Education Next articles from January 2008

Education Next archives from January 2008

Excellence reformers need to make a choice?(from the editors)(Editorial)
January 1, 2008... Fourth-grade test scores in reading and math continue to rise, reported Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings this past September in a well-designed press conference releasing the latest (2007) results from the nation's report card, the...

Americans and their schools.(correspondence)
January 1, 2008... At a televised presidential debate in Iowa on August 19, the Democratic candidates were asked their views on performance pay for teachers. It turns out they're split--two for it, one on the fence, two against it, and a few who'd prefer to dodge...

Moving to opportunity.(correspondence)
January 1, 2008... In addition to the clear presentation of empirical findings, both articles on the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) program ("New Kids on the Block," research, and "All Over the Map," features, Fall 2007) do a good job of summarizing problems...

IQ and education reform.(correspondence)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... It is a rare treat to read an article ("The Odd Couple," check the facts, Fall 2007) that calls me a crank but nonetheless gives a fair statement of my position. Two quick points to highlight how Jay Greene and I might pursue our disagreements...

NCLB forum.(correspondence)(No Child Left Behind)
January 1, 2008... As the articles on No Child Left Behind ("Will NCLB Hit the Wall?" forum, Fall 2007) make clear, there is reason to wonder about the future of President Bush's signature education law. Whether or not No Child Left Behind is reauthorized and...

Funding Texas schools.(correspondence)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Like Marguerite Roza ("Do Districts Fund Schools Fairly?" research, Fall 2007), we at Education Resource Strategies (ERS) are concerned that school districts often give some schools more resources than others, with no clear strategy that...

Doubtful jurisprudence: court offers school little guidance.(the legal beat)
January 1, 2008... The reconstituted Supreme Court of President Bush and Chief Justice John G. Roberts rendered two significant constitutional decisions about schools in its October 2006 term, one "for" and one "against" school administrators. Their common thread...

Learning separately: the case for single-sex schools.(feature)
January 1, 2008... Susan Vincent reached into the cage and pulled out a small yellow bird, saying, "This is Kiwi. He loved us, but he was lonely." It is a lovely spring day in Spanish Harlem on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Vincent, a former children's...

Peaks, cliffs, & valleys: the peculiar incentives of teacher pensions.(feature)
January 1, 2008... Ms. Baker is a hypothetical Ohio school teacher, age 49 with 24 years of service. She's had a good run, but is ready for a change; her heart's not in it anymore, and she wants to go out on a high note. But she has a dilemma regarding her...

St. Louis blues: tax credits down and out in Missouri.(feature)
January 1, 2008... Many school choice enthusiasts think school choice legislation can be passed if only a number of minority political leaders can be won to the cause. Polls show that African Americans are among the strongest supporters of vouchers, tax credits,...

Wave of the future: why charter schools should replace failing urban schools.(feature)
January 1, 2008... In a decade and a half, the charter school movement has gone from a glimmer in the eyes of a few Minnesota reformers to a maturing sector of America's public education system. Now, like all 15-year-olds, chartering must find its own place in...

American teachers: what do they believe?(feature)
January 1, 2008... In our liberal-democratic society there is always a desire to separate the teaching of values from the teaching of reading, writing, and mathematics, the so-called value-neutral subjects. But we have learned--and every parent who has done...

Election 2008: the education debate.(forum)
January 1, 2008... In the 2000 election, President Bush's pledge to combat the "soft bigotry of low expectations" was a pillar of his compassionate conservatism and crucial to his razor-thin margin of victory. That election begat the now-controversial No Child...

Accountability lost: student learning is seldom a factor in school board elections.(research)
January 1, 2008... In school districts across the nation, voters elect fellow citizens to their local school boards and charge them with the core tasks of district management: hiring administrators, writing budgets, negotiating teacher contracts, and determining...

Accountability incentives: do schools practice educational triage?(research)
January 1, 2008... "Take out your classes' latest benchmark scores," the consultant told them, "and divide your students into three groups. Color the 'safe cases,' or kids who will definitely pass, green. Now, here's the most important part: identify the kids...

Inside the testing factory: some schools make it work.(Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade, "It's Being Done": Academic Success in Unexpected Schools)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade By Linda Perlstein Henry Holt and Company, 2007, $25.00; 320 pages. "It's Being Done": Academic Success in Unexpected Schools By Karin Chenoweth Harvard Education...

Creativity rising: fewer slide rules, more paint brushes.(A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future By Daniel H. Pink Riverside Books, 2006 (Revised edition, paper), $15.00; 275 pages. Readers of Education Next have probably observed the oscillation that music, dance,...

Pay-for-Performance Teacher Compensation: An Inside View of Denver's Pro-Comp Plan.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Pay-for-Performance Teacher Compensation: An Inside View of Denver's Pro-Comp Plan. Phil Gonring, Paul Teske, and Brad Jupp (Harvard Education Press). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The authors have delivered a straight-shooting, inside...

Charter Schools: Hope or Hype?(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Charter Schools: Hope or Hype? Jack Buckley and Mark Schneider (Princeton University Press). Long before becoming commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, Mark Schneider had embarked with his current deputy, Jack...

The Last Freedom: Religion from the Public School to the Public Square.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... The Last Freedom: Religion from the Public School to the Public Square. Joseph P. Viteritti (Princeton University Press). Joe Viteritti's new book is a fresh take on what might at first seem to be a tired topic: the role of religion in...

The Education Mayor: Improving America's Schools.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... The Education Mayor: Improving America's Schools. Kenneth K. Wong, Francis X. Shen, Dorothea Anagnostopolous, and Stacey Rutledge (Georgetown University Press). The prose in this volume will appeal more to the citation-enthralled political...

Smarter and wiser: fox TV show doesn't get it.(cultured)(Fox Broadcasting Co., Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?)
January 1, 2008... Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? The Fox Broadcasting game show Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? last February delivered the highest viewership for a series premiere on any network in nearly nine years, according to preliminary data...

Let's talk about it: talk radio's take on K-12 education.(what next)
January 1, 2008... This past June, with the immigration reform bill under attack from the Republican Party's conservative base, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott complained that "talk radio is running the country." Judging by current trends, he might be right....

Campaign 101: make charters a political advantage.(school life)
January 1, 2008... When I jumped into the five-month Democratic primary for Minnesota's Fifth District congressional seat in 2006 after the sudden retirement of U.S. Representative Martin Sabo, I thought my history as state senate author of public charter school...