Monthly Archives: February 2012
Since January 2010, California parents have (theoretically) had the legal right to force a school to close down, convert to a charter, or change its administration . . . if more than half of the parents whose kids attend this … Continue reading
The Wall Street Journal and some other news organizations have won a protracted court battle over publishing “a trove of data evaluating New York City teachers on their ability to boost student test scores”. This morning New York City parents … Continue reading
I attended a dinner party this past Monday with some individuals who are fighting in the legislative and school board trenches to halt state adoption of the common core standards. Opponents of federal control of education, they argued that the … Continue reading
Proponents and opponents of various school choice options – vouchers, scholarships, charter schools, trigger laws – love to throw data at each other . . . selectively. Not surprisingly, each side tends to cite the studies that seem to reinforce … Continue reading
I apologize for the radio silence. Deseret News has changed its blogging format, and I’m still coming up to speed. The new format makes it much easier for me to post your guest blogs, by the way. As I understand … Continue reading
I’ve been curious to see how Utah state Senator Aaron Osmond would revamp his education reform bill, after he yanked an earlier bill that would have significantly changed Utah’s teacher tenure – oops, “reasonable expectation of continued employment” – laws. … Continue reading
I’ve been surprised that there isn’t more news about Utah’s new online education program . . . in Utah. Nationwide, education experts are watching closely to see how students, teachers and school districts respond to the new opportunity to earn … Continue reading
In yesterday’s blog I expressed my reservations about the Obama administration’s announcement that several states had been granted waivers from No Child Left Behind. Today I want to share some observations from my favorite education commentator, AEI’s Rick Hess, who … Continue reading
Congress is slowly moving forward on reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education ACT (No Child Left Behind in its most recent iteration.) Today’s Education Week Update includes a useful review of what’s happening on the legislative front. As I’ve mentioned … Continue reading
I blogged earlier about the recently released Utah Teaching Standards, and expressed my concern that the standards “focus almost entirely on what the teacher does in the classroom . . . and not on whether the teacher’s chosen approach translates … Continue reading