Five Best Blogs: Why Pilot [Lunch] Programs Fail At Scale

Why Pilot Projects Fail Megan McArdle: Rolling something out across an existing system is substantially different from even a well run test, and often, it simply doesn't translate. Sometimes the success was due to the high quality, fully committed staff.  Sometimes the program becomes unmanageable as it gets larger. 

Getting Serious About Improving Head Start: New America:  Among them were the New York City Administration for Children’s Services; Northern Virginia Family Services, and the cities of Baltimore, Detroit and San Antonio. Also on the list are the public schools of Pittsburgh, PA; New Haven, CT; Richmond, VA; and Milwaukee, WI. 

Education reform paralysis — and how to fix it The Answer Sheet:  Don’t you get bored repeatedly reading about variations on the same topics? Standardized testing, useful or harmful? Charter schools, the answer or the new problem? Teachers maligned, teachers defended, teachers resistant to change. No Child Left Behind, revise or eliminate? 

Influence Politico:  A survey of 50 current and former administration, Capitol Hill aides and state level leaders found that the National Education Association, Education Trust and The Council of Great City Schools are the top three most effective education lobbyists in Washington (via @eduwonk).

The Best and Worst in Education 2011 Rick Kahlenberg: Some charter schools make terrific progress, but most are mediocre. And it’s hard to imagine how they will attract great teachers for the long haul when... one of the “innovations” at some charter schools is to save money by offering teachers no pensions whatsoever.

MORE BLOG POSTS INSIDE -- MAYBE YOURS!

The Poverty of School Reform In These Times:  In Chicago’s African-American neighborhoods, schools change quickly—regardless of what families want. 

The woman who took on Glasgow's gangs Jason Kottke: They coined a phrase: recreational violence. "There's also the thrill, the sensation-seeking," McCluskey says. "You look at their faces on the CCTV, they're loving it. They're young guys just not equipped to make good decisions for themselves, caught up in the gang dynamic."

Vallas, the master of disaster, takes interim job in Bridgeport Mike Klonsky:  Look for him to make the best use of him limited time there to decimate collective bargaining, fire teachers in mass, eliminate as many neighborhood schools as possible and replace them with privately-managed charter schools.