Five Best Blogs: Much Ado About Reauthorization

Why Are Poor And Minority Kids So Different? Eduwonk: I am asking why people who wouldn’t think of gutting IDEA’s rules and accountability requirements don’t worry about the same problem when we’re talking about a different population of students?

It's Finally Here (sorta) Eduflack:  So while this finally puts a flag in the edu-ground for Harkin and Senate Democrats, no one should be rushing to schedule a bill signing any time soon.  

Barone vs. Barone Sherman Dorn: The fundamental dilemma with such hard targets is that while they may be necessary in the short term, they are very difficult to sustain politically in the long term. 

Extending or Overreaching? Title IDerland:  If you look at the Obama administration’s education initiatives...one thing becomes abundantly clear: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan likes him some extended learning time.

MORE BLOG POSTS INSIDE

How evaluation spoiled teaching for her Jay Mathews:  D.C. teacher Stephanie Black sent me an absorbing e-mail that... explained why her positive feelings about the KIPP charter school network had deepened her distaste for the D.C. teacher evaluation program, IMPACT.

A new look at the CREDO charter school study Matthew Di Carlo (Shanker Blog): I can’t prove this, but suspect [the CREDO study] may be the most frequently mentioned research report over the past two years (it was released in 2009).

A progressive school finds some accountability religion EdNextL  The school didn’t stop being progressive, it simply integrated cultural history into its ballet lessons and nutrition and science into its yoga classes.

Needed: A Schools Supe with Grit, Not Glitz Hess: Superintendents for large, urban school districts are a hot commodity, moving often and commanding big bucks. This is a topic I've thought about a bunch over the years--hell, it was a question at the heart of my doctoral dissertation and first book.

Minority students do better under minority teachers Wonkbook:  The paper’s authors — Robert Fairlie, Florian Hoffmann and Philip Oreopoulos — conclude that this effect is due to minority students’ positive reactions to minority teachers — what other researchers have dubbed the “role-model effect.”