09). Congrats to Stephanie, and condolences to her paper. 

The Kids In The Front Of The Class

The best part of Chicago teacher Will Okun's latest post at the New York Times isn't it's musings on charter schools, or even its chilling description of kids who don't care about school, but rather how it describes how the kids in the front of the class feel about it when the kids in the back of the class are slowing things down:

"Sitting in the front row, Kentrail is visibly exasperated that I cannot do my job. Shatara’s teeth and fists are clenched; she stares at me with accusatory anger. Finally, Ronetta screams, “Make them shut up!” (The Mire)

Plus:  180 comments so far.

Best Of The Blogs

Obama: Democratic Party Line = Teachers Union? EIA
"We should be experimenting with charter schools. We should be experimenting with different ways of compensating teachers."

Limitations of Research and the Headlines that Ignore Them Thoughts On Education Policy
I'm disappointed in the NY Times, and I'm disappointed in everybody else who parroted these results without explaining what they really meant.

It's A Lot More Than Culture, Stupid Kevin Carey
Patashnik is joining George Will in advancing the "what matters in education isn't education" theory of education, which is one of the more damaging conceits held by people who should know better.

Gaming NCLB The CK Blog
Eighty California schools got “out of trouble” with No Child Left Behind in the past two years by changing the way they classify their students, according to an analysis by the Sacramento Bee.

The digital age: Kids learn differently Paul Baker
At a Saturday panel session during the Education Writers Association conference here in Chicago, Mimi Ito, Henry Jenkins, and Connie Yowell discussed how digital tools for making, remaking, mashing, and tinkering are part of students’ everyday lives

No Missing Report Cards, Technology Keeps Parents Connected  ASBJ Blog
The district went even further, giving parents the option of viewing discipline records and daily updates on classroom attendance.

Art For Art's Sake: Obama Falls For Shaky Arts Arguments

Ann Hulbert has a nice piece in the NYT about how Obama -- and many others -- misguidedly invoke research when arguing for arts education in schools:

"An emphasis on the arts’ utility in the quest to reach math and reading benchmarks may seem politically smart, but the science it rests on turns out to be shaky....If arts education stakes its claim to students’ time and schools’ money on some unproven power to push standardized test scores upward, its position in American schools is bound to be precarious."

Sure, art is cool, and maybe there's not enough of it in schools these days.  Yeah, some kids really groove on arts education and that helps them get through the system.

But, apparently, there is no killer research out there showing that arts helps kids read and do math.  Read the rest of Hulbert's article for what happens next.

Why Is The Mayor Of Chicago Destroying The Reputation Of His Own City School System? Why Is The Press Letting Him?

The latest in a slew of national stories about youth violence in Chicago, this article from the New York Times details how some kids at Crane high school in Chicago are being escorted to school each day by parents and police -- a "joyless parade," as the article describes it (After Killings, Escorts for Chicago Students).

What the article doesn't note is the far-reaching damage that Mayor Daley and Chicago school officials are doing to their own school reform efforts by conflating out-of-school teen deaths with the city's school system --  for little apparent benefit -- or why city officials are, willy-nilly, linking street and school violence.

For city officials, the original motivation behind emphasizing the school connection to any violent incident was apparently to secure additional state funding and enhanced gun control legislation.  Neither of these things have happened. 

Instead, Chicago schools are once again being described as violent and dysfunctional -- and few outside the system understand that this is largely a broader Chicago issue.  As the Times reports, none of this year's  teen deaths have happened at school, and that most of those killed had troubled pasts.  In-school violence is down over all, thanks to $55 million a year in security efforts by CPS. 

Previous posts: Murder Epidemic In Chicago Isn't Really School Crime

Student Asks For Help Writing Kotlowitz Paper -- On Facebook

So you don't want to (or have time to) read the assigned book and write a paper.  What to do?  Put out a request for someone else to do it for you -- on Facebook.  That's what this guy did -- before he got caught.

Extra special tidbit:  the assignment was for a well-known education text, Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here.  Read more here.

You have to believe that high school kids are doing this too. 

Big Stories Of The Day

Searching for Science Washington Post
The Bush administration's chief of education research says teachers too often rely on "folk wisdom" instead of proven methods to help students learn reading and math.

Schools reclassify students, pass test under federal law Sacramento Bee
Most students had met the mark set by No Child Left Behind. But African American students' math scores fell far short of it, bringing the school into failing status in the eyes of the federal law.

Standardized Formula For Graduation Rates May Soon Pair With Tests Wash Post
A Bush administration proposal to require that all states use the same formula to calculate high school graduation rates is winning applause from education experts who say it will shed light on the nation's dropout problem.

My home-school days Los Angeles Times
When I tell people that I was home schooled, I frequently encounter an amalgam of awe, pity and curiosity.

When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web Washington Post
Log on to Facebook. Join the Washington, D.C., network. Search the Web site for your favorite school system. And then watch the public profiles of 20-something teachers unfurl like gift wrap on the screen, revealing a sense of humor that can be overtly sarcastic...

Best Of The Week (April 21-25)

Campaign 2008
Excuse Note From Obama Doesn't Convince School Officials
Obama Flips Off Teachers Unions (no, not really)

NCLB News
SECRETARY LOLCAT IZ VRY TRD
No Child At Risk
Slavery, The Holocaust, & NCLB
Bracey Vs. Bracey

Think Tank Mafia
Why Policymakers (& Goalies) Always Take A Leap
Union-Run Charter School Struggles
Singer Appears To Promote Global Education
Secretary Riley To Lead New Law & Policy Center

Media Watch
Education Reporters In Chicago
Getting Rid Of Drug Dealers and Teachers Unions
Funding Sources & Conflicts Of Interest
Journos Rank Think Tanks Higher Than Staff Do
Friday Conference Gossip
Blogger Summit In DC

School Life
Rich Familes Forced To Move To Country Homes, Attend Public Schools
What Next After Online Bullying? Naked Pics.
School Districts Give Away Free Fingerprint & DNA Sample Kits

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What I Said At EWA Today
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