Lucy Mathiak deserves high praise for her performance in the discussion on the MMSD’s math curriculum. She pressed and pressed the superintendent to justify his recommendations. A board member of any organization or corporation does not need to be an expert on a topic, but simply has to be certain that the head of the … Continue reading Terrific job by Lucy Mathiak
Recently, the Sun Prairie School district and its teachers’ union successfully bargained with DeanCare to bring down future costs for employee health insurance. This week Dane County and five of its employee unions agreed to save $1.2M in employee health insurance costs for 2007 by moving all covered employees to one provider, Physicians Plus HMO. … Continue reading Dane County Saves $1.2M on Employee Health Insurance: Will the Madison School District Follow This Lead?
A nation full of students who enjoy mathematics and feel confident in the subject is not necessarily a nation that scores high on international math tests, a report being released this week concludes. The report from the Brookings Institution suggests, in fact, that the so-called “happiness factor” in math may be inversely related to achievement. … Continue reading Nations With ‘Happy’ Students Post Poorer Scores
Sam Dillion: When the Internet was just beginning to shake up American education, a chemistry professor photographed thousands of test tubes holding molecular solutions and, working with video game designers, created a simulated laboratory that allowed students to mix chemicals in virtual beakers and watch the reactions. In the years since, that virtual chemistry laboratory … Continue reading No Test Tubes? Debate on Virtual Science Classes
Ben Feller: Children who are turned off by math often say they don’t enjoy it, they aren’t good at it and they see little point in it. Who knew that could be a formula for success? The nations with the best scores have the least happy, least confident math students, says a study by the … Continue reading Maybe Math isn’t Supposed to be Fun: Just Cutting to the Chase is a Better Approach
Harris Interactive: The 2006 survey looks at the expectations of teachers upon entering the profession, factors that drive career satisfaction, and the perspectives of principals and education leaders on successful teacher preparation and long-term support. In addition, it examines data collected from past MetLife American Teacher surveys to understand the challenges teachers face and their … Continue reading MetLife 2006 Survey of the American Teacher
Trying to find the truth in education, like in most areas in American society, is fraught with dilemma — most public commentors are either incompetent or bald-faced liars. Robert W. Sweet, Jr. likely falls into both categories. See previous posts of regarding his comments on this site, and his letter to the Washington Post here. … Continue reading Reading First: The Lie of Robert Sweet of Errors and Misconceptions in Washtington Post
Elizabeth Carson: Here’s a math problem for you: Count the excuses people are trotting out for why schoolkids in New York City and State did poorly in the latest round of math scores. The results showed just 57% of the city’s and 66% of the state’s students performing at grade level – and a steady … Continue reading “Far too Fuzzy Math Curriculum is to Blame for Declining NYC Test Scores”
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial: The first step toward improving the state’s tax climate must be for lawmakers to control spending. The state cannot afford to cut taxes and thus forgo revenue unless the next governor and Legislature do a better job of paring, consolidating and conserving. Even the promise that lower taxes will generate more … Continue reading Wisconsin Tax Climate Update & Local Property Tax Levy Changes
On November 7, Madison area residents will be asked to vote on a referendum concerning our local schools. While the referendum has three parts, this paper will focus on the first part – the construction of a new school on the far west side, representing over 75% of the total cost of the referendum. This … Continue reading A New School on Madison’s Far West Side: A Long Term Perspective
The Economist: Look around the business world and two things stand out: the modern economy places an enormous premium on brainpower; and there is not enough to go round. But education inevitably matters most. How can India talk about its IT economy lifting the country out of poverty when 40% of its population cannot read? … Continue reading The Politics of K-12 Math and Academic Rigor
In a major shift from its influential recommendations 17 years ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics yesterday issued a report urging that math teaching in kindergarten through eighth grade focus on a few basic skills. If the report, ”Curriculum Focal Points,” has anywhere near the impact of the council’s 1989 report, it could … Continue reading Report Urges Changes in the Teaching of Math in U.S. Schools
William J. Mathis [16.1MB PDF]: Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the key element of the accountability system mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This report reveals that AYP in its 2006 form as the prime indicator of academic achievement is not supported by reliable evidence. Expecting all children to reach mastery … Continue reading The Accuracy and Effectiveness of Adequate Yearly Progress: NCLB’s School Evaluation System
Ken DeRosa: In his new book, Eric Hanushek delivers the smack down on Johnathan Kozol who has been insisting these many years that the funding gap between middle class and inner city schools was the cause of the achievement gap between white and minority kids. Thus, to erase the achievement gap all we had to … Continue reading Money & Academic Success
Ken Derosa: The first month of school is now over for my son who is in first grade. Let me summarize what has transpired in the first 1/9 of the school year so far. Bear in mind that most of my information comes from a six year old with the attention span of a flea. … Continue reading Report from the First Grade Trenches
Channel3000: One year after LaFollette students complained of having to drop out of extra-curricular activities becasue of busing problems, the situation is fixed. More buses are running and WISC-TV went back to see if it has made a difference.
Michael Alison Chandler: Despite those limitations, school officials came up with a new tool this year to entice more teachers to Loudoun. With help from the county’s chamber of commerce, a school employee approached dozens of area businesses, banks and apartment complexes about offering discounts of some kind for county educators. The result is the … Continue reading School System offers Teachers Special Inducement
Letters to the editor regarding “Demoting AP Classes“: To the Editor: Re “Demoting Advanced Placement,” by Joe Berger (On Education column, Oct. 4): As a college history professor, I see the demotion of Advanced Placement courses as a step toward (not away from) the “frenzied” race toward college and the dumbing down of American education. … Continue reading Letters Regarding “Demoting AP Classes”
School Improvements, desired by all of us, need financial resources, but primarily, the need is for a quality strategic and measureable plans and goals. Ed Blume has posted a few such rubrics from Victoria Bernhardt. He has not received much input on these worthy rubrics. See. That was certainly my experience also, as I posted … Continue reading School Improvement Rubrics
Susan Troller: When publications like the New York Times want an expert to comment on the big issues facing public schools like testing or immigration, it’s a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor they’re likely to call. Relatively unknown in his adopted hometown, history and educational policy studies professor William Reese is able offer a long view … Continue reading A Profile of the UW’s William Reese
David M. Herszenhorn: In what would be the biggest change yet to the way New York City’s school system is administered, officials are considering plans to hire private groups at taxpayer expense to manage scores of public schools. The money paid to the private groups would replace millions of dollars in grants from the Bill … Continue reading NYC Considers Plan to Let Outsiders Run Schools
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Children with severe reading problems usually struggle for years before getting the help they need. But a growing number of neurologists and educators say that with the latest diagnostic tests, children at high risk for these problems can be identified in preschool and treated before they ever begin to read. The newer … Continue reading Early Repairs in Foundation for Reading
Madison School District Superintendent Art Rainwater: By now, I’m sure you know that last Friday a 15 year old boy entered Weston School in Cazenovia (Sauk County) and allegedly shot and killed the principal. This incident has stirred in all of us the uneasy realization that this can happen anywhere, at anytime. We mourn the … Continue reading Art Rainwater’s Memo on School Violence
Jay Matthews: Getting A’s was not high on my to-do list. To this day I don’t believe getting good grades in college is as important as getting good grades in high school. High school, for most people these days, is about getting ready for college. You cannot do that if you do not apply yourself … Continue reading Ten Ways to Get A’s in College
Too busy to continue the farewell and the urge to share information remains. This is from the October School News a publication of the WASB. Linked here. Excerpt: SN: Gov. Doyle, in the 2005-07 state budget, you provided more than $700 million for K-12 schools and restored two-thirds funding in the second year of the … Continue reading Wisconsin Association of School Boards Governor’s Q&A
Matthew Matera: Like most K-12 teachers in America, I work in a world of standardized tests these days. I analyze state standards and study breakdowns of my students’ test performance. I think about the expectations of the state as I plan lessons, and I spend time explicitly teaching test-taking strategies. So, yes, I admit it. … Continue reading “I Teach to the Test”
Richard Edelman: “Did you know that one in ten teenage girls in Washington, D.C. are HIV-positive? Did you know that one in twenty adults in the District of Columbia have AIDS? It is an outrage. Those are Third World types of incidence rates and it is happening in our nation’s capital. All of the attention … Continue reading One in Ten
Jean Johnson, Ana Maria Arumi and Amber Ott [350K PDF]: It’s probably natural for leaders of organizations to be upbeat about their institutions, and the nation’s school children might not be well-served by superintendents and principals who see public schools as places of disappointment, failure and ineptitude. Even so, the positive, almost buoyant outlook of … Continue reading Reality Check 2006: How Principals and Superintendents See Public Education Today
Michael Grunwald: To some extent, the controversy over Reading First reflects an older controversy over reading, pitting “phonics” advocates such as Doherty against “whole language” practitioners such as Johnson. The administration believes in phonics, which emphasizes repetitive drills that teach children to sound out words. Johnson and other phonics skeptics try to teach the meaning … Continue reading The Education Issue
The Madison School District will hold four referendum information sessions in advance of the November 7 referendum. The public is invited to attend any of these sessions. Thurs. October 12 6:30 PM Sennett School 502 Pflaum Rd. 53716 Lecture lab Tues. October 17 6:30 PM Cherokee School 4301 Cherokee Dr. 53711 LMC Wed. October 18 … Continue reading Press release: MMSD Information sessions about Nov. 7 referendum
The attached document is copied from Vicki McKenna’s web site. Her comments are accurate from the conversations she and I have had and information she has reviewed. There still is a lot more critical information, questions and concerns about the referendum that needs exploration, analysis and ‘airing.’ Here is what I think is some significant … Continue reading MMSD Referendum Info
This is the third in a series of farewell posts to the SIS blog. I still don’t know how long this will take; I don’t have a schedule but I don’t think too much longer. There are still things I want to say before I leave this forum. “The Long Goodbye?” I hope not, but … Continue reading CASTing
Jason Szep BOSTON (Reuters) – Private tutors are a luxury many American families cannot afford, costing anywhere between $25 to $100 an hour. But California mother Denise Robison found one online for $2.50 an hour — in India. “It’s made the biggest difference. My daughter is literally at the top of every single one of … Continue reading U.S. homework outsourced as “e-tutoring” grows
[Not part of the “farewell series,” much more important] TJM SCHOOLS OF HOPE ? TUTORS NEEDED 09/28/06 WISC-TV There are a number of factors that have contributed to the historic closing of the achievement gap in Madison schools including small class sizes and talented and well trained teachers. But there’s no disputing the United Way … Continue reading Schools Of Hope – Tutors Needed
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial: The taxpayers of Madison owe Ruth Robarts a big thank you. Robarts has served on the Madison School Board for a decade, asking pesky questions about how tax dollars are spent and how Madison children are educated. What she lacked in tact she made up for in candor and an unflinching … Continue reading “Robarts Served a Valuable Role”
Sam Dillon: Over the years since, Governor Bush has mostly held his tongue about the president’s very different law, even as detractors of all stripes have attacked it. But in recent weeks — perhaps seeking to cement his legacy as a school-policy expert as he prepares to leave office — Governor Bush has been speaking … Continue reading 2 Bushes on No Child Left Behind
When I’m doing the very best I can You’re pouring water On a drowning man You’re pouring water On a drowning man “Pouring Water on Drowning Man” Dani McCormick & Drew Baker Download file”>Listen to James Carr’s version This is the second of a series of farewell posts to this blog. My original intent had … Continue reading Pouring Water
Reading First, subject to a scathing economic/lobbying audit recently was also just reviewed in this report from the Center for Education Policy [Kathleen Kennedy Manzo] [Full Report
Opinion Journal: Schools of education have gotten bad grades before. Yet there are some truly shocking statistics about teacher training in this week’s report from the Education Schools Project. According to “Educating School Teachers,” three-quarters of the country’s 1,206 university-level schools of education don’t have the capacity to produce excellent teachers. More than half of … Continue reading No Teacher Left Behind
Sharon Noguchi: The Advanced Placement government assignment over the summer was to read and analyze political commentator Chris Matthews’ book “Hardball.” So four friends at American High School in Fremont did what they say everyone else was doing: divvied up the 13 questions about the book and exchanged answers via e-mail. They each altered the … Continue reading Schools fight cheaters who use tech tools
A small study and I confess I haven’t looked at the study itself, but a reminder that some important aspects of education aren’t measured by standardized tests. TJM Research: School diversity may ease racial prejudice More bias seen in kids in mostly white setting By Shankar Vedantam The Washington Post Published September 19, 2006 White … Continue reading Research: School diversity may ease racial prejudice
Ryan Boots: I’ve been something of a cheerleader on the use of new media in the classroom, principally in the form of digital textbooks. But similar to what we’ve already seen with the calculator, such technology has the potential to inflict damage in the classroom. Exhibit A: Right Wing Prof flipped his lid a couple … Continue reading Technology: “It Can Do More Harm Than Good”
Todd Silberman: Despite North Carolina students’ steady improvement in reading and math, their performance on state end-of-grade tests has been far better than on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In fact, North Carolina stands out because of the wide gap between results on the state and national tests. In 2005, about 84 percent of … Continue reading North Carolina & Math Standards
Valerie Strauss The nation’s best-known researcher on homework has taken a new look at the subject, and here is what Duke University professor Harris Cooper has to say: Elementary school students get no academic benefit from homework — except reading and some basic skills practice — and yet schools require more than ever. High school … Continue reading As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It
Tamar Lewin: In a major shift from its influential recommendations 17 years ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics yesterday issued a report urging that math teaching in kindergarten through eighth grade focus on a few basic skills. If the report, “Curriculum Focal Points,” has anywhere near the impact of the council’s 1989 report, … Continue reading Math Wars Earthquake
Susan Troller: But because the projected enrollment numbers don’t match the actual numbers of students at Stephens this year, one grades 2-3 classroom is being dropped, with students assigned to other classrooms and Bazan’s job at Stephens eliminated. The same scenario is playing out at five other elementary schools where teachers and sections are being … Continue reading Enrollment projection errors create school turmoil
Charles Anderson: A hint of the politicians’ dilemma was buried in a May 10 New York Times-CBS News poll about the performance of U.S. elected officials on a host of policy issues. Not surprisingly, neither President Bush nor Congress earned high marks. What startled me, though, was the response to this question: “Regardless of how … Continue reading Failure to Understand Science is a National Security Issue
Aaron Bensonhaver: Phil Hartley, legal counsel for the school boards association, said one area that school board members and superintendents often get into trouble is in supporting a referendum or candidate. Hartley said either can support such situations on their own time, but must be careful not to use tax money, including being on the … Continue reading Elections, Referendums, School Boards and Administrators
Critics of “Fuzzy” Methods Cheer Educators’ Findings; Drills Without Calculators. Taking Cues from Singapore. John Hechinger: The nation’s math teachers, on the front lines of a 17-year curriculum war, are getting some new marching orders: Make sure students learn the basics. In a report to be released today, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, … Continue reading Return to Basics in Teaching Math
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. email: Welcome back to school! I hope you had a wonderful summer. On August 28th the Madison school board approved plans Plan CP2a and Plan CP3a relative to boundary changes that will be necessary if the November 7th referendum to construct an elementary school on the Linden Park site passes … Continue reading Madison School District Progress Report
The Economist: FEW children, in the developed world, spend their summer holidays bringing in the harvest. Yet the timing of the summer break dates from the days when child labour was too valuable to lose in the vital final weeks of the growing season. The roots of modern education, in Britain and elsewhere, lie in … Continue reading Education in Medieval Britain
Jay Matthews: Many states, including Maryland and Virginia, are reporting student proficiency rates so much higher than what the most respected national measure has found that several influential education experts are calling for a move toward a national testing system. A recent study by Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the … Continue reading National School Testing Urged
Erin O’Connor: As part of University of Colorado president Hank Brown’s decision to tackle the tough issue of grade inflation, CU regent Tom Lucero is inviting members of the public to contribute their thoughts on the subject: Even cum laude graduates sometimes lack the skills needed to succeed in today’s workplace. This can prove to … Continue reading On Grade Inflation
Standard & Poors “School Matters”: Standard & Poor’s School Evaluation Services today announced it has identified 20 Wisconsin schools that have significantly narrowed the achievement gap between higher- and lower-performing student groups during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years. This is the first year Standard & Poor’s conducted an achievement gap analysis in Wisconsin. The … Continue reading Standard & Poor’s Recognizes 20 Wisconsin Schools for Narrowing Achievement Gaps (including Madison’s Cherokee and Black Hawk)
Voters evaluating the Madison School District’s November referendum (construct a new far west side elementary school, expand Leopold Elementary and refinance District debt) have much to consider. Phil Brinkman added to the mix Sunday noting that “total property taxes paid have grown at a faster pace than income”. A few days later, the US Census … Continue reading Fall Referendum Climate: Local Property Taxes & Income Growth
Jay Matthews: Bill Rhatican spent nine years teaching government and history at West Potomac High School in Fairfax County, Va., before he retired in June. He had been a journalist before that, and learned the power of getting his students’ papers published in some form. Seeing their words in print lent an excitement to their … Continue reading “The Ed School Disease: Part One”
Madison Metropolitan School District [SAT Wisconsin Report – 244K PDF]: Madison students taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scored significantly above their state and local peers, continuing a trend of more than a decade. Madison students’ composite score was 1251, well above Wisconsin students’ composite score of 1188 and the national composite of 1021. (See … Continue reading Madison Student SAT Results Released
Chris Whittle: Quiz: Of the 10 largest school systems, which have made the best gains in student scores? Answer: Philadelphia and New York. Between 2002 and 2005 for grades K-8, Philly gained 19.5 points in proficiency on the state assessment system, while NYC schools posted a 13-point increase on state exams. Even if you normalize … Continue reading Making The Grade
The Madison City Clerk is holding a public test of new voting equipment this week: This is to give notice that the Office of the Madison City Clerk will conduct a public test of the electronic voting equipment (including the AutoMark Voter Assist Terminals) in accordance with Section 5.84(1) Wisconsin State Statutes: August 28 – … Continue reading Madison’s New Voting Equipment: Public Test This Week
Craig Silverman:Ms. Shallenberg’s recordings of “The Secret Garden,” “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and other works are now available, free, to anyone with an Internet connection and basic audio software. She is part of a core group of volunteers who give their voices and spare time to LibriVox, a project that produces audiobooks of works … Continue reading Public Domain Audio Books
Russlynn Ali [pdf]: As we’ve said before, alternatives end up being a way out of educating high school students. Take New Jersey for example. New Jersey enacted an alternative to their high school exit exam for students deemed “test phobic.” Over time, though, the results told a different story: In New Jersey’s high poverty high … Continue reading Embracing the California High School Exit Exam
Sarah Carr: “When I first started in education, marketing wasn’t something you even had to do,” said Suzanne Kirby, principal of MPS’ Bell Middle School. Now the south side school has a more strategic effort in place. Kirby cleared her schedule for the summer and invited any prospective family in for a personal tour of … Continue reading In competition for students, schools market selves more
On Monday, August 21 the Human Resources Committee of the Madison School Board will have its first meeting at 7:00 p.m. in Room 103 of the Doyle Administration Building (545 West Dayton Street). Following a goal-setting meeting of the Board on June 19, the committee will address a number of important issues, beginning with alternative … Continue reading Human Resources Committee of Madison Board To Set Agenda
Milton Chen: Another year has passed, and American schools are still captives of an outdated calendar. It’s mid-August, and the world of education is awakening from its three-month slumber. The seasons of schooling set the schedules for close to seven million K-12 educators and staff and fifty-five million students and families. Yet our schools and … Continue reading Back to School: A Time to Rethink Time
From Channel 3000: Fall is right around the corner. That means classes back in session and another school referendum for Madison voters. A group calling itself CAST is gearing up to get voters to say yes to a $23.5 million referendum on Nov. 7. CAST stands for Communities And Schools Together. Rich Rubasch is heading … Continue reading CAST Gearing Up For $23.5 Million Referendum
The Madison School District’s Fall $23.5M Referendum Question will be in front of voters 3 months from today. The question asks voters to fund 3 iniatives with a single yes or no vote: Build a new far west side school Expand the Leopold Elementary school (a plan to nearly double the size of Leopold failed … Continue reading Fall Referendum – 3 months to Time Zero
Kevin Carey: Imagine you’re about to put a chunk of your life savings into a mutual fund. Now imagine you peruse the various “best mutual fund” guides on the news rack, only to find they’re all missing crucial pieces of information. The guides list where the fund managers went to college, how much investment capital … Continue reading “Is Our Students Learning?”
Paul E. Peterson and Elena Llaudet: According to the NCES study, the performance of students attending private schools was superior to that of students attending public schools. But after statistical adjustments were made for student characteristics, the private school advantage among 4th-graders was reported to give way to a 4.5 point public school advantage in … Continue reading On the Public-Private School Achievement Debate
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. Email: Is it me or is the summer going by way too fast? Very soon the school year will arrive for our students and the board action will mark some changes. On July 17th the Board approved a wellness policy that will prohibit the sale of soft drinks at local … Continue reading Madison School Board Progress Report for the week of July 31st
The University of Iowa: Every May a large number of high school students across America take AP exams. In May 2005 over 1.2 million high school students took over 2.1 million AP exams. AP allows students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. Over 3000 colleges accept AP exam scores for either college … Continue reading High School Rigor: Iowa AP Index and a Michigan School Board Member
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education [176K PDF]: Wisconsin was among the low- to average-growth states in the nation between 1990 and 2000, falling considerably below the national growth rate over that period. Following a period of decline in the number of public high school graduates in the state from 1987-88 through 1991-92, minimal growth … Continue reading Projections of High School Graduates by State, Income, and Race/Ethnicity, 1988-2018
Neal Gleason in a letter to the Isthmus Editor: I have long admired Marc Eisen’s thoughtful prose. But his recent struggle to come to grips with a mutli-ethnic world vvers from xenophobia to hysteria (“Brave New World”, 6/23/06). His “unsettling” contact with “stylish” Chinese and “turbaned Sikhs” at a summer program for gifted children precipitated … Continue reading Not to Worry: Neal Gleason Responds to Marc Eisen’s “Brave New World”
Five years after state legislators released them from state-imposed revenue caps, school districts’ community service tax levies have nearly tripled, reaching $49 million this year. The rampant growth in these property taxes – earmarked for community-based activities – took place as the total levies for schools statewide rose by 22.7%. That has raised concerns about … Continue reading Community service levies climb since cap lifted
Michael Strong: Four years ago I moved my family to Angel Fire, New Mexico, to create a charter high school. Two teachers with whom I had previously worked ten years earlier in Alaska moved to New Mexico to work at the school I was creating. By the second year of the school, we had the … Continue reading Legalizing Markets in Happiness and Well-Being
Sam Dillon: Most states failed to meet federal requirements that all teachers be “highly qualified” in core teaching fields and that state programs for testing students be up to standards by the end of the past school year, according to the federal government. The deadline was set by the No Child Left Behind Act, President … Continue reading Most States Fail Demands Set Out in Education Law
Denis Doyle: If education is funded without measuring results decisions are based on impulse and sentiment, a risky business that. Yet if education is to be funded on results we need a high degree of social consensus on what results are desirable (and measurable). As it happens, this sentiment does not respect party lines. Former … Continue reading Learnings Per Share
Johnny Winston, Jr. provided a summary of the board’s June 19th discussion of board and committee goals. I found two of the board’s priorities particularly noteworthy. One priority under Performance and Achievement reads: Math and Literacy and Curriculum • Review the appropriateness of the goal of completion of algebra and geometry in high school in … Continue reading Board and committee goals – 2006
Diana Jean Schemo: The Education Department reported on Friday that children in public schools generally performed as well as or better than comparable children in private schools in reading and mathematics. The exception was in eighth-grade reading, where the private school counterparts fared better. The report, which compared fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math scores … Continue reading “Public vs. Private Schools: Pupils Perform Almost Equally”
My 13 year old son was complaining the other day about how “hard” it was he had to get up and swim at 7 a.m. for his local swim club. (7 is a little early when it’s cold but…) He then complained about umpiring a Little League game because a coach yelled at him. As … Continue reading Summer leisure and Drop-out Students
Bob Sipchen: “The schooling system was in much better shape 50 years ago than it is now,” says Friedman, his voice as confident as reinforced concrete. A big fan of freedom, Friedman objects to public schools on principle, arguing — as he says most classic liberals once did — that government involvement by nature decreases … Continue reading Friedman on Public School Centralization and Vouchers
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. email: Welcome to the week of July 3rd edition of the Madison school boards Progress Report. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer First, upcoming business…On Monday July 10th several committees of the board are meeting: Partnerships at 5 p.m.; Finance & Operations at 6 p.m.; Communications at 7 p.m. … Continue reading Madison School Board “Progress Report” Week of July 3rd
Thomas C. Reeves [PDF]: In Wisconsin, as elsewhere, teachers and administrators are eager to avoid being branded deficient and suffer potential financial losses. Department of Public Instruction officials in Wisconsin reported recently that the cost of tests taken in late 2005 included a $10 million contract with CTB/McGraw Hill, a well-known testing company that designed … Continue reading Test Scores
Rod Paige: DUMB liberal ideas in education are a dime a dozen, and during my time as superintendent of Houston’s schools and as the United States secretary of education I battled against all sorts of progressivist lunacy, from whole-language reading to fuzzy math to lifetime teacher tenure. Today, however, one of the worst ideas in … Continue reading For School Equality, Try Mobility
Nicholas Kristof follows up Marc Eisen’s recent words on a world of competition for our children: But the investments in China’s modernization that are most impressive of all are in human capital. The blunt fact is that many young Chinese in cities like Shanghai or Beijing get a better elementary and high school education than … Continue reading Chinese Medicine for American Schools
I realize that some of the legal frameworks differ but think that this serves as a good remider that TIFs have an impact on school funding everywhere. From the Chicago Reader See also: Epoch TimesTJM By Ben Joravsky The Schools Scam Under the TIF system millions of dollars in property taxes are being diverted from … Continue reading The Schools Scam
Marc Eisen: Most of us have had those eerie moments when the distant winds of globalization suddenly blow across our desks here in comfortable Madison. For parents, it can lead to an unsettling question: Will my kids have the skills, temperament and knowledge to prosper in an exceedingly competitive world? I’m not so sure. I’m … Continue reading Brave New World: Are our kids ready to compete in the new global economy? Maybe not
Peter Gascoyne made an excellent point in recent comment regarding “No free lunch”. In other words, a change that’s positive in one area may not be all that great for others. Beverly Creamer notes that Hawaii is implementing a new Weighted Student Formula that is not without controversy: A new controversy is shaping up over … Continue reading Need based School Funding Formula Disputed
Pauline Vu: States have two weeks to comply with the latest requirement of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and come up with a solution to what U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings calls teaching’s “dirty little secret”: The disparity in teacher quality between poor, largely minority schools and their more affluent, white counterparts. The … Continue reading Addressing the “Teacher Gap”
Clint Bolick: Yet Arizona is not an aberration. Already in 2006, a new Iowa corporate scholarship tax credit bill was signed into law by Gov. Tom Vilsack; and in Wisconsin, Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill increasing the Milwaukee voucher program by 50%. Gov. Ed Rendell may expand Pennsylvania’s corporate scholarship tax credit program, as … Continue reading The Politics of School Choice: An Update
NPR’s All Things Considered: There are serious gaps between the high school graduation rates that states report and the actual number of students who receive a diploma, according to a new report. The study, from the journal Education Week, estimates that in the school year that just ended, 1.2 million students failed to graduate. The … Continue reading States Inflate Graduation Rates, Study Says
Much good stuff here but I’ll just point to the “Blueberry Story,” which encapsulates how public education differs from business. Click the title link for a version with comments TJM The Yearlykos Education Panel – a review / reflection by teacherken Sat Jun 17, 2006 at 03:19:37 AM PDT NOTE also crossposted at MyLeftWing I … Continue reading YearlyKos Education Panel
Jim Stingl: He looked out over the 100 kids in caps and gowns and wondered aloud what happened to everyone else. Their freshman class was nearly 500, school records show. Sure, some had transferred to other schools, but too many just gave up and quit. Matt cried as he talked about classmate David Franklin. “This … Continue reading Graduate Gets Hard Lesson in Concession
A reader deep into math issues emailed these two reviews of curriculum currently used within the Madison School District: Connected Math (Middle School); R. James Milgram: The philosophy used throughout the program is that the students should entirely construct their own knowledge and that calculators are to always be available for calculation. This means thatstandard … Continue reading Analysis of Connected Math and Core Plus Textbooks
National Center for Education Statistics: This website is an integrated collection of the indicators and analyses published in The Condition of Education 2000–2006. Some indicators may have been updated since they appeared in print Chester Finn has more: –A huge fraction of U.S. school children now attend “schools of choice”: more than half of K-12 … Continue reading 2006 Condition of Education Statistics
“Helping Children move from Bad Schools to Good Ones”: the brief summarizes the challenges related to educating students in schools with high concentrations of poverty; reviews local efforts to address these challenges; and offers a guide for specific changes to the No Child Left Behind Act that would provide the opportunity for more children to … Continue reading Advocating More Student Mobility Under No Child Left Behind
Susan Troller: Don’t assume that a school is bad just because it’s not making adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law. That comment came today from Madison School Board member Lucy Mathiak, whose children attend or have attended East High School. East and three other Madison public high schools were cited … Continue reading Making the Grade: Madison High Schools & No Child Left Behind Requirements
Sandy Cullen: he Madison School Board will put one $23.5 million referendum question to voters in the Nov. 7 general election. If approved, the referendum would provide $17.7 million for a new elementary school on the Far West Side, $2.7 million for an addition at Leopold Elementary, and $3.1 million to refinance debt. It also … Continue reading School Board OK’s 23.5M November Referendum: Three Requests in One Question
Reprinted from the newest West High School publication, The Scallion. In response to the popularity of the recently proposed English 10 curriculum, school administrators have begun to plan English 11, a standardized syllabus they believe will promote “equality in the school and confidence in the student.” The course is to be implemented in the 2009-2010 … Continue reading English 11 Planned for 2009?
This is an excerpt from the conclusion of an recent paper posted on the Education Working Paper Archive by Bruce S. Cooper, Timothy R. DeRoche, William G. Ouchi, Lydia G. Segal, and Carolyn Brown. WSF stands for Weighted Student Formula, a means of budgeting that assigns money to students based on a number of factors … Continue reading Weighted Student Formula : Putting Funds Where They Count in Education Reform
Heather G. Peske and Kati Haycock for Edtrust [PDF Report]: Next month, for the first time, leaders in every state must deliver to the Secretary of Education their plans for ensuring that low-income and minority students in their states are not taught disproportionately by inexperienced, out-of-field, or uncertified teachers. For many, this process will be … Continue reading Teaching Inequality