Archive
element:when
For Instructional Management See CMOs
Kalman R. Hettleman writes in EdWeek, “It’s the Classroom, Stupid.” She’s right, instructional management is a big deal and often poorly managed. Here’s her three reasons: First, predisposition. The personal temperament of educators and their professional culture of insularity predispose them to be weak managers.
Most RttT Finalist Have Lame Online Plans
Most of 16 Race to the Top finalist have lame online learning plans–and this is the best of the bunch. iNACOL posted a useful review. FL is the best of a bad lot and they’re just coasting on Jeb’s leadership and still protect district enrollments by stopping the Internet at…
Elks, Immigrants, Imagination, Innovation
When I made my annual appearance at the Elks lodge to honor the top 40 students in my district, I was glad they didn’t make the superintendent try to pronounce the names–more than half were from immigrant families. Most of the native born white kids were Mormon. The ceremony was an…
The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform
Over the last few years, fund manager and edu-eBlaster Whitney Tilson developed and refined the most compelling data-driven case for school reform, The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform. Warning: it’s about 170 pages plus appendices, but if you haven’t read it you really should. At least take 15 minutes…
What Stuck? Key EdReformer Question
What Stuck? What faded? As an EdReformer, it’s interesting to think about the investment of time and money with a little hindsight. Seven years ago, Caprice Young chaired the LAUSD board. She went on to run the California charter association and is now CEO of KCDL, a leading…
RttT has Worked & Will Work (with a little backfilling)
Ruckus over at National Journal about RttT accountability. As typical, Ravitch against everything (with Kress begging her to stand for something), Hess skeptical of everything, and clearheaded Chad Wick encouraging folks to use RttT as an opportunity to rethink the system. Here’s my quick addition: RttT is already…
A Financial Analyst Follows His Heart
School Administrator ran a great profile of John Welch, superintendent of the Highline School District, a complicated and diverse 5 city school district which surrounds SeaTac airport, near Seattle. John was a budget analyst in Tacoma, WA when I hired him as Finance Director, then CFO. John won a national…
More Better Accountability; EEP & DFER Show the Way
The Education Equality Project and Democrats For Education Reform issued a report on the accountability provisions within the current NCLB law–a topic people love to hate. This report is a great reminder of why we need accountability to promote equity and excellence and why strong accountability must be carried…
T1 Should Support College/Career Goal
National Journal asks whether, as the president suggested, that Title 1 should be contingent upon state adoption of college/career ready standards. I think the answer is yes. Title 1 is an effort to promote equitable educational outcomes. The most important equity goal is that every student should graduate…
3 Pivot Points to a Performance-Based Education System
In education, there’s a lot up in the air right now: standards, testing, employment practices, budgets, student technology, online learning, and federal policy. It’s conceivable that if we took advantage of the uncertainty, a few places could emerge with a better and cheaper education system. Here’s three pivot points that…