As we step around the wreckage wrought by the Bush administration, one awkward but crucial question is how much we need to look backward in order to clearly see the way forward.
Education in America
Posted inEducation in America
HEY BABY. I’VE BEEN THINKING THAT WE SHOULD BE EXCLUSIVE.
Over at Grist, Tom Laskawy examines Michael Pollan’s proposal to make the House Agricultural Committee “exclusive.” As Laskawy says, this looks like a better idea than it is. An “exclusive” committee is a committee considered so powerful that members who serve on it cannot serve on any other committees. It’s a way of limiting the […]
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EVALUATIONS, STUNTS, AND TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS
Ezra: I grew up among academics. And I have never since met a class of people so contemptuous of teaching. You’d think they were being asked to chew mud. When in the course of making blanket statements based on what amount to personal anecdotes, Ezra should probably pause to consider whether he knows any academics […]
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CHARTER SCHOOLS AND SEGREGATION.
I generally believe that progressive education reform should include a healthy investment in the public charter sector, with careful oversight and attempts to re-create successful charter models. But as someone who writes frequently about the astounding levels of segregation within the American education system — a problem that is getting worse, not better — it […]
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THE EVOLUTION OF THE SURGEON GENERAL.
One meta-point on the Gupta nomination is that this is the professionalization of the surgeon general’s PR role. The job, at one point, was simply administrative. You controlled the public health corps and offered advice to the assistant secretary of HHS. But the position slowly evolved to possess a substantial public education component. The warnings […]
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Deadly Medicine for Youth Violence
New efforts at dating-violence prevention are based on the same old gender stereotypes. No wonder they’re not working.
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EDU EXPERT HEADED TO THE SENATE.
Before the Before the Arne Duncan news broke, I had thought Denver schools superintendent Michael Bennet was an excellent candidate for secretary of education. Now the Denver Post is reporting that Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter will name Bennet to Ken Salazar‘s vacating Senate seat. Bennet’s major accomplishment took place this past summer, when during the […]
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GOVERNORS SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION BENCHMARKS.
Some good news on the education front: A major problem with No Child Left Behind is that the law allows states to create their own standards and assessments. So while states like New York, Massachusetts, and California use fairly rigorous tests, states like Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Ohio have dumbed their standards and tests down, meaning […]
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OUR SORRY EDUCATION CONVERSATION.
Dana Goldstein recently returned from a trip to Finland, where she examined what most education experts agree to be the most effective and sophisticated system in the world. Folks on the right laud the Finnish system for its emphasis on schools choice and vocational education. Folks on the left praise its commitment to early childhood […]
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No Education Silver Bullet
In the United States, the education debate has been framed as a zero-sum game. But a look at Finland, whose schools rank No. 1 in global surveys, shows that a national commitment to education can neutralize political debates over school reform.
