On Saturday, June 2, 14 area high school students will receive Certificates of Graduation for completing an intensive information technology training program through the University of Wisconsin-Madison called the Information Technology Academy (ITA). ITA is a four-year precollege program that provides hands-on training and access to technology for talented students of color and economically disadvantaged … Continue reading Local high school students graduate from Information Technology Academy→
Sara: Campaigning in Florida today, Senator/Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton put forward an ambitious policy proposal to move the U.S. towards universal preschool education. This is the first major education proposal rolled out by the Clinton campaign, and it’s a good one. The plan would provide states with matching grants (starting at $5 billion federal investment … Continue reading Hilary Clinton’s Universal Preschool Proposal→
“Zen Habits“: I don’t claim to be the world’s most patient parent — but it’s a goal of mine for this year, and it’s something I’m dedicated to becoming. Every parent loses his or her patience — it’s a fact of life. There are no perfect angels when it comes to moms and dads — … Continue reading How to Become a Patient Parent→
Thursday, June 7, 2007 The Madison Club 11:30 a.m. – Networking 12:00 noon – Lunch & Program Sponsor: Jennifer Krueger, Murphy Desmond, S.C. The Madison area, we like to believe, offers many of the advantages of a larger city without the worst trials of big-city life – crime and violence among them. Recently, however, the … Continue reading Law Enforcement and Crime Control in Madison — The Business Forum→
Memorial is the only Madison High School in the top 1200 (1084), while Verona ranked 738th. Washington Post: The Washington Post Challenge Index measures a public high school’s effort to challenge its students. The formula is simple: Divide the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests a school gave by the number of … Continue reading 2007 Challenge Index: Ranking America’s High Schools→
Alan Borsuk: While the number of gym teachers and music teachers is set to drop 15% in Milwaukee Public Schools from this year to next, and the number of teachers, education assistants and secretaries is also going down, one group of MPS employees will grow 25%. It’s the staff serving School Board members themselves. In … Continue reading Milwaukee Schools Add Assistant, Analyst to Board Staff→
Susan Brink: The public school enrollment of autistic children, whether born into privileged or impoverished circumstances, has gone from a trickle to a flood. Their legal rights are crashing up against strapped school budgets. Under two federal laws — the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act, both passed in the 1970s and … Continue reading Students’ rights versus limited means: Special Needs Children and School Budgets→
Susan Lampert Smith: So kids, what did we learn from the Madison School Board’s decision Monday to reverse itself and not consolidate the half-empty Marquette and Lapham elementary schools? We learned that no doesn’t really mean no. We learned that, oops, maybe there is money after all. And most importantly, we learned that whoever yells … Continue reading Madison School Board “Kowtows to Complainers”→
Todd Berry: No question is asked more often of WISTAX researchers by the public and press than: How does Wisconsin’s tax burden compare with other states? And no issue is more debated by partisans and interest group advocates at the State Capitol. Two reliable tax rankings Based on the most recent national data available (fiscal … Continue reading Clearing Up Tax Rank Confusion→
Alan Borsuk: Two men, who often did not work together openly in the past, stood Monday in front of a crowd that, at many times, wouldn’t have been receptive to either of them. “From our standpoint, this is a remarkable day,” said Sam Carmen, executive director of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, as he and … Continue reading Milwaukee Schools’ New Strategic Plan→
Geoff Colvin: In a world of rapidly rising standards and economic rewards for knowledge, are some American parents actually hostile to education? In my travels I’m seeing evidence that the answer is yes. It’s just bits and pieces so far but worth our attention, because in a globalizing economy, with the question of the U.S.’s … Continue reading Parents are failing the education test→
Talk of the Nation: Educators and politicians have pushed the goal of a laptop for every student. But a number of early adapting schools say the laptops aren’t helping, and critics argue that the computers are simply a distraction.
Under the No Child Left Behind law, the definition varies from state to state. In Wisconsin, that means some troubled schools escape the law’s scrutiny. Sarah Carr: At Todd County High School in South Dakota last school year, 16 calls to police helped earn the school an unsavory distinction in the eyes of the state … Continue reading When is a school dangerous?→
Jay Matthews: Schools nationwide are calling on parents to get involved. The Maryland State Board of Education endorsed a broad range of family outreach initiatives in a 2005 report that called public education “a shared responsibility.” Yet some parents in Montgomery County and elsewhere have discovered limits on the get-involved policy when they ask questions … Continue reading Officials’ Silence Puts Parents ‘at Arm’s Length’→
Businesses want to build better employees, but will that really mean a better education for your child?Elizabeth Weiss Green: It took less than a year for Algene Patrick to learn all she needed to know about William H. Brazier Elementary School: rock-bottom test scores, spoiled milk in the cafeteria, and teachers who logged more absences … Continue reading Grade School Goes Corporate→
Sue Arneson, Jason Delborne, Katie Griffiths, Anita Krasno, Dea Larsen Converse, Diane Milligan, Sich Slone, Grant Sovern, Lara Sutherlin: Dear School Board Members: A group of neighbors from the Marquette and Tenney-Lapham communities met this morning with Enis Ragland, Assistant to the Mayor. While we didn’t claim to represent any organizations, many of us have … Continue reading Letter to School Board Members & a Meeting with Enis Ragland→
Winnie Hu: The students at Liverpool High have used their school-issued laptops to exchange answers on tests, download pornography and hack into local businesses. When the school tightened its network security, a 10th grader not only found a way around it but also posted step-by-step instructions on the Web for others to follow (which they … Continue reading Some Schools Drop Laptop Programs→
Erin Richards: Rick Carlson of SCF Educational Consultants, a company the district engaged at the end of March to help conduct the superintendent search, said seven people applied for the job, and that he had contacted Schmidt this spring to tell him about the opening. Before becoming Waukesha’s superintendent in 1998, Schmidt worked for 23 … Continue reading Waukesha Superintendent May Move to Appleton→
Jay Matthews: “From a student’s perspective, the odds of getting into college are a function of two things: the number of qualified students who apply, and the number of slots that colleges make available. It’s true that the number of prospective college students is growing, as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The … Continue reading Why It Is NOT Harder to Get Into Top Colleges→
Tracy Dell’Angela: For the second time in a decade, Chicago Public Schools leaders are making a push in Springfield to restrict the power of local school councils to hire and fire principals. Board President Rufus Williams and other district leaders met with key legislators last week to discuss possible changes to the 1995 School Reform … Continue reading Chicago Public School Leaders Seek Governance Changes→
Mark Hornbeck: Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced this morning she will order a $125-per-pupil cut for public school students to deal with the state’s growing fiscal problem. Letters to school superintendents informing them of the cuts will go out on Monday, the governor said. The Legislature would then have 30 days to react. Lawmakers could accept … Continue reading Michigan Reduces State Per Student Spending→
A press release from the Urban League: Media Release April 26, 2007 Contact: Scott Gray (608) 251-8550 sgray@ulgm.org Cherokee Middle School Principal to Receive the 2007 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Equal Opportunity Award Madison, WI: The Urban League of Greater Madison recently announced that it will present Cherokee Heights Middle School Principal Karen Seno with … Continue reading Cherokee principal to receive equal opportunity award→
Development on the isthmus continues, according to two two stories in the news today, making the prospect of closing central-city schools rather shortsighted. From a longer story by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times: E. Dayton Apartments: In other action Monday night, a plan from developer Scott Lewis and architect John Sutton for a five-story, … Continue reading Isthmus growth continues; closing plans shortsighted→
David Herszenhorn: The deal would increase base pay by 23 percent, compounded over nearly seven years, and add 15 minutes to principals’ and assistant principals’ workdays. The contract would also revamp how principals are rated on their performance each year, discarding the blunt thumbs-up or thumbs-down system under which they are labeled either satisfactory or … Continue reading NYC Schools New Deal with their Principals→
Some years ago, while reading a book on Sherman’s March to the sea, a distant relative (who lives in the south) pointed out that the book was “one perspective”. Madison has a middle school named “Sherman“. Which sort of proves the point. A reader pointed out that Sherman middle school was named for “Roger Sherman”, … Continue reading Vang Pao Elementary School and The American Experience→
Amy Hetzner: A joint legislative committee deadlocked Wednesday on whether to study Wisconsin’s class-size reduction program, ultimately defeating the measure in what Republicans called a partisan maneuver and Democrats hailed as supporting a popular initiative. In proposing an audit of the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education program, or SAGE, Republican lawmakers characterized it as a … Continue reading Audit of SAGE program defeated→
According to a report from a recent East High United meeting, where MMSD Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools Pam Nash did a presentation on the District’s high school redesign plans, the following eleven people have been named to the redesign committee: Pam Nash — Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools, former principal of Memorial HS. While … Continue reading MMSD High School Redesign Committee Selected→
From the MMSD: For immediate release Thursday, April 19, 2007 Six elementary schools to have different principals Six elementary schools will have different principals next year in a series of transfers and changes within the Madison School District. The principals who are transferring have been at their current schools from four to ten years. The … Continue reading More deck-chair shuffling→
Amy Hetzner: After more than two years of study, a group of Waukesha educators has drafted a set of guidelines that challenge some traditional notions of grading. Among the recommendations: Removing evaluations of student participation, effort, attendance and behavior from academic results. Ending the use of zeros for late or unfinished work, a “potentially damaging … Continue reading Report Cards: Waukesha group suggests changes in grading→
The Madison School District’s Math Task Force was introduced to the School Board last night. Watch the video or listen to the mp3 audio. Background Links: Madison School Board Discusses Independent Math Review: Audio / Video. Math Forum Audio / Video UW Math Professor Dick Askey on the MMSD’s math scores; related: State test scores … Continue reading MMSD Math Review Task Force Introduction and Discussion→
Long time teacher, former school board member/president and activist Bill Keys spoke last night during Ruth and Shwaw’s retirement discussions. Video | mp3 audio
Jay Matthews: Part Four: Rationing AP: William Lichten, the distinguished Yale professor emeritus of physics, is at it again, trying to keep U.S. high schools from giving so many Advanced Placement courses and tests to racial minorities and low income students. Too many of those people fail the tests, he says. They should be given … Continue reading Finding the Best High Schools→
Susan Troller: At the heart of the issue is the fact that the East High School attendance area has more elementary schools and schools with smaller populations than the other attendance areas in the district. Of the 10 elementary schools in the East High attendance area, only Hawthorne has more than 300 students. By contrast, … Continue reading MMSD School Closing Discussion→
Sherry Saavedra: What students learn in high school doesn’t match with what they need to know as college freshmen, according to a national study released yesterday. Professors believe high school teachers should cover fewer topics with more depth to prepare students for college. That is one of the findings of the survey by ACT, a … Continue reading College Freshman Not Ready→
Jonathan Welsh: Yesterday, a school bus collided with a truck in Brampton, Ontario, critically injuring a 10-year-old boy and seriously harming another child. It was the latest in a series of dramatic crashes that have heightened many parents’ fears about the safety of the yellow buses their kids ride on every day. In Atlanta last … Continue reading How Safe Is Your Child’s School Bus? Despite Recent Accidents, It’s the Safest Way to Go→
The Waukesha School District’s 2006-2007 Budget ($165,388,112 for 13,063 students = $12,660 – similar per student spending to the Madison Schools. Wisconsin’s average per student spending is just under $10,000.) [1.1MB PDF] Amy Hetzner: Only a month after voting to eliminate the equivalent of 62 full-time staff positions to avoid a budget shortfall in the … Continue reading Waukesha School District Budget Notes and Links→
From the Wisconsin Charter Schools Association: You’re invited to join educators, environmentalists and others at the Environmental Charter Schools Workshop. Date: May 2, 2007, Wednesday Time: 9:00am to 2:30pm Site: MADISON, UW Arboretum Workshop Program: Unique features of “green” charter schools, integrated environmental curriculum, standards and accountability, charter partners supporting sustainable schools, and implementing a … Continue reading Workshop on green charter schools→
35 Year Michigan Teacher Ken Feneley: Brendan Miniter’s description of “how school choice was defeated in South Carolina” (“Cross Country: A Day Late,” op-ed, March 31) perfectly describes the power created by a combination of teacher unions and politicians they help elect to office. What gets lost is what’s best for the kids. In this … Continue reading Public Schools Lack a Competitive Spirit→
Sam Dillon: Now, as the president and the same Democrats push to renew the landmark law, which has reshaped the face of American education with its mandates for annual testing, discontent with it in many states is threatening to undermine the effort in both parties. Arizona and Virginia are battling the federal government over rules … Continue reading No Child Left Behind Renewal Discussion→
Ruth Robarts’ roller coaster DOUG ERICKSON 608-252-6149 derickson@madison.com Ruth Robarts steps down April 23 after 10 years on the Madison School Board, and, no, she’s not expecting a cake from her colleagues. Although Robarts first ran as a facilitator – “That didn’t work out so well,” she says now with a guffaw – she became … Continue reading Ruth Robarts Deserves a Medal→
Dear Mr. Rainwater: I just found out from the principal at my school that you cut the allocations for SAGE teachers and Strings teachers, but the budget hasn’t even been approved. Will you please stop playing politics with our children education? It?s time to think about your legacy. As you step up to the chopping … Continue reading An open letter to the Superintendent of Madison Metropolitan Schools→
By MICHAEL WINERIP Published: March 11, 2007 The New York Times I LIKE it!” said Yaniv Gorodischer. “What a night!” It was a big, big night at the group home. The three residents Mr. Gorodischer, 29, Jason Kingsley, 32, and Raymond Frost Jr., 28 along with an entourage that included their group home … Continue reading They’ll Do It Themselves, Thanks→
Joanne Jacobs: From the Fayetteville, NC Observer: Superintendent Art Rainwater loves to discuss the Madison Metropolitan School District’s success in eliminating the racial achievement gap. But he won’t consult with educators from other communities until they are ready to confront the issue head on. “I’m willing to talk,” Rainwater tells people seeking his advice, “when … Continue reading “Cooking the Numbers” – Madison’s Reading Program→
Jason Shephard: As a teacher-centered lesson ended the other morning at Midvale Elementary School, about 15 first-graders jumped up from their places on the carpeted rug and dashed to their personal bins of books. Most students quickly settled into two assigned groups. One read a story about a fox in a henhouse with the classroom … Continue reading How can we help poor students achieve more?→
Nancy L Zimpher: Cooperative education is now more than 100 years old. The co-op approach, in which students alternate time in the classroom with professionally paid work directly related to their majors, was founded at the University of Cincinnati by Dean Herman Schneider in 1906. There are co-op programs today at 500 institutions in the … Continue reading The Co-op Model’s Relevance Today→
TJ Mertz: In this morning’s Wisconsin State Journal there is a story that again misrepresents the place of Madison School Community Recreation and Fund 80 in the district and the community. The chart comparing Fund 80 levies in Madison to those in other districts ignores the fact that most or all of those locales have … Continue reading Madison’s Fund 80 & Elections→
Joanne Jacobs: Reading War II is still raging as reading experts attack a New York Times story on Madison’s decision to reject federal Reading First funds in order to continue a reading program that the Times claims is effective. Education News prints as-yet unpublished letters to the Times from Reid Lyons, Robert Sweet, Louisa Moats, … Continue reading More on Madison’s Reading First Rejection and Reading Recovery→
What makes this article from Fargo interesting is how it almost exactly mirrors the findings in my home district, Hortonville, and the recent analysis of Reading Recovery done in Madison. That being, a 50% success rate for RR students. From the article: “However, West Fargo student data over time, as presented by Director of Knowledge … Continue reading Reading Recovery: More chipping and shredding in Fargo!→
Mike Antonucci: There’s an excellent book from 1997 called The Limits of Law-Based School Reform that I think everyone – especially lawmakers and public policy experts – should read. But the title alone should be enough for all of us who think passing a law to address a perceived education problem is sufficient to solve … Continue reading Limits of Law-Based School Reform→
Ian Shapira: A culture of control has Washington area campuses in an ever-tightening grip, many students say, extending beyond the long-standing restrictions on provocative clothing, cellphone use and class-time bathroom visits. Akin to the omnipresent “helicopter parents,” these students say, are helicopter administrators who home in on their smallest moves, no matter how guileless or … Continue reading Modern-Day 3 R’s: Rules, Rules, Rules→
Art Rainwater on the reductions in increases to the proposed 2007-2008 MMSD Budget [1.4MB PDF]: Dear Board of Education, The attached is my recommendation for the service reductions required to balance the budget for 2007-2008. They are provided to you for review in advance of my Recommended Balanced Budget for 2007-2008 which will be available … Continue reading Madison Superintendent’s 2007-2008 Proposed Budget Changes→
Richard Medlin: Shyers (1992a, 1992b), in the most thorough study of home-schooled children’s social behavior to date, tested 70 children who had been entirely home-schooled and 70 children who had always attended traditional schools. The two groups were matched in age (all were 8-10 years old), race, gender, family size, socioeconomic status, and number and … Continue reading Homeschooling and Socialization→
The We Energies Renewable Energy Development Program “2007 Wind and Solar Scholarship Program” Request for Applications March 5, 2007 Program Description We Energies supports the development of renewable energy technologies as part of a long-term strategy for providing low-cost, environmentally sound energy options to its customers. To help in furthering this objective, the “2007 Wind … Continue reading We Energies offers great scholarships to CA energy conferences→
James Barron: Rich Cronin, the president and chief executive of GSN, said he was not just thrilled to watch the competition, he was euphoric. “One person will be the ‘American Idol’ of vocabulary,” he said. (In the end, after an afternoon with its share of technical difficulties and dashed hopes, the winner was Robert Marsland, … Continue reading 18 Year Old Madison Resident Wins National Vocabulary Championship→
The Madison West High School PTSO held a school board candidate forum Monday night. Topics included: Madison High School Comparison A candidate’s ability to listen, interact and work successfully with other board members Past and future referenda support Candidate views on the $333M+ budget for our 24,000 students Extensive conversations on the part of Marj … Continue reading 3/5/2007 Madison School Board Candidate Forum: West High School→
Danielle Repshas: “Still, there is not an absolute guarantee that a course [called] one thing someplace has the same rigor somewhere else,” Reason said. Part of the challenge is judging the standards of one AP class from another at different high schools, and Reason said the level of trust colleges and secondary schools have with … Continue reading Notes from UW-Madison and Madison West High on AP Standards→
After listening to Phony Tony Casteneda’s ludicruous charaterizations of those who post on this blog, I remembered a post by Bill Keys on a listserve sponsored by Advocates for Madison Public Schools. Bill and Phony Tony used nearly the same language and divisiveness. Here’s Bill’s rant: FACTS? FACTS? FACTS? Do you really believe that those … Continue reading Keys and Casteneda sing same song→
March Madness is approaching! On the board level, madness can be characterized by the large assortments of topics and decisions that have been or will need to be made such as the superintendent search, budget, and other serious issues that require time, analysis and public discussion. I would like to give you a brief report … Continue reading March Madison BOE Progress Report→
The Madison School Board voted down the proposed Studio Charter School Monday night in a 4-2 vote (Against: Carstensen, Kobza, Silveira and Winston; For Mathiak and Robarts with Vang away). Sparks flew when Lucy Mathiak asked Nancy Donahue about their interaction with the attempts to talk with principals and teachers about the proposed charter school … Continue reading Sparks Fly as the Madison Studio Charter School is Voted Down→
Teacher Voices: In Philadelphia last week a teacher named Frank Burd, wound up in the hospital after two students assaulted him, apparently because he had confiscated an iPod during class. After class, according to a report on NBC news, the two students were waiting for Burd. One punched him and the other pushed him. As … Continue reading Making Safety a Piece of the Pie→
Jason Shephard: Suzanne Fatupaito, a nurse’s assistant in Madison schools, is fed up with Wisconsin Physicians Service, the preferred health insurance provider of Madison Teachers Inc. “MTI uses scare tactics” to maintain teacher support for WPS, Fatupaito recently wrote to the school board. “If members knew that another insurance [plan] would offer similar services to … Continue reading Going to the Mat for WPS→
It will be interesting to see how voters on February 20 and April 3 view this decision by a majority of the Madison School Board: Should the Board and Administration continue to give away their ability to negotiate health care benefits ($43.5M of the 2006/2007 budge) before MTI union bargaining begins? Read the 2005 MMSD/MTI … Continue reading Concessions Made in Advance of MTI Negotiations by a Majority of the Madison School Board→
Chris Gallagher THE EDUCATION report card for my home state of Nebraska in the spring of 1999 was mixed, according to Education Week. While children in the state ranked among the top 10 nationally in most academic categories, Nebraska nonetheless garnered only a C. Why? Largely because it does not administer statewide, standardized assessments and … Continue reading Teachers Reclaiming Assessment Through Rethinking Accountability→
Educational Testing Service: A report from ETS’s Policy Information Center, America’s Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation’s Future, looks at the convergence of three powerful sociological and economical forces that are changing our nation’s future: substantial disparities in skill levels (reading and math) seismic economic changes (widening wage gaps) sweeping demographic shifts (less education, … Continue reading America’s Perfect Storm→
Steven Malanga: In football, a quarterback’s blind side is the side of the field opposite his throwing arm—the left side of the field for a right-handed quarterback, for instance. One shouldn’t confuse the blind side with a blind spot, which is what our policy-makers and media often have when discussing American poverty: it is a … Continue reading Parenting vs. Poverty→
Up close, the author finds that politics obscure key educational issues Marc Eisen: Where’s the challenge? I’m no different. I want my kids pushed, prodded, inspired, and challenged in school. Too often—in the name of equity, or progressive education, or union protectionism, or just plain cheapness—that isn’t happening in the Madison schools. Advanced classes are … Continue reading My Life and Times With the Madison Public Schools→
Po Bronson: But as Thomas has progressed through school, this self-awareness that he’s smart hasn’t always translated into fearless confidence when attacking his schoolwork. In fact, Thomas’s father noticed just the opposite. “Thomas didn’t want to try things he wouldn’t be successful at,” his father says. “Some things came very quickly to him, but when … Continue reading How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The Inverse Power of Praise→
John Nichols noted that Madison’s Mayoral challengers have not raised substantive questions of the incumbent Mayor’s (Dave Cieslewicz) record, including schools: No. 2, he has failed to offer much in the way of a vision for how this rapidly changing city should approach the future. How green should it be? Where does mass transit fit … Continue reading Mayors and Schools→
I’ve updated the election page with the following information: January, 2007 campaign finance filings which show that retired Madison Teacher and seat 5 candidate Marj Passman (who faces Maya Cole – $135.00) has raised $5,530, far ahead of the rest. Beth Moss is next at $822.00 (Moss faces Pam Cross-Leone – $75.00 and Rick Thomas … Continue reading Spring 2007 Madison School Board Election Update→
School closings need to be considered in light of the long-term (5-10 years or more) outlook – a 3-5 year outlook, yet alone 1-2 years, is not nearly long enough when considering a measure whose impact lasts for many years, at a student/family level, as well as financial. What muddies this school closing picture is … Continue reading School Closings & the Long-Term Outlook→
Over the past week, I have had several heartfelt e-mails from residents of the Lapham-Marquette neighborhood, urging me and other board members to oppose closing Lapham School. To put the e-mails in context, let us all remember that there are MANY proposals out there because EVERYTHING is on the table thanks to the $10 million … Continue reading My Thoughts on Lapham-Marquette→
A story by Sol Stern posted on City Journal highlights the success of Reading First and includes striking parallels to our superintendent’s response to the program: Reading First, though much maligned, succeeds in teaching kids to read. . . . A comprehensive study by an outside evaluator will appear in 2007, measuring Reading First’s influence … Continue reading This Bush Education Reform Really Works→
Marc Fisher: Somehow, when good, bright people get serious about the fact that thousands of children emerge from this city’s schools year after year without knowing how to read well enough to get a decent job, those good people end up busying themselves with little boxes on a piece of paper. Both say the schools … Continue reading Notes on Washington DC’s School Climate→
From a reader involved in these issues, by Kerry Hill: Demystifying math: UW-Madison scholars maintain focus on effective teaching, learning Tuesday, January 30, 2007 – By Kerry Hill New generation of Math Ed Many people still see mathematics as a difficult subject that only a select group of students with special abilities can master. Learning … Continue reading “No Need to Worry About Math Education”→
Teacher Thomas Biel: Juan/Sean/John doesn’t read too well because we don’t teach him how very well. Results from the 2005-’06 Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations show that 55% of Milwaukee Public Schools 10th-graders do not read at a proficient level. The majority of our kids have reading problems. Leaders in the school district, in the … Continue reading Why Johnny can’t read very well and what to do about it→
School spending has always been a puzzle, both from a state and federal government perspective as well as local property taxpayers. In an effort to shed some light on the vagaries of K-12 finance, I’ve summarized below a number of local, state and federal articles and links. The 2007 Statistical Abstract offers a great deal … Continue reading School Finance: K-12 Tax & Spending Climate→
Maria Newman: Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York said today that he would allocate more money to the state’s public education system in his 2008 budget proposal, but he said the increased spending would be tied to better results from schools, educators and students. “There will be no more excuses for failure,” Mr. Spitzer said. … Continue reading NY Governor Spitzer to Tie Increased School Funds to Performance→
Jay Matthews: In the midst of a national debate over whether Advanced Placement courses place too much pressure on U.S. high school students, a team of Texas researchers has concluded that the difficult courses and three-hour exams are worth it. In the largest study ever of the impact of AP on college success, which looked … Continue reading Studies Find Benefits to Advanced Placement Courses→
What does it take to truly create a school where no child is left behind? That question defines what is probably the most pressing issue facing American public education, and a high-poverty school on Madison’s north side west of Warner Park seems to have figured out some of the answers. Mendota Elementary is among a … Continue reading Madison’s Mendota Elementary School beats the odds→
The Madison Board of Education is faced with several great challenges over the next few months. One of the biggest is the announcement that Superintendent Art Rainwater will retire at the end of the June 2008. The board will be working with a consultant to assist in hiring the next superintendent. Another board challenge is … Continue reading Late January School Board Progress Report→
Sherrilyn Ifill: was recently trying to list the 10 most encouraging initiatives by black people in 2006 and I thought I’d share one with you. It’s the Baltimore Algebra Project, a group of African American inner-city teens who’ve evolved from tutors to activists in an effort to force change in the failing Baltimore City School … Continue reading The Baltimore Algebra Project→
Mark Hicks: The reorganization is part of the district’s controversial plan to shutter 47 schools this summer and five more during summer 2008 in a bid to save $19 million. The struggling district lost nearly 12,600 students last fall after a teachers strike, and more than 50,000 have left in the last eight years. The … Continue reading Parents Sound Off on Detroit School Plan→
Tom Moore: IN the past year or so I have seen Matthew Perry drink 30 cartons of milk, Ted Danson explain the difference between a rook and a pawn, and Hilary Swank remind us that white teachers still can’t dance or jive talk. In other words, I have been confronted by distorted images of my … Continue reading Classroom Distinctions→
Charles Murray posted three articles this week on Education and Intelligence, a series that generated some conversation around the net: Intelligence in the Classroom: Our ability to improve the academic accomplishment of students in the lower half of the distribution of intelligence is severely limited. It is a matter of ceilings. Suppose a girl in … Continue reading Education & Intelligence Series→
I am pleased to invite you to a conference on “Education and Educational Research in an Era of Accountability: Insights and Blind Spots“, to be held on February 7-8, 2007, at the Pyle Center [map], near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Attendance is free, and we very much hope that members of the local educational … Continue reading Education and Educational Research in an Era of Accountability: Insights and Blind Spots→
Channel3000.com: Some Madison community members are circulating a petition to put forward a candidate to be La Follette High School’s next principal. That name is Joe Gothard, who is the former dean of students at La Follette and currently serves as principal at Akira Toki Middle School, WISC-TV reported. Questions about who would lead the … Continue reading Community Members Petition for Joe Gothard to be Named LaFollette High School Principal→
Ted Widerski: The Talented and Gifted Division of MMSD is busy organizing ‘MathFests’ for strong math students in grades 4 – 8. These events are planned to provide an opportunity for students to interact with other students across the city who share a passion for challenging mathematics. Many of these students study math either online, … Continue reading Financially Support Madison Schools’ Math Festival→
Madison Superintendent Art Rainwater’s recent public announcement that he plans to retire in 2008 presents an opportunity to look back at previous searches as well as the K-12 climate during those events. Fortunately, thanks to Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web, we can quickly lookup information from the recent past. The Madison School District’s two most … Continue reading Notes and Links on the Madison K-12 Climate and Superintendent Hires Since 1992→
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial: Wisconsin’s state government ended the past fiscal year with a giant deficit of $2.15 billion, according to the accounting methods used by most businesses. But the state’s books show a cozy balance of $49.2 million. The discrepancy results from years of Wisconsin governors and legislators manipulating the accounting process to hide … Continue reading A Call for an Honest State Budget→
The Madison School Board Communication Committee’s upcoming meeting includes an interesting 2007-2009 legislative agenda for state education finance changes that would increase District annual spending (current budget is $333,000,000) at a higher than normal rate (typically in the 3.8% range): 4. 2007-09 Legislative Agenda a. Work to create a school finance system that defines that … Continue reading Local School Budget Tea Leaves→
Daniel de Vise: Not every student at Bannockburn is above average. But 70 percent of the third-grade class has been identified as gifted, based on tests and other academic indicators. The school serves one of the largest concentrations in the region of students capable of working beyond their assigned grade, sometimes well beyond. “We’re constantly … Continue reading Schools Seek and Find Gifted Students→
Jay Matthews: The American Montessori Society, based in New York, reported 7 percent membership growth in just the past year, and many of the schools are getting ready to celebrate the centennial of the Montessori beachhead. Once considered a maverick experiment that appealed only to middle-class white families in the States, Montessori schools have become … Continue reading Montessori Goes Mainstream→
A reader involved in these issues emailed this article by Andrew Rotherham: Second, the story highlights my colleague Tom Toch’s criticism that a lot of tests states are using under NCLB are pretty basic. That’s exactly right. I’m all for better tests, but isn’t that, you know, an indictment of schools that can’t even get … Continue reading NCLB and the Stress Between “Bringing up the Bottom and Supporting High End Kids”→
Jason Shephard: From the beginning, Mary Watson Peterson had doubts about the motivations of those in charge of implementing federal education grants known as Reading First. As the Madison district’s coordinator of language arts and reading, she spent hundreds of hours working on Madison’s Reading First grant proposal. “Right away,” she says, “I recognized a … Continue reading Reading Between the Lines: Madison Was Right to Reject Compromised Program→
Amy Hetzner: Under the model, used by a number of school boards in the state, the board develops a set of expectations and then holds its administrators accountable to achieve those goals and report on progress. The result is a more focused board that has more objective criteria for evaluating the performance of the school … Continue reading Wisconsin School Boards Evaluate Governance Focus→
Watch Monday evening’s school board discussion [Video | Download] of the upcoming larger than usual reductions in revenue cap limited increases in the District’s 2007 – 2008 budget (they are larger than normal due to the recently disclosed 7 year structural budget deficit). The 2006 / 2007 budget is $333M+ (it was $245M in 98/99 … Continue reading 2007 – 2008 Madison School District Budget Discussions Underway→