As we continue to go forward with no ESEA re-authorization to replace No Child Left Behind and as states continue to make the news for their gripes with Common Core, Bellwether Education has a new plan to bring more bi-partisan support to education reform. They call it “Pacts Americana.” This project and report re-envisions federal Read more about Pacts Americana from Bellwether Education[…]
Chester E. Finn Jr. And Brandon L. Wright of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute have recently written a preview article in the Wall Street Journal for their forthcoming book, “Failing Our Brightest Kids: The Global Challenge of Educating High-Ability Students.” The article inverts the typical narrative of a focus on equity, and asks if we Read more about The Bright Students Left Behind[…]
Cross-tabbing refers to looking at education data for disadvantaged students across different categories, such as race and gender combined. Charles Barone offers us a useful example: Black males are many times more likely to be subject to corporal punishment – in school – than black females. Averages for black students across gender hide this phenomenon. Read more about If Everyone Loves ESEA Disaggregation, Why Is Cross-Tabbing Such a Problem?[…]
Steven Hodas of the Center on Reinventing Public Education recently wrote a report describing the crucial role of what he called “DOS,” short for District Operating System. Hodas defines DOS as “a set of unsexy, below-the-radar functions like procurement, contracting, IT, and HR that determine the look and feel of what schools do. It also Read more about Retooling the District Operating System for Dynamism[…]
Educational assessments provide data that give policymakers a “snapshot” of how students are performing and serve as a means of holding teachers, schools, and districts accountable. Many contend, however, that assessments could do more to promote deeper learning in K–12 environments. One interesting possibility is the use of Curriculum-Embedded Performance Assessments (CEPAs). Key Ideas: CEPAs Read more about Policy Brief: Curriculum-Embedded Performance Assessments (CEPAs)[…]
Competency-based education (CBE) programs are growing in popularity as an alternative path to a postsecondary degree. Freed from the seat-time constraints of traditional higher education programs, CBE students can progress at their own pace and complete their postsecondary education having gained relevant and demonstrable skills. The CBE model has proven particularly attractive for nontraditional students Read more about Employer Perspectives on Competency-based Education[…]
Education professional Steve Peha has a new newsletter out discussing the ongoing fears and debates surrounding the Common Core. While Peha is in no way one of the more vocal and enthusiastic backers of the Common Core, he does still support it because “we may end up at least one step closer to understanding the Read more about The Common Fear About the Common Core[…]
A new policy paper by Rick Hess and Bethany Little for the American Enterprise Institute and Results for America wants to bring the thinking of baseball’s “Moneyball” to federal education policy. Key points: The ‘moneyball’ strategy, which used data to help improve success and cost-efficiency in baseball, should be applied to the US education system Read more about Moneyball for Education: Using Data, Evidence and Evaluation to Improve Federal Education Policy[…]
For decades now, education researchers have discussed the fact that girls tend to do worse in math (and to a lesser but still significant degree, science) than do boys. As follows, girls also tend to go into math and science related fields less often than do boys. This has been known by researchers for decades, Read more about Gender Gap in Education Cuts both Ways[…]
A new article by Jason Tanz for Wired Magazine makes the argument that big data already reigns supreme, and for the most part helps us, in our lives, so why shouldn’t it do the same in education? Tanz understands that there are legitimate concerns from parents and education leaders about the role of large-scale standardized Read more about Wired: Let Big Data Do Its Job in Education[…]
It sounds simple—make sure students are learning. But as more schools and districts begin to develop competency-based pathways, questions have arisen about the best way to go about implementing these models. Complexities related to student grouping, curriculum design, scheduling, assessment, and grading abound. In this month’s issue brief, we explore various resources, research reports, and Read more about March Issue Brief: Competency- Based Learning[…]
Kevin Carey, director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, has a new book out this month called The End of College. This book was recently featured in the Washington Post. Carey casts a sweeping, if perhaps idealistic, vision of higher education in the future. First and foremost, it is one that is Read more about The University of Everywhere[…]
Andy Rotherham of Bellwether Education has a new article out in the US News & World Report that calls out a little-considered issue in education: the people who are making the decisions about education reform are by and large those people who did well in and enjoyed school. This means that there is a tendency Read more about Education Reformers Have a Big Blind Spot[…]
Jane Best and Emily Winslow at McREL Education have released a new brief focusing on current challenges of working toward equity in education. Particularly in a post Vergara vs. California education climate, educator equity and how to effectively distribute teachers to all students it is an issue on education professionals’ minds. With increasingly diverse student populations, Read more about Educational Equity: Challenges for Educator Effectiveness[…]
Marc Tucker has some focused suggestions for those who truly want to use education to bridge income gaps and increase social mobility. This week on Top Performers: public schools were once the engines of social and economic mobility in the U.S., but that is no longer the case. In fact, the very design of our Read more about Inequality and Education[…]
The Foundation for Excellence in Education is launching a new initiative called EdPolicy Leaders Online, a series of free, self-paced online education reform massive open online courses (MOOCs) designed specifically for policymakers and education reform partners. The courses feature nearly 40 experts and leaders across the education landscape from superintendents to senators, parents to policymakers, Read more about EdPolicy Leaders Online[…]