Kozol + Katrina = Thinking About Segregation and Inequality

Maybe it's all the press that Jonathan Kozol is getting for calling public education an "apartheid" system, or maybe it's part of the Hurricane hangover, but it seems like there's lots and lots on segregation, inequity, and achievement gaps these days for us to think about -- and act on?

In case you haven't seen it, here's the latest Kozol clip: School Segregation Is Back With 'Vengeance,' Author Says. (My interview with the firebrand himself is coming out next month in Catalyst).

The TC Record starts us out with a report (and conference?) on segregation: Does Segregation Still Matter? The Impact of Student Composition on Academic Achievement in High School.

The Chicago Sun-Times has a nice pair of pieces on just how different preschool can be for different groups of kids: 2 kindergarten classes worlds apart, 2 years of preschool seen as key.

Jay Mathews at the Washington Post digs up educators and parents who actually like parts of NCLB because it forces educators to deal with students who are different:'No Child' Closes the Gap.

The Gadfly and others point to a fascinating what-happens-when story about disaggregated test scores: Morphing Outrage into Ideas (Los Angeles Times), Unintended, but consequential (Gadfly).

Then there's a quartet of stories about schools treating students differently (and the obvious results):Schools discipline blacks more than others (Miami Herald), Fla. District Pressed on Black Achievement (EdWeek), Education">Brooklyn High School Is Accused Anew of Forcing Students Out (NYT), and Minority Overrepresentation in Special Ed. Targeted (EdWeek).

There are a couple of nice essays about expectations, standards, and struggling students:
Paying for the hard bigotry of no expectations (Balt Sun), and A heartfelt plea: Don't quit on students (Philadelphia Inquirer).

And Charles Murray's take on the inequality debate:
The Inequality Taboo Wall Street Journal