In his State of the Union Address President Obama called for a major expansion of preschool programs, though where he planned to find the money wasn’t quite as clear. It’s hard to quarrel with programs designed to give disadvantaged kids a boost, which is one reason why Head Start has proved virtually sacrosanct. Trouble is, the evidence suggests that a program costing about $8 billion a year, or $10,000 … Continue reading
No single topic has generated more heat on this blog than standardized testing. So in honor of a long weekend, let me throw out some red meat for testing opponents to chew on: “The Four Biggest Myths of the Anti-Testing Backlash,” by Fordham Institute analyst Kathleen Porter-Magee. The myths, in order, are: 1) Teachers’ instincts should guide instruction. 2) Testing is responsible for “drill and kill” instruction. 3) … Continue reading
Sorry - I had planned to post the second part of this sooner, but I took a break to get my gall bladder yanked out. Not fun. At any rate, Rick Hess and Andrew Kelly conclude their article by talking about some of the ways the feds stumble when they try to reform K-12 education. When it comes to fixing schools, the federal track record is bleak. Little evidence exists … Continue reading
One of my small frustrations as a blogger is that I can’t link to books. One of the best books I’ve read on education reform is Carrots, Sticks and the Bully Pulpit: Lessons from a Half-Century of Federal Efforts to Improve America’s Schools (Harvard Education Press, 2011). AEI’s Rick Hess and Andrew Kelly edited this compilation of essays, and wrote an intriguing summary chapter. But again, I can’t … Continue reading
Several years ago my son – who was then a student in my AP Government class – informed me that I was a “boy teacher.” Since his very existence suggested that he’d gotten my gender wrong, I asked him what he could possibly mean. As I suspected, his appellation had nothing to do with the gender of the teacher; indeed, he argued that lots of male teachers were “girl … Continue reading
Since I’ve frequently voiced qualified support for “data-driven” educational policy, I feel especially obliged to post Rick Hess’s warning that data is “no deux ex machina”: Data expose inequities, create transparency, and help drive organizational improvement. But something is amiss. Many educators regard talk of data-based decision-making as an external imposition, sensing new obligations and what they see as a push to narrow schooling to test scores and … Continue reading
Many of my readers heartily dislike standardized tests, and the increasingly prominent role they play in teacher as well as student evaluation. But how far should teachers carry this dislike? I ask because a group of teachers in the Seattle area has decided to boycott the state’s mandated Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. Here’s the story, from the Seattle Times: Eleven years ago, Rachel Eells saw value … Continue reading
Since the purpose of this blog is to promote debate over educational issues, I’m especially pleased to post what may be the most intelligent debate I’ve seen between a proponent and critic of the common core standards. The central question that both interlocutors address is: Do we really know what students need to know if they are to function in the world they will enter? In other words, can we even … Continue reading
While just about everyone thinks American students need better civics education, brawling breaks out pretty quickly when states try to delineate content. How is power divided between state governments and the national government? What kind of protection for religious liberty does the constitution actually offer? So I was intrigued by an article about civics education at Harlem’s Democracy Prep charter school. Active citizenship defines the school’s mission, and … Continue reading
A blog reader sent me an email expressing concern about his (Utah) school’s new policy of compulsory tracking for math and science students who fail to pass the CRT exam. I thought his comments were worth sharing with the class: I cannot see the logic in sending a kid on to the next level of Math until he/she has demonstrated proficiency at the current level. I think we … Continue reading