EdPolicy
PTO: could Preferred Teacher Org provide blended services?
For years, Ted Kolderie has been talking about teacher ownership. After writing the nation’s first charter law in MN in 1991, Ted helped teacher in Henderson set up a coop and apply for a charter. Ted thinks educations should have a variety of professional options like doctors, lawyers, and…
Learning a la carte (and how to make it coherent)
Rick Hess has laid out a market-friendly education agenda at American Enterprise Institute, something I appreciate, and recently hosted a form on the demand side of quality education. I participated on a panel; everyone else wrote a paper; I got off easy as ‘discussant’. Kim Smith, founder of…
A new twist to parent involvement–the 'reset' button
“Parent involvement” in education often means “make your kid behave” and “donate to the PTA.” Parent involvement is taking on a serious new role in Los Angles. If more than half of the parents of students in struggling demand change, educational options improve—charter schools are opened in their neighborhood, their…
KIPP has optimized the Standards v1.0 school
Standards and common assessments were introduced 15 years ago. KIPP took the expectations expressed by state tests seriously and made numerous process improvements to the old model of school. At the middle school I visited Monday, 100% of the Kipsters had passed the state math test. This KIPP school…
Edu-innovation requires investment and incentives
On Monday I attended an education technology conference—a few hundred people reviewing very simple education tools. On Wednesday I attended a military learning technology conference (I/ITSEC)—16,000 people experiencing sophisticated and realistic simulations of flying a fighter, piloting a battleship, and patrolling a village. US education and defense budgets are…
Racing to the top in Baton Rouge
Duncan’s Race to the Top is not simply a race to beat out other states for funding, or to pass “qualifying” language at the last minute, it is a competition to see who can work collaboratively and innovatively with real commitment to education reform. The challenge is so great…
In defense of the good school promise
While channel surfing on Thanksgiving morning, I found a school board association meeting where a famous prof was railing on standards and testing with lots of applause from the audience (in a state contemplating delaying college-ready math and science standards until 2015). I agreed with many of his assertions like…
10 biggest K-12 developments of 2010
Despite lagging state budgets, 2010 will be a year of great progress in American education. Here’s the 10 biggest developments of the year ahead: Race to the Top awards will be made in two phases to about 18 states and will set the standard for excellence in state policy. About…
Great ConnCAN report unpacks CT's bizarre school funding
ConnCAN, the best state education advocacy organization in the country, continues to beat the drum for equity and excellence in Connecticut. The Tab is a hard hitting report on the bizarre state funding model that rewards failure rather than promoting accountability and school choice. Here’s summary recommendations:…
Fixation with Reliability
Compared to other OECD countries the US is fixated on reliability and cost in student assessment. Our friends across the pond value validity more than we do–can you imagine oral exams being proposed in the US? WaPo reviewed Todd Farley’s book My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry…