High School Is Where It's At

The President wants to do it. The foundations want to do it. The big cities are trying to do it. The slew of Gates-related stories this week provides a great opportunity to reflect on the current rage for reforming high schools that is sweeping the nation, or at least some corners of it: The schoolhouses that Gates built (Christian Science Monitor), The blind men and the high school (Education Gadfly), Gates Foundation Adding to a School Project (New York Times), Gates grants to expand 'early college' high schools (Seattle Post Intelligencer). Not that there's anything wrong with examining high schools: Six Surprises From Challenging High Schools (Washington Post), In AP-vs.-IB Debate, A Win for the Students (Washington Post).