5/31/2006

Education in Texas: The 69th Edition of the Carnival of Education

The 69th edition of the Carnival of Education is up over at Education in Texas. My favorite blog post this week is the one from Scott Elliot's Get On The Bus, which teases "Which racial subset tests significantly lower for mental functioning at age 8 to 12 months in a national study -- white, black or Asian children? The answer may just surprise you."

Targeted or Universal Preschool? Not Enough Debate In Illinois

This Washington Post article (California Initiative Renews Preschool Debate) doesn't mention Illinois as one of the states where the targeted vs. universal preschool argument is going on, but Illinois has increased preschool spending over several years now and claims it's going to be the first state in the country "to make all 3- and 4-year-olds eligible for state-funded preschool" (whatever that means). Sadly, however, there's been notably little debate over whether the universal approach is the best way to go.

The Problem With Think Tank Research

Over at Education News, guest columnist Checker Finn follows many others in asking questions about the recently created Think Tank Review Project.

True enough, Alex Molnar and the other folks in the TTRP may not be in the best position to say what's biased and what isn't, given their established positions on various issues under review. Equally true, Checker Finn probably shouldn't be the one pointing that out, given that he and his kind are the intended subjects of the project.

Think tank research is increasingly being used by both sides of pretty much every debate to substitute for academic research. Done poorly, think tank research can confuse the public, create a certain amount of policy churn, and undercut confidence in academic research it purports to complement.

5/30/2006

Why Charter Scores Don't Matter: A Post From Kevin Kosar

Political scientist Kevin Kosar, whose book about the politics of national education standards some readers may remember from this past winter, was kind enough to send me his provocative thoughts about charter schools and test scores.

He writes: "As the charter school movement has grown, so has the intensity of the political brawls over their academic performance. Intense debate is not a bad thing. Each side has an interest in showing that the "facts" support their position. Yet, from this political scientist's perspective, there is also something irrelevant about this debate."

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By Kevin R. Kosar

As the charter school movement has grown, so has the intensity of the political brawls over their academic performance. Intense debate is not a bad thing. Each side has an interest in showing that the "facts" support their position. Yet, from this political scientist's perspective, there is also something irrelevant about this debate.

If, as political sociologist Harold Lasswell once put it, politics can be defined as "who gets what, when, and how," charter school advocates seek to direct public funds away from an existent institution (government-operated schools) toward parents.

The political dynamic, then, is a clash between an institution and the citizenry. The dissatisfied many are challenging the reigning few. Critically, the many have much to gain— power over public funds and choices for schooling for their children. The few, meanwhile, as defenders of the status quo, have only to lose.

In a liberal-democratic system such as ours, a dissatisfied many tends to extract concessions from the few over the long run. The charter school movement's capture of public schooling funds over the past decade appears to be only the beginning of a shift in power.

Politics can also be seen as a struggle over government support of particular values. Here, too, charter school advocates appear to have the upper hand. They have tapped into deeply held American values by promoting charter schools as "independent" and "diverse."

They have portrayed charter schools as an expression of positive liberty, understood as the possession of the power and freedom to pursue one's own good. Charter school proponents have also been able to hitch the notion of choice to equality. "The rich," they note, "already have school choice. Why not the poor too?"

The opponents of charter schools, meanwhile, have stumbled when taking values positions. They appeal to American's sense of nostalgia by recalling the glorious tradition of government schools. Then, to the confusion of listeners, they issue pleas for more money and time to improve the schools.

Worse, as an idea, "public school choice" little connects with Americans' values and seems internally confused. It holds that parents should be free to choose the best school for their children; yet, parents' range of choice must be limited to government-operated schools. This baffles many and appears to subordinate the best interests of the children to those of the government-run schools.

In the short-term, political skirmishes over charter schools will continue to be protracted, nasty battles. And I am not suggesting that whether charter schools do or don't raise student achievement and serve children and parents well are unimportant issues.

But these "facts" about charter schools' performance may have little effect on the long-term outcome of the political clash over charter schools. They are political epiphenomena.

Even if charter schools are not clearly better than the government-provided schools, parents will want the power to choose. Like it or not, then, over time, we can expect to see elected officials concede more control over public funds for schooling to parents and to permit the opening of more charter schools.

Accordingly, we all might benefit from spending less energy debating test scores. Charter schools are here to stay, so let's ponder how best to make them work for America's children.

Kosar is the author of Failing Grades: The Federal Politics of Education Standards (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2005).

5/27/2006

Gone Fishing - Back Tuesday

This Week In Education is off duty until Tuesday AM. If you really need your daily education fix, check out all the blogs and news outlets on my Bloglines blogroll in the "Links" section of the right margin. Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

5/26/2006

Did The Times Get the NAEP Science Story Right?

That's the question over at Let's Get It Right, where John scrutinizes the headlines and the analysis from yesterday's story: "No quotes. No named sources. No explanation of why this affected fourth grade but not eighth and 12th. Two things are clear: Failure is more newsworthy than success. And experts can't agree on an explanation for either."

AFT NCLBlog

5/25/2006

TIME Magazine's Strange Take On The Current State of NCLB

With opening lines that include"the Bush administration is finally beginning to show some leniency," it's amazing just how behind the curve this week's TIME Magazine article on NCLB seems at various moments. What the reporter is referring to is the growth model approvals from last week, which were -- amazingly -- not all that lenient. As evidence, there's a bitter quote from the NCSL's Dave Shreve about states being disappointed that more weren't approved for growth.

Later on, the piece seems to capture the current reality a little bit better: "This change is one in a series of moves over the last year by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings..." blah blah blah. The piece also reminds us of other NCLB "fixes" that may be in the wings, including special exams for disabled students. And it also points out something few seem to appreciate, which is that the flexibility hasn't won many converts. Mike Petrilli -- my hero -- sounds the alarm that Spineless Spellings may have given away too much. Via ASCD SmartBrief.

On The HotSeat: AFT's Joan Baratz Snowden Goes Off On Education

Joan Baratz Snowden is not your stereotypical teachers union apologist. The self-styled “czarina” of teacher quality and ed reform at the AFT used to work for ETS, of all things, and is just as happy to rip a bad Democratic idea to shreds as anything else. Excellent.

On this week's HotSeat, Baratz Snowden dismisses the NBPTS study as nothing more than an errant bird (seriously), compares economists working in education to drunks looking for their keys (seriously), says that the whacky policy ideas are coming from left as well as right these days (no doubt), and warns against too much hype about mentoring programs that are too feel-good (wonder who she means?).

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What's the biggest misconception about the AFT, would you say?

JBS: That a union can’t represent teachers and at the same time advocate for the interests of children. We can and we do.

So, is the AFT for, or against, NCLB these days?

JBS: We have always supported the goals of NCLB. After all, we are the folks who were for standards based accountability before it was enshrined in public policy. And, similar to Checker and lots of observers of its implementation, we believe it needs to be improved.

What about charter schools – pro or con?

JBS: Yes.

I heard you took on Bob Gordon and some other talking heads the other day at a Center on American progress event about value-added – what happened?

JBS: It’s hard to tell the “left” from the “right” these days when it comes to zany proposals for the improvement of teaching.

What's the problem?

JBS: Getting more economists looking at the issue is a hoot, if it weren’t for the fact that people occasionally listen to them. The call for eliminating certification on the basis of a graph allegedly depicting no differences between the trained and untrained in teacher effectiveness is a great example of pushing data through a model with no understanding of the meaning (or meaninglessness) of the data. You got some numbers, grind them out. It’s like the drunk looking for his keys under the light—-not because he dropped them there, but because it is the only place where he can see.

Whatever happened to peer review and evaluation, which I remember being at least mildly popular for a while?

JBS: The rigorous review programs such as those implemented in Toledo, Rochester and Cincinnati have been shown to be effective. Other research has shown that good mentoring programs are important to the retention of good teachers who might otherwise leave the profession. Unfortunately, not all “mentoring” programs are equal—some are glorified buddy systems.

If you're all for incentives for teachers to work in hard to staff or otherwise struggling schools, which teachers should be eligible? NBCTs? Others?

JBS: If people take on harder assignments they should be paid to do so. If we want highly qualified teachers in hard to staff schools we must not only offer incentives, but selective about who gets hired. Yes, NBCT’s should get such pay, but so should other teachers who go through a rigorous, selective process.

What else is needed to make it work?

JBS: The much admired “Chancellor’s district” that Rudy Crew and the UFT implemented in NYC showed that they needed to address other factors—e.g., safety, administrative effectiveness—in order to attract highly effective, veteran teachers.

What do people need to know about the recently released study on NBPTS effects?

JBS: I certainly was disappointed that it didn't provide definitive support for the greater effectiveness of National Board teachers. But the study is just one of several that looked at the value-added of National Board teachers and larger scale studies have reached opposite conclusions. As the poet remarked, ”One swallow does not make a spring.”

It seems like teacher evaluation's failings are often blamed on principals. why don't principals rate teachers as unsatisfactory, and what would happen if more did?

JBS: There are lots of reasons that principals don’t rate teachers as unsatisfactory, but principle among them is the fact that too many of then are not knowledgeable about effective instruction and too often the evaluation tool is meaningless. The question is not whether something would happen merely because more teachers were rated unsatisfactory, the question is what is the evidence for the rating—satisfactory or not. What we need is better evaluation instruments, and trained evaluators—both teachers and principals.

Where are the good ideas coming from these days?

We don’t need more “good ideas,” we need to implement some of the good ideas we already have. The current penchant for discounting formal preparation for the classroom has captivated policymakers at the expense of true progress on the teacher quality front. We know what works… What we lack is the political will to implement these policies, so we go for the quick fix and wishful thinking approaches of luring the best and the brightest into teaching on a short term basis instead of shaping and sustaining a teaching force organized for student success over the long haul.

Whose writing about education do you like, if anyone's, and why?

The rise of the blogosphere has created an immediacy in educational debates that is a quite interesting phenomena. The instantaneity of news and opinion is terrific, but the lack of reflection at a deeper level in some of the writing is really quite stunning. I still think folk like John Goodlad and Larry Cremin are worth rereading. Too many of the big names in education are too busy scoring ideological points to offer much in the way of either new ideas or good ideas.

Fixing The SES Program

I'm not particularly opposed to the tutoring companies, but I'm getting a little tired of these pro-provider SES columns -- first Hickock's in the Post over the weekend, now this one in EdWeek. Neither seems particularly insightful or balanced, and their appearance one after the other makes me suspicious that there's some sort of coordinated campaign going on. There's also something a little unseemly about the arguments they make, given that the Secretary just created a giant windfall for them by expanding the so-called SES flip. Well, maybe they didn't know that was coming. Right. This one at least has some concrete (if self-serving) ideas about how to make SES work better. For what it's worth, I would propose creating independent agencies of some sort to administer the SES and choice programs -- along the lines of the organizations that ran the St. Louis busing effort, or the Cambridge choice program. The SES and choice programs represent a clear conflict of interest for the districts.

5/24/2006

Crazy Time In Illinois

First there was the Illinois district that tried to deny educational services to undocumented kids who lived in the community. Now there's this strange and ineffective online monitoring plan from nearby Libertyville: School District to Monitor Student Blogs. Oh yeah, and the Governor is -- get this -- going to sell the state lottery to pay for a supposedly big increase in state funding for schools. Great ideas, everyone. Keep it up.

Why Administrators And Education Officials Fear Blogs: It's Not The Online Predators.

I think that beneath the surface school administrators and other officials might be just as concerned about how blogs all the rest could affect them as they are about how they might affect kids. In part, at least, it's reflected anxiety. And the anxiety is not entirely unwarranted. For example, you can read over at Peyton Walcott about how the investigation she kicked off has changed the course of events in at least one Texas district (Peyton Wolcott). Or check out what happened to this poor superintendent who was trying to engage in regular online chats with folks about his district-- click through past Paul Brown Baker's post and you'll see it didn't work out very well (Superintendent’s live online chats engage hundreds). Or there's the story in this week's EdWeek -- the second story in as many weeks to come from the blogs -- about how an author who's critical of NCLB got disinvited to a recent conference (Author, Publisher at Odds Over Content of Talk).

Spineless Spellings: SES "Flip" Goes Nationwide -- What About Choice?

Much was made of Secretary Spellings' newfound "spine" over at The Gadfly (and elsewhere), but I'm still not sure that she has anything in mind other than loosening the law up as far and farther as the statute and the press will allow her.

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Sure, only two states got approved to pilot the growth model alternative to AYP last week, but states can already do pretty much do as they will with AYP.

Sure, 9 states might face sanctions over their definitions and implementation of HQT, but I bet they'll squeeze by in an election year.

Just today, the Egypt-bound Spellings issued a letter telling districts that the SES "pilot" program in Virginia would be expanded nationwide in the new year.

She's even considering letting more low-performing districts provide their own SES (currently being piloted in Boston and Chicago), though of course the providers wouldn't be happy with that.

Like the President, who can leak top secret information at will, Secretary Spellings seems to think that she can make NCLB into whatever she wants -- or whatever's most convenient.

UPDATE: "Lawyers [Bolick and Piche] at two advocacy groups that want tougher enforcement of the law’s choice provisions argue that the secretary’s move oversteps legal bounds," according to EdWeek (Choice, SES Would Flip Under Plan).



5/23/2006

Trends In Crazy Baby Names: "Nevaeh" Comes Out Of Nowhere

Look out, parents, nurseries, and primary school teachers: There are about to be a lot of kids named Navaeh in your classrooms, according to one of the NYT's most-blogged articles of the past few days (And if It's a Boy, Will It Be Lleh?). It traces the rise of a particular name -- this one popularized by a Christian rock star.

As an added bonus, check out baby naming trends in the US with this cool online tool that shows you graphically the rise and fall of various names over time: The Baby Name Wizard (via Eric Zorn's Change of Subject blog).

Cup Stacking Saves Education Education

It's clear from last week's demonstration in front of the House education committee that cup-stacking (aka speed stacking) is going to save education -- or at least make gym class a little more interesting (Cup stacking rising in popularity). Thanks to the EWA listserve for getting me up to speed. Go, cup-stacking. Boo, suduko!

Where MySpace Meets National Security: Sexy Pictures, Yes. NSA Eavesdropping, No.

In stark contrast to those of you who can't resist reading and writing tired old "Dangers of MySpace" articles (Filtering Access), Justin Berton over at the SF Chronicle seems to be onto something fresh and interesting with this piece that contrasts attitudes towards sites like MySpace with the NSA eavesdropping program: Generation Gap: Parents, exhibitionist young people differ on NSA spying (via CJC). First off, it connects to something that's in the news. Even more important, it focuses on a key and oft-neglected issue: how and why younger people have come to feel so comfortable putting crazy stuff online. To me, that's the real story -- not the pedophiles and stalkers.

Which Blog Gets The Most Page Views? Not This One. Which Blog Gets A Lot of Page Views? None Of Them.

What I get from this chart comparing daily page views for five education blogs over the past six months is that Education News (not really a blog, but sorta) leads the pack, with Joanne Jacobs right up there. Eduwonk and The Education Wonks seem to be gaining ground -- or maybe the others are declining. This Week In Education trails them all -- not so surprising considering the obviously poor quality of the site, the recent creation of the Chicago schools blog District 299, and all the mechanical flaws (having more than one URL, for example). Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself. None of the blogsites is read very widely -- EdWeek (not shown here) -- outpaces everyone, as you'll see if you plug it (or pretty much anything else) into the Alexa-meter. What do you see? What will it take for education blogs to be more widely read?

5/22/2006

Insufficient Disclosure, or Just Wasted Space on SES At The WPost?

There's a post over at Assorted Stuff about how the Hickock opinion piece on SES is an example of insufficient disclosure on the part of the Washington Post. True enough, you don't find out until the end (and then only vaguely) that Hickock now lobbies for SES providers as part of his work on behalf of the education industry. My main complaint, though, is that the piece seems intellectually dishonest -- blaming the lack of SES entirely on schools and districts. I'm no apologist for how the ed bureaucracy has implemented SES, and I know that folks like Hicock and Rees have to make a living, but the providers have mucked things up a fair amount as well. Rees's piece in last month's Gadfly at least had some interesting political analysis.

Freakonomics Endorses Stossel's "Stupid In America"

The boys over at the Freakonomics Blog should get ready for a boycott (or an invitation to teach) from the pro-teacher hordes once word gets out about the following pro-Stossel/Stupid In America post from Sunday night:

"There aren’t enough people like John Stossel on television: smart, curious, cantankerous, and very willing to shoot at sacred cows...I’ve always admired his reporting and especially his attitude. His recent 20/20 special on education, “Stupid in America,” is a particularly good example."

Where's The Washington Post Blog?

Last week's HotSeat interview with the LATimes' Bob Sipchen got a nice mention in LA Observed, a widely-admired site covering all things Los Angeles. So far, no response from Jay Mathews about his so-called "reign of terror," the duel, or the Washington Post education blog. Maybe that means it's about to launch? Meanwhile -- welcome to the blogosphere -- School Me receives its first swipe from Mike Klonsky's Small Talk about seeming to drink the Gates Kool-Aid.

Power Ranking The Education Committees

NCLB reauthorization watchers might want to check out who the power players are on the Senate HELP Committee and the House Education Committee, based on influence, rank, and ability to get legislation passed (USNews). As you'll see, the education committees aren't necessarily stacked with the most powerful, visible, or accomplished legislators on the Hill -- which is why party leaders (not committee chairs) have often had strong influence over the shape, timing, and disposition of legislation coming out of the education committees.

What If Teen Sex Is A Good Thing?

In this supposedly globalized, Internet-dominated world, it's easy to forget just how strong differences can still be. Apparently none more so than around whether teenage sex is OK -- and what happens if it is. In some places, apparently, the answer is lower teenage pregnancy and STD rates (Washington Post via MoJo).

Backlash Against Illegal Immigrant Kids (But Not Alberto Gonzalez)

Well, so much for my misty-eyed hopes that the immigration reform debate wouldn't end up being at least in part about immigrant kids. Last week over on Fox, Michelle Delacrocce -- the right's own Cindy Sheehan -- called out President Bush and others for letting illegal kids "dumb down American children and overpopulate our schools." (Media Matters via Huffington Post).

Meantime, some Senators moved to make English the national lanaguage. Oh, and Attorney General AlbertoGonzalez admits that his grandparents might have been illegal.

UPDATE: There's also a great NYT Week In Review explainer on how the Sensennbrenner bill and the Minutemen, plus new business and labor alliances, have strengthened pro-immigrant advocacy, even as the right has made immigration into nearly as big a hot-button issue as abortion.

5/19/2006

Is Eduwonk "In The Tank"? It Sure Seems So.

Yesterday afternoon, an annoyed-sounding Eduwonk called me a malcontent for saying he was picked to come to a USDE lunch because they knew he'd spin it favorably. (I sure am. He certainly did.)

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The underlying issue here is that there's a conflict between how Eduwonk presents himself and what he actually does on his blog. He claims to be an independent, honest broker who'll say anything about anyone, but if he really did that he'd piss off a lot of people he likes and needs: his think tank friends (Gordon or Dannenberg or Petrilli or Hess), his foundation patrons (Gates' Tom Vander Ark, HP's Mike Smith), or the politically powerful (Clinton, Obama, Warner, Kennedy, Miller). Hell, he won't even go after Spellings, who was obviously using him and offers nothing more than being asked to the next fancy lunch briefing. So he just doesn't do that.

Most people who know Washington get this intuitively and are merely annoyed by the protestations of independence and claims of candor, but it's still not really honest to those readers who believe him when he says he's providing the whole story or who are looking for a honest, warts-and-all discussion of what's going on inside Washington's ed policy world.


UPDATE: Eduwonk's response here. It's hard to tell -- he's mad at me and there are some incoherent parts -- but I think he's conceding the point. He says people already know what they are and aren't getting from his site. He doesn't give any examples where he's actually taken on any of his centrist Dem or think tank buddies. Meanwhile, there are some interesting opinions in the comments section below, and an item from School Me that puts us in our place (Fight! Fight!). Not content to let things die down, Michele over at the AFT blog hints at the homoerotic subtext of the while thing. Check it out.

How The 65 Percent Solution Resembles A Da Vinci-Style Movie Plot

The story behind how the 65 percent solution came to dominate this past winter's state legislative sessions is like the plot out of something in the Da Vinci Code, says this article in the May issue of Scholastic Administrator that I wrote:

"A mysterious newcomer appears on the scene. His ideas are met with acclaim, despite uncertainty about his motives or what the impact of his ideas will be. Nearly overnight, his influence spreads. Soon after, a handful of doubters raise concerns. A secret memo is revealed. Just at the brink of success, the newcomer’s efforts are largely thwarted."

I wonder if the movie will bomb like the 65 percent rule seems to have done?

5/18/2006

The USDE's Own Jeff Gannon?

Kudos to the USDE for having invited a blogger to a briefing with Secretary Spellings -- I think. This seems like yet another wakeup call for the education "establishment" (journalistic and otherwise) that blogs are in the house. It's somewhat chafing that the blogger they picked (Eduwonk's Andy R.) continues present himself -- and get treated -- as an uninterested and independent observer which he's clearly not. However, I take solace in the likelihood that the they, like the White House with Jeff Gannon, invited Andy because they know he's buying what they're selling. With any luck, there are no male escort pictures lying around.

UPDATE: Eduwonk's annoyed response from Thursday afternoon is here. My follow-up effort to clear things up on Friday is here.

5/17/2006

Newbie LATimes Blogger Challenges WPost Veteran: "Jay Mathews' Reign of Terror Will Not Stand!"

This week's HotSeat Q & A features the LA Times' Bob Sipchen, who earlier this month launched what I described last week as a new, hybrid kind of education blog -- one that enjoys the best of both worlds in being run by a mainstream paper but written by a full-time staff columnist.

On the HotSeat, Sipchen yearns for smarter education reporting (and explains why journalists get sucked into writing lame articles), tells which his favorite blogs are (and how shockingly easy it was for him to get the LA Times to give him one), describes the pros and cons of starting a blog as a veteran editor and columnist (mostly pros), and challenges Jay Mathews to a duel (no, not really).

Given Sipchen's credentials and the support of the LATimes, it's not hard to imagine that School Me won't soon be a standout. But, given how close the Post's Jay Mathews already is to having a blog (it's online, it's commentary, it's just not daily), I'm guessing Sipchen won't be the only mainstream columnist with an education blog for long. I give it a year before Jay is at it, though I know he's got better things to do. No matter. There's no resisting the blog. Takers?

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What are the biggest strengths and weaknesses of education coverage in the press, would you say?

BS: Education is an insular stupifyingly complex, acronym- and jargon-laden field populated with self-important people who’ve been inculcated in an ethos of obfuscation. It’s also a vibrant, thrilling, relatively simple realm filled with bright and articulate people who speak their minds with wit and insight. Too often we’re bamboozled into focusing on the dreary side of schooling.

How and why do reporters get bamboozled into covering the stupefying parts of education?

BS: I think reporters on any beat can be drawn into the insularity. If the writers refrain from embracing the jargon and refuse to let the wonkiest players set the agenda, their insider sources can make them feel that their stories don’t grasp the awesome importance of the subject.

What does "better" education coverage mean, anyway, besides making it more fun?

Good coverage is smart. And smart coverage, by definition in my view, is intellectually stimulating, vigorous, engaging—fun even (a lot like good teaching, I think). From what I’ve seen, the edusphere, as you call it, does a pretty good job of side-stepping pedagogy’s pretentious, self-important twaddle and ignoring those who think that coverage of a serious subject (education is that) must always be deathly serious in tone.

Got any favorite education writers, regular or occasional?

BS: Yes: Joel Rubin, Mitchell Landsberg, Erika Hayasaki, Carla Rivera, and Hemmy So. They’re the Times’ education team. They’re smart and tough. And I’m competitive and tribal. The rest of you are the enemy. We will destroy you! Jay Mathews' reign of terror will not stand! (Joking -- Mathews is the master. I can only aspire. And there are many more great education writers out there.)


How hard or easy was it to convince the powers that be to let you blog, and how many pieces of silver did you have to give up?

BS: Easy to get the blog. Rob Barrett, LATimes.com’s business side guru, thinks online education journalism makes good economic sense, so he’s supportive. The tough part is getting it up to snuff. We have grandiose plans for School Me. We’d like it to be more of a full-fledged web magazine. So we have our work cut out for us.

What have you learned these first few weeks about blogging and the edusphere?

BS: The edusphere confirms my long-held suspicion that schooling is vastly more fun and exciting than 93% of standard print education reportage would make you think.

How much time have you been spending so far?

BS: Every waking moment.

Got any favorite blogs to recommend, besides of course this one?

BS: I do very much admire your blog and several others. I know quite a few mainstream bloggers—if that’s not a contradiction in terms—and I’ve learned a lot from watching and talking to them. School Me, to some extent, is blatantly trying to rip off the model of Kevin Roderick’s LAObserved. Though we may be putting a bit more of an edge on School Me than he does on his indispensable roundup of Southern California news.

I’m still exploring the education genre, and I’m not ready to pick favorites at this point. There’s lots of impressive work being done. The references we make in our posts and the links we throw up will, over time, reveal our biases (I say we, because the brilliant Janine Kahn, a recent USC grad, is doing most of the really cool stuff on School Me).

What do you like about LA observed and other mainstream blogs that are your inspiration?

BS: LAObserved is sort of our model. It’s just a must-read for people who care about what’s going on in LA, and we’d like to become that for southern California education. Other blogs I like aren’t necessarily an inspiration for School Me. I enjoy political head-butting and snarky insider gossip, but I don’t think those are the best models for School Me.

Were there any concerns about objectivity or balance, and are you edited?

BS: Joel Sappell is the executive editor of the web, and he’s the omnipresent lurker. My column, which appears in the Time’s California section on Mondays as well as online, is aptly edited by Ms. Beth Shuster. But it is a reported opinion column, so no one objects to an element of pontification and no one—so far—is asking me to pull punches. I need to be fair, but not necessarily balanced. Other than that, I’m responsible for the online component of School Me. I’ve been an editor for quite a while and involved in web projects for over a decade so I’m confident that I can walk the online line between attitude and basic journalistic principles.

Is it a big deal that you are unlike the other MSM-run education blog authors, a columnist not a beat reporter?

BS: Not a big deal, really. But it makes my job a lot easier. I don’t have to tip-toe around the obvious the way reporters sometimes do. If a teacher were to come to class naked except for a thin coat of Jiffy peanut butter, I could say that was inappropriate, rather than quoting experts on either side of the pedagogic attire issue.

Are blogs going to take over the world, or is that a bunch of hooey?

BS: Blogs, in my humble view, will always be ancillary to traditional journalism—which is not to say that some blogs don’t do real journalism. News will someday be delivered directly to the cortex via implanted microchips. But the reportage will still have been gathered and processed by hardworking reporters and editors who take their watchdog role and the nation’s First Amendment seriously.

To what extent is School Me just advertising stories written by LAT education reporters? do you always link to them, sometimes, or rarely? what about if there's a good piece in the sacbee or god forbid the LA Daily News?

BS: Ugh. We try to link to stories we find important and/or interesting—whether we agree with them or not. We’ve already linked several times to the LA Daily News, the Daily Breeze and other local publications as well as the Sacramento Bee and New York Times.

How did you get to be interested in writing about education?

BS: It interests me because I think the age of education is upon us. Globalization is spurring worldwide focus on the subject, billionaires are shoveling money into reform, politicians are battling for control of school districts and big thinkers are wrestling with basic questions of how we school our kids.

On a personal level, I’ve been watching schools fail students in LA throughout my 20+ years at the Times and lobbying for better education coverage for most of that time. Assistant Managing Editor Janet Clayton also thinks education is critically important and when she took charge of all local and state coverage, she began ratcheting up the paper’s education reportage. I was eager to join the team.

My wife and I have three children who managed to receive good educations in Los Angeles public schools—my son’s a high school junior, my daughters are in college now--and their experiences motivate me too.

And I guess it also goes back to my own sometimes-sketchy public school education. One teacher in particular was inattentive. Midway through an oral book report I started pretending to talk in tongues. When I was done he glanced up and said: “Very good.”

Hot For Teacher

I've got three things to say about the whole sexy teacher/pedophelia meme that's been going around: First, as I've said before, female teachers aren't seducing boys more often, or getting lighter sentences than men. Don't believe the hype. Second, the best examination of the sex-with-teacher issue is Classroom confidential from Salon. (Click on the ad to read the full story.) Third, if you want to see the video that Tennessee teacher Pam Rogers allegedly sent to her underage lover after she'd been told not to contact him anymore -- with some classic Van Halen -- click here. NSFW.

UPDATE: Don't wag your finger in my direction, Michele. I popularized this genre back when no one else even knew how to upload pictures to their blogs (ie, last summer) with hot pics of education studmuffins Tim Knowles and Pedro Noguera, and others.

Why Bother With A Growth Model When You've Already Gutted AYP?

As part of Secretary Spellings' relentless effort to eviscerate improve NCLB since last year, look for a growth model conference call and announcement Wednesday afternoon.

In the meantime, check out Hot Air, Kevin Carey's report on what the states have been doing to NCLB on their own this past year. These guys don't need growth models. They've sliced AYP into little bits pretty well all on their own. And AP's subgroup loophole is just the tip of the iceberg.

Lots of people think the growth model is a cute fix for the problems with AYP. I think it's just as likely to turn out to be a whole 'nother can of worms. The fact that it's split the trio of NCLB supporters (the Ed Trust, CCCR, and George Miller) tells you what a tough issue it is.

Based on no direct evidence at all -- except the fact that they're rolling this out rather than just letting us find out about it (and Haycock and Hanushek are apparently still on board) -- I'm guessing all 8 states made it through, or maybe seven. But I have no idea which ones.

UPDATE: So much for my predictions. It's two states -- TN and NC.

5/16/2006

Former Publisher Says Textbook System Hurting Kids

Here's a timely example of why I'm an increasingly big fan of the Casey Journalism Center's daily collection of stories: The CJC caught a national story on the evergreen issue of textbook adoption (A Textbook Case of Failure) that contained some interesting ideas and that I didn't see anywhere else.

"President Bush’s No Child Left Behind initiative put almost every imaginable part of the U.S. education system under a microscope, establishing national standards for teacher training, student testing and basic funding. But glaring in its omission from the program is any significant examination of that most basic of classroom tools, the textbook."

Now I'm not sure what Congress could or should do about textbooks, or whether letting districts make their own textook decisions is the way to go, but it might be the first time I've seen a former Saxon official say that the current system is "unintentionally hurting the kids.”

Where's McKeon Going With This?

Given how hot the AYP "loophole" issue has been over the past few weeks -- it's arguably the thing that finally pushed the committee into holding hearings -- how interesting and strange that McKeon is starting out his hearings on Thursday with curriculum-related issues (including, I'm sure, whether NCLB has "narrowed" what's being taught).

True enough, the curriculum issue has been a big and persistent concern about NCLB. From the witness list full of teachers and principals, it's hard to tell whether McKeon is intending to refute or support the narrowing argument. It'll be an interesting first look at the new committee.

Fired Teachers Union Leaders: Too Progressive, Or Not Effective?

As I pointed out last night on my Chicago schools blog, there's just one problem with Mike Antonucci's interpretation of the departure of 22 year Minneapolis teachers union president Louise Sundlin and other teacher union heads: they're not all defeated becuase they're "progressive."

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Antonucci (EIA Communique) says that Sundlin and others get dumped for being reformers: "Recent history is replete with union presidents turned out of office because the members perceived they were "too cozy" with management."

But Antonucci's Chicago example, Debbie Lynch, doesn't really fit that description. Sure, she tried some progressive things, but she also suffered from a political tin ear and failed to deliver on some key wage and benefits issues. Her effectiveness, not her progressiveness, was the main issue.

5/15/2006

Where Immigration Reform Meets Education

Now that Congress is wheeling back around to immigration reform, I wanted to point to a piece in the LA Times from last week and offer some reminders and context.

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As noted previously, this spring's immigration debates have been harder for education reporters and others to latch onto because they don't directly address schoolhouse issues (services to undocumented kids, langauge of instruction, etc.) like in the past.

And yet, the proposals will affect immigrant kids and the schools that serve them, notes the LA Times: "Illegal immigrants whose children are legal residents by birth fear seeing their families split up if some in Congress get their way." (The Great Divide of Citizenship via CJC).

I've also heard about renewed fears among parents about coming to school with their kids, and teachers newly worried about liability for serving kids and parents whose immigration status is unknown.

My latest immigration reform article in Scholastic Administor isn't out yet, but in it you'd reminded that just under 5 million of the nation’s children have undocumented parents, according to a recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center. However, two thirds of those children -- over 3 million -- were born in the US and are thus citizens despite their parents’ citizenship status.

Hype Threat Levels: May 2006

The Threat Awareness Office at the Department of Education Hyperbole has just posted the following adjustments to the National Notification System:

Dangers of MySpace.com (up*)
Impact of immigration reform (new)
Fixing the AYP "loophole" in NCLB (new)
Impact of charter schools (up)
Likelihood of National Testing (down) Margaret Spellings (down again)
Special challenges for boys (down) Universal preschool (down)
KIPP Schools (unchanged)
New teachers/induction/retention (unchanged)
One-to-one laptop computer initiatives (unchanged)Constitutional Education Amendment (unchanged)

*From last month

5/12/2006

What You Really Need To Know About Charter Schools

People have been hashing over the NYT's editorial (Reining in Charter Schools) all week. For different reasons, I agree with the overall assessment that charters haven't lived up to their promise and don't seem to be on a path towards changing that.

But if you want some new knowledge, check out Mike Kirst's NCSPE piece (The clashing politics of national charter movements and state/local charters PDF) for a peek at how things work inside the charter world. You may think charter proponents are all of a kind, but it's just not so.

Only 12 11 States Face Sanctions Over "Highly Qualified Teachers"

Breaking News: The USDE is this morning releasing the results of its last-minute review of states' HQT compliance plans, in which it will be announced that only 12 11 states (Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, & Washington) face possible sanctions over this long-neglected and widely-ignored NCLB requirement. The rest of the states are considered to be fine, or will be allowed to revise their plans. Letters being issued to the states today regarding highly qualified teacher compliance will be available here.

[Update: No States Meet Teacher Quality Goal Washington Post. My original list of 12 states was of "unassigned" states -- not the ones facing sanction. Oops. No word from USDE about what "unassigned" means. Could be double secret probation.]

AP via Yahoo! News


Previous HQT posts: So Much for Getting Tough on NCLB Compliance, Belated Review of HQT Reports -- Why Now?, USDE Back Off -- Further -- on HQT

Paige Vs. Spellings

I'm not sure which of them is destined to go down in history as the better Secretary of Education, but by at least one measure Rod Paige comes out ahead of Margaret Spellings. Over the past two plus years, according to my simple-minded understanding Google Trends, Paige (the blue line) has a higher search volume and news reference volume -- even though he's been out of office for nearly two years.

Blaming NCLB For The War In Iraq

No doubt some will try and blame NCLB for this horrifying story about how (among other examples of atrocious behavior) military recruiters in Oregon convinced an autistic high school kid to enlist.

5/11/2006

Dueling NCLB Hearings -- Why Now, How Different?

Interesting as the Aspen Institute's NCLB hearings may be, I've been wondering if the Comissions' hearings would have any impact and also when there would ever be "real" hearings on the Hill. Not that Congressional hearings are better, but different and more revealing maybe. I guess I wasn't the only one.

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Today the House education committee announced its own set of hearings, focused on a variety of NCLB issues including the AYP loophole, and yesterday it released a bipartisan letter calling Spellings to account for her oversight of the law. A Democratic letter along the same lines had been sent last month. The letter is signed by the chairman and ranking members of both the education and school reform committees.

Some questions to ponder: Why did the Hill finally decide to have hearings -- was it the loophole news, or folks asking why they were letting someone else do their job? How will the dual sets of hearings be different, substantively and otherwise? Will either set of hearings have any big effect on the revision of the law, or do they just provide cover and pass the time?

Rick Hess On The HotSeat: A Liberals' Kind Of Conservative?

Rick Hess might well be considered too hot for the HotSeat, if such a thing were possible. He's got three jobs, four advanced degrees, and he's EdWeek's favorite pundit. He's on every panel and at every conference, and he spins out books seemingly every six months (two already this year).

Even more, everybody seems to like him. He's liked the education version of David Brooks -- a conservative that liberals (and the media) can live with. [UPDATE -- well, not everybody --see comments.]

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On the HotSeat, Hess tries valiantly to avoid saying anything impetuous, but -- let this be a lesson -- the heat is simply too much. He ducks the issue of whether he's for vouchers (I'm guessing he's not) and debunks the notion that a big national effort is what's really going to improve education (someone should tell the competitiveness junkies). He says that says anybody who voted for NCLB in 2001 "ought to have the conviction to stand on principle now," and he denies rumors that a team of attractive young conservatives does all his work for him in a secret lair.

What's the best and worst part about being a rising star in the education world (as Diane Ravitch recently named you)?

RH: Not sure that I qualify as "a rising star"... but I will say that the best part of a heightened profile is the access it's given me to interesting thinkers, educators, and organizations. The worst part of the new opportunities and demands shrink the amount of time I'm able to spend in the field, reading, or doing research.

Is it true that a group of attractive young conservatives do all of your writing for you in a secret lair?

RH: I have been blessed with a string of phenomenal research assistants who are doing their best to carry me. They don't pen anything that appears under my name, but they offer outstanding editorial feedback, and they are responsible for just about everything else that we do.

Why no blogging (for you or any of the other conservative education folks)? It can't be that you've got nothing to say.

RH: Actually, while some may not believe it, I'm not really crazy about opining on new developments. I think that some writers prefer to deal with ideas and events from a distance and as abstractions, while others prefer to engage in practical ongoing debates. I feel more at home in the first school than the second. In general, I'm left a little cold by the opinion-mongering and attacking that's part of the whole online discourse.

Then why the weekly Gadfly Show you and Mike Petrilli just started doing as a podcast?

RH: Probably because I'm weak-- I enjoy the time with Mike and his team. More seriously, the podcast format seems more suited to the silliness that we engage in (like trying to sing the "Charter School Blues") than does blogging. At least for me, and it might be my academic training, the written word is different than the spoken word.

Speaking of conservative groups, how can I tell the right-leaning education groups apart? They all look the same to me.

RH: I think the big distinction is whether they're focused on a political agenda (like the Heritage Foundation, the Friedman Foundation, Cato, and the Lexington Institute) or whether they're primarily devoted to an intellectual agenda (like the Hoover Institution and the Manhattan Institute).

Where does AEI fit in?

AEI is a funny place. Like a university or the Brookings Institution, we don't hammer out institution-wide policies or have any explicit agenda. Our education program is whatever the scholars are working on that year. In most cases, that's determined more by intellectual interest than the policy agenda. Whether the topics or the takeaways are "conservative" in any particular sense is a judgment that your readers will have to decide for themselves.

So do you have any nontraditional positions when it comes to education -- are you against vouchers?

RH: It's hard for me to know what's nontraditional anymore. After all, the time was that being against vouchers was considered "traditional." I'm generally for reducing barriers to new providers, making it easier for folks to enter the educational sector, and encouraging attention to productivity and efficiency.

What would you say your biggest accomplishment at AEI has been?

RH: It’s been convening folks to pursue topics that I find interesting and important but that, for whatever reason, schools of education and advocacy organizations haven’t spent much time on. This includes the conferences and books I've done on educational philanthropy, educational entrepreneurship, the nontraditional loan market in higher education, licensure and teacher quality, and so on.

What about NCLB -- mend it or end it?

RH: I think we have to concentrate on mending it. NCLB is so big and so all-encompassing, that I'm not even sure what it would mean to end it. A lot of those programs aren't going anywhere. I would like to see the federal role simplified, focused on results (at least one reason to think about the national testing question), and then pared back. Checker Finn and I sketched a vision of what this would look like in our 2004 Public Interest piece.

If you were a Republican lawmaker who'd voted for NCLB, would be you be running away from that vote now or standing by it?

RH: Look, we all know how bills are really passed on Capitol Hill, especially when it comes to ambitious social programs. Most folks didn’t fully understand the law then, and are getting conflicting reports on it now. More snarkily, I’d say anybody who voted for the law without understanding how it was likely to unfold probably deserves the dilemma they're now in-- and anybody who thought it worth doing in 2001 ought to have the conviction to stand on principle now.

RH: What approach or circumstance is it going to take for there to be a concerted national effort to upgrade public education?

RH: I think this stuff always happens in dribs and drabs. Outside of mobilizing to win a world war, to tackle a bricks and mortar obstacle (like laying a highway system), or to pour resources into a specific technical challenge (like landing a man on the moon), I don't think national efforts tend to accomplish much. I think the results of federal efforts to reform the intelligence community, improve port security, or make Amtrak self-sufficient show just how hard it is to make a concerted national effort pay off.

So you’re debunking the notion that the US ramped up its science and math education to compete with the Russians, or that programs like Medicare aren’t national efforts?

RH: Oh, not really. We certainly did ramp up in '58 and some of the efforts, like increasing language mastery or research fellowships, worked as intended. What I'm skeptical of is whether the broader push did much good. I'd make pretty much the same case with regard to Medicare. It's certainly helped improve the quality of life for older Americans, but almost entirely by massively increasing the availability and affordability of health care for seniors. This is what government does well, mail out checks to providers. When it comes to all the ancillary questions posed by Medicare-- controlling costs, fiscal responsibility, encouraging efficiency, or ensuring quality of care-- I think the record is pretty bleak. These are the things government doesn't do well, foster creative problem-solving, productity, or organizational improvement.

How do things get better on the schools front, then?

RH: For my money, the key to improving schools isn't going to be a grand national effort, it's going to be a strategy that helps light a bunch of small fires and then fans them into flames. This requires a stream of venture capital, a deep pipeline of people, and the training and infrastructure to support the spread and adoption of new, more effective educational approaches.

5/10/2006

Bloggers In The Mainstream Education News -- Finally

With three examples in just the last week, it seems like mainstream education editors and reporters may finally be getting more comfortable crediting, covering, and citing websites and bloggers for their contributions -- two or three years after their colleagues on the politics and media beats.

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The examples below illustrate that, for reporters and editors, maybe it's time to think about crediting and including blogs in your reporting rather than ignoring them (or, even worse, mooching off them for tips & story ideas you know who you are). Blogs sometimes break news, push ideas forward, and provide commentary as good as any other expert or pundit you would otherwise call. Go on, try it.

For bloggers, it may be worth noting that all three of these examples come when the blogsites provide otherwise-unobtainable information or breaking news. Brilliant commentary probably ain't going to get you there unless you're also an academic or part of an organization or advocacy group. The only exceptions I can think of include Jay Mathews and Greg Toppo, who have included me or my site once in a while. Are there others?

Now on to the examples:

The first and perhaps most notable example comes from this week's edition of New York Magazine, which names InsideSchools' Clara Hemphill as one of the most influential people in the city on education issues. "When Hemphill couldn’t find the information she needed to choose a public school for her young son, she set about finding it for herself, then sharing it with the rest of New York." Now ain't that something.

The second instance is about the edusphere's own version of the Smoking Gun, Peyton Walcott, who was just written up in the Dallas Morning News (Web watchdog keeps eye on school spenders). "Peyton Wolcott is either a lone voice crying in the wilderness or the vanguard of a revolution sweeping through school districts across America." (via Jimmy K)

The third and most obvious example can be found in Bess Keller's piece in this week's Education Week, which credits Andy Rotherham's Eduwonk for poking the NBPTS into releasing at least part of the results of its study. "The results of the study came to light last week after Andrew Rotherham...used a posting on his Eduwonk blog to note that the privately organized national board had apparently been "sitting on" the results because they were not favorable."

5/09/2006

NCLB Update: Neither Draconian Nor Toothless

Ben Feller's latest article on NCLB might alarmist from the headline some papers are giving it (Rising Number of Schools Face Penalties) but in reality the piece highlights a couple of key facts that suggest the law is neither as Draconian as has been argued by others nor as toothless as has been argued by me.

Some of these key facts include (a) the highly varied rates of schools not making AYP by state (seven states account for almost 70 percent of all 1750 schools nationwide that have been ordered to restructure), (b) the context that these 1750 schools make up just 3 percent of the federally funded schools nationwide, and (c) the reality that, while most states and districts are doing fairly minimal things when schools reach the "restructuring" stage, the few states like Maryland that have tried to do more have sometimes run into a political buzz saw.

Are There Too Many Education Groups?

In a revealing story with broad implications, Education Week reports that the Education Commission of the States is in a fiscal and managerial jam due in part to tight state budgets, shifts in philanthropic giving, and the proliferation of specialized advocacy organizations in education.

I can't imagine ECS going down the tubes just yet, but it's clear there are a lot more education groups than there were in 1965 when ECS was founded -- all competing for public and private funding, attention, and talent. State-focused organizations include the CCSO, NCSL, NGA, and Achieve. Then there are others like the Ed Trust, Center on Education Policy, and the like.

So Much for Getting Tough on NCLB Compliance

Last month, the Secretary called for a review of state compliance with the highly qualified teacher provisions in NCLB (Belated Review of HQT Reports -- Why Now?) that made it sound like the USDE might finally address the joke that states have made of HQT.

This month, the Title I Monitor is reporting that little will be done about states that have made little progress or implemented watered-down requirements:

"Few believe that any states will face immediate sanctions from the U.S. Department of Education. More likely, nearly every state will be required to submit a revised plan outlining how it will ensure the teacher quality requirements are met by the end of the 2006-07 school year." (via EducationNews).


A Defense of Plagiarism

Teachers and parents better hope that the kids don't find Malcolm Gladwell's latest post defending plagiarism like that committed by Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan in her debut novel.

While the press and public have been busy wagging their fingers at Viswanathan, Gladwell points out that much of teen literature (and journalism, for that matter) is so derivative in nature that making a big deal about specific sentences misses the larger issue. Except Gladwell says it better.

5/08/2006

The LA Times' New, Hybrid Education Blog




I just came across School Me, the new education blog at the LA Times started just this month, which at first glance looks like a compelling variation on the education blogs we've seen so far.

What makes School Me different from the other MSM-run education blogs is that its author, Bob Sipchen, is neither relatively green nor not "just" a reporter. He's [also] an established, award-winning columnist who, like Jay Mathews did a few years ago with his weekly online column, is now turning his attention to education issues. Point being, Sipchen gets to comment more than the others.

What makes School Me different from the organization-based education blogs is that it isn't putting out what -- no matter how many disclosures you put in there -- amounts to an organizational or political party line. Unlike the organization and think tank blogs and newsletters, Sipchen's got no stake in a particular outcome or obvious conflicts of interest.

A Star [Teacher] Is Made

Calling all you new teacher/teacher induction/recruitment fiends out there. Sunday's NYT includes a piece that, while not explicitly about education, has tremendous implications for teacher recruitment, support, and retention.

Called A Star Is Made, the piece (by the authors of Freakonomics) points out that scientists who've studied high performing individuals find that loads of practice and immediate feedback are the keys to excellence.

Perceptions of innate ability -- which these researchers consider highly overrated -- are, however, all too often what are used by employers for hiring decisions and by individuals to explain their or their colleagues' success or failure.

If this is true, then the keys for education include getting over the idea that talent is all, finding people who like teaching enough to practice very hard at it, and providing them with enough meaningful feedback to generate improvements in their skills.

Congress Won't -- And Shouldn't -- Fix NCLB; Spellings Could

The NYT editorial page weighs in with its own pro-NCLB editorial today (School Reform in Danger), pointing out problems with teacher quality and AYP data quality among other things.

It's not nearly as fiesty or pointed as others like last week's WSJ editorial, and it also calls for an unlikely and perhaps unwise solution to the problem: Congressional action.

Congressional action isn't really required if the USDE would just toughen up and stop giving out waivers like candy. It's also neither likely or wise, given the hundreds of problematic amendments that would result if someone tried to put through an NCLB amendment.

5/06/2006

A Feel-Good Ban On Soda?

It seems to me that there are at least a few things to think about when it comes to the much-heralded soda ban, chief among them questions about whether the ban is anything more than a feel-good exercise that will ever be fully implemented.

Bans -- whether it's banning liquor or banning assault weapons -- hardly ever work as well as intended (or at all), a fact noted too infrequently in the breathless press coverage last week. Remember that this ban is being phased in over three years, is conditioned on districts redoing their beverage contracts, and excludes high-sugar juices. Past experience also suggests that kids will get around this.

For a bit of context and a healthy dose of skepticism, check out this article (Goodbye, war on smoking. Hello, war on fat.) from Slate.

The Secretary's Schudule May 8-12

It's always interesting to see how Secretary Spellings spends her days, and this preview from the USDE Office of Communication and Outreach helps explain a little bit about what Spellings is -- and isn't -- up to.

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U.S. Department of Education
Office of Communications and Outreach
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 5, 2006
This Information Subject To Change

THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday May 8, 2006 Saturday May 13, 2006

Monday, May 8
NO PUBLIC EVENTS

Tuesday, May 9
NO PUBLIC EVENTS

Wednesday, May 10
1:00 pm Secretary Margaret Spellings will meet with George Nolan, president and CEO of Siemens to discuss American Competitiveness.
CLOSED PRESS

Thursday, May 11
TBD pm Secretary Margaret Spellings will visit the KIPP New Orleans College Prep School and deliver remarks to students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Houston, Texas
OPEN PRESS

4:00 pm Secretary Margaret Spellings will receive an honorary degree from her alma mater and deliver remarks to the University of Houston Convocation Ceremony at the Wortham Theater on the University of Houston's campus.
Houston, Texas
OPEN PRESS

Friday, May 12
8:30 pm Secretary Margaret Spellings will attend a welcome reception in her honor.
Location TBD
Lubbock, Texas
CLOSED PRESS

Saturday, May 13
9:00 am Secretary Margaret Spellings will deliver the commencement address at the Texas Tech University Commencement Ceremony at the United Spirit Arena.
Lubbock, Texas
OPEN PRESS

5/05/2006

Close Scrutiny For Testing

Even without any mishaps like the one reported in CT this week (Connecticut student test results delayed), the testing industry (and state testing systems) are probably in for a very long summer.

I'm not saying there'll be subpoenas and sworn testimony just yet, but this winter's SAT debacle, though perhaps overblown in the media and the public imagination, fanned public fears and raised hopes of testing opponents in ways that aren't likely to go away soon. The Education Week report on technology demonstrates just how big and complex (and vulnerable) the assessment and SIS efforts have become -- many of them intertwined with private testing company contracts.

Recent events already been enough to prompt public officials (like Secty Spellings) and reporters (like the NYT's David Herszenhorn) to take a skeptical, tough-guy approach. The spring and summer are sure to contain a smattering at least of delays and mishaps for the press (and NCLB opponents) to hype.

5/04/2006

Worst Blog Post Of The Week

I read a lot of education blogs, and a lot of them (including this one) usually aren't worth the time. But mostly it's cuz the posts are repetitive, obvious, and naive -- not outright self-indulgently stupid like this one (Coffee, Carbs, and Cowbells) from The Charter Blog, which isn't about education or news or anything. Blogging isn't for everyone. Or maybe I'm just mad that my invite to the NSVF confab got lost in the mail again.

HotSeat 7: Todd Kern, Mr. Everywhere

You may never have heard of him, but Todd Kern has been everywhere in education over the past 15 years -- lobbying in Washington, dealing with the ed school mafia in New York City, and pioneering K12 venture capital. Now he's helping New Leaders for New Schools take over the world help improve public education. He even did a stint working for the Chicago Panel on School Policy.

On the HotSeat, Kern sets the record straight on what New Leaders is really up to, dishes ( well, not really) on what it's like to work for Jon Schnur and at Teachers College, explains "venture philanthropy" (sort of), tells us that the private sector is coming to K12 education (and that's not necessarily a bad thing), and plugs NYC's "autonomy zone" expansion process. As you'll see, Kern thinks about things differently than most folks in education. Check him out.

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What’s your job at New Leaders?

TK: As Chief Knowledge Officer, my team is responsible for managing a comprehensive research & evaluation strategy to assess whether (and in what circumstances) the New Leaders model is working, and to learn as much as possible along the way to constantly improve it as we go.

Are you hoping to be able to find quantitative outcomes showing the impact of the program? Are there any already?

TK: Absolutely. It will still be another couple of years or so before our sample sizes are big enough to know what we’re actually seeing. But we are encouraged by early trends (based on very small N) that show positive gains in schools where a New Leader has served as principal of the same school for at least 2-3 years.

How has New Leaders changed in the past five years since most of us remember it launching?

TK: One big change has been our growth in scale – from an initial 15 New Leaders in 3 cities to the current total of 230 leaders in 6 cities, with another ~100 folks slated to begin this summer. Another change is that we now actually have principals (100+ this year) that we can learn from: what’s working and what’s not?

Some people seem to think that NLNS is just as much if not more about New Schools (especially charters) as it is about New Leaders. Are most NL working in charter schools? TK: No. Across the country, 74% of New Leaders are currently working in district schools (26% charter); 70% are in existing schools (30% new/start-up); and we’re in a great mix of grade levels: elementary (27%), K-8 (20%), middle (19%) and high schools (31%).

Is there some unholy alliance between NLNS and KIPP?

TK: Both organizations share a focus on getting results for kids. KIPP’s model is different than ours, but they do really great work creating outstanding charters around the country. We target on specific cities and try to take our model to scale within the existing systems (including charters.)

Is it true that all the offices at new leaders are arranged so that everyone can see Jon (Schnur) at all times?

TK: Cheap shot. When Jon’s not on a plane, his door is open. Next.

How does the private sector track education -- do they have their own research, or their own analysts? Is it still mostly higher education or is it coming for K12 as well?

TK: There are a handful of independent shops that provide good sector analysis (e.g. Eduventures) and several of the investment banks had education sector analysts a few years ago, but many have since pulled back somewhat. My sense is that most of the activity is still focused on proprietary higher education and corporate training. I think the “birth” of the K-12 segment– by far the largest segment of the industry (~$400 billion) – got lost in the boom-bust dot com cycle of a few years back, but will continue to gain momentum in the coming years.

What did you learn from your stint in the private sector that you didn't know before -- and that most folks in education probably still don't know?

TK: For three years I helped manage a small investment bank/consulting firm in the emerging education industry. Some of the things I learned: the “industry” includes a hell of a lot more than schools (ranging from early childhood to corporate training – or “K to gray,” as they say); profit motive is not necessarily a bad thing (and not just in the Gordon Gekko good greed way); and finally, and perhaps most important, this genie definitely will not go back in the bottle.

How is the profit motive “not a bad thing”? These are helpless children, for god’s sake.

TK: Sure, some folks might be out to make a quick (or not-so-quick) buck, but there are also many others who care about kids and view the for-profit industry as a wedge strategy to improve a public system that clearly isn’t working as well as it needs to.

So are you still pro-private sector?


TK: I’m not for privatizing the system – education is our most precious public good – but I welcome anything that spurs innovation. And the problem is so big that I think the private sector will have to be part of the solution.

What’s the scoop with "venture philanthropy" -- is it really any different from regular old philanthropy, or anything like real venture capital?

TK: Measuring the production of a public good is much fuzzier than reading a P&L statement, so the strict comparisons to venture capital eventually break down. However defined, venture philanthropy typically introduces a more explicit accountability for results, which I think makes it very different from most traditional philanthropy and is a good thing for education.

OK, but what does a venture philanthropy do that’s different from a regular one?


TK: It depends on who you ask, but a key difference is the willingness to play a more activist role. More than simply writing checks, a lot of venture philanthropists will roll up their sleeves and work with portfolio investments over time to help solve the problems that are holding them back.

You did a stint in Washington as well. What were the main lessons from your work with the CCSSO, and is any of that still relevant now?

TK: My key lessons had to do with politics and perspective. I was working in DC, representing the interests of state education commissioners, at precisely the moment that Gingrich-era Republicans swept into power during mid-term elections pledging to devolve authority to localities. It wound up being a very interesting vantage point, and helped me clarify that I was personally more interested in policy than in government relations.

You also worked at Teachers College, for Gaston Caperton. Got any stories or lessons for us from that experience?

TK: I only worked closely with Gov. Caperton for a few months before he left to go head the College Board. As for lessons, the TC experience mostly corroborated my view that universities are wonderfully weird and dysfunctional places and that it’s a lot harder than it should be for them to plug in and be part of the solution. Individuals do great work, but as institutions universities often seem oddly disconnected from the core problems we need to focus on, which is a real shame because we really need their help.

What’s next in education reform -- and what's probably on its way out?

TK: My crystal ball is pretty cloudy these days, so instead I’ll just share a few hopes. Given our track record over the past 25-30 years, I hope much of what we’ve tried is out – and that real, live educators get a voice in deciding what does work and is worth keeping. I’m also encouraged by interim assessment strategies and efforts to align district-wide incentive structures and performance metrics, especially when linked explicitly to greater school-level autonomies.

Say that second part again – the part about interim assessment strategies and incentive structures – or give an example.

TK: NYC is a great case to watch. After an ambitious and successful agenda in Mayor Bloomberg’s first term, Chancellor Klein is now laying out a new, system-wide accountability initiative. Building on a small network of “autonomy zone” schools, the new plan will invite up to 150 new schools to receive expanded control over key decisions in exchange for agreeing to hit aggressive student achievement targets. The devil is in the details, of course, but I think this type of approach is promising.

Further reading: The Change Masters (Fast Company), The Waiting Game (Education Next).

5/03/2006

Credit Where Credit's Due

Once again, Eduwonk gets to the party a little late -- but just can't bear to admit it's so.
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This time, it's about this weekend's WSJ editorial on NCLB implementation (which came out over the weekend and was posted here two days ago), questions about Spellings' performance and hypocrisy on NCLB (which I've been on earlier and harder than anyone else), and the Paige-Spellings rift (mentioned here first in the Nina Rees HotSeat from a few weeks ago).

5/02/2006

Colbert Vs. The President

This has absolutely nothing to do with education, but it is about politics and the media: Two low-quality videos worth viewing: Stephen Colbert's roast of the President, and the President appearing with a lookalike to mock himself, both at the WH Correspondents Dinner.

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Note: Click the play button at the bottom left of the image -- not the one at the center of the screen -- to avoid jumping to another site.





Charters Benefit from Setbacks to Small Schools and Vouchers

This year's celebration of charter school week is a reminder of just how much of a side issue charter schools seem to me to have become at this point in the game. While popular with the young do-gooder set (and the seemingly- infatuated Jay Mathews), and much-needed in many places, charters are still too few, too iffy, and too controversial to have much impact on the main education machine in most places.

For me, at least that's the main measure of their success. Rarely does it seem like charter schools are really looked to (or available for) assistance with districts in which they reside. The vast majority of the effort surrounding them seems to go towards the sometimes Herculean effort of gaining separation from state and district control.

There is some good news for charters from the past year, however, in the form of stumbles and setbacks among its main competitors. Small schools are no longer the Gates Foundation's sole focus, which creates more room and potential support for charters. And vouchers don't seem to be taking off anytime soon.