by David Safier A few commenters have written about a column by E.D. Hirsch in this morning's NY Times concerning standardized reading tests. The commenters found themselves agreeing with someone who at least one of them has reservations about. Let me weigh in. E.D. Hirsch is the big "cultural literacy" guy. He's conservative in the sense … Read more
by David Safier This morning I posted about a Nicholas Kristof article praising D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee's "reform" agenda. I noted his statement, "Test results showed more educational gains last year [2008] than in the previous four years put together," and said I would look into possible reasons for the gains. If they're legit, great. … Read more
by David Safier I experienced a dozen conflicting emotions as I read Nicholas Kristof's NY Times, column, Education's Ground Zero this morning. I'm on Kristof's side of most issues. When I'm not, I know I can't dismiss him. Today, though, his column has echoes of the ideas conservatives have been pushing about education. Hence, the conflict. … Read more
by David Safier This could be good news from Education Week (it's a subscribers only site): The recently enacted economic-stimulus bill requires every state to take steps to improve teacher effectiveness, as well as to tackle one of the most pervasive problems in K-12 education: inequities in access to top teaching talent for poor and … Read more
by David Safier It may not rank up there with March madness, and it'll take much longer to see who ends up with the most points on the Gubernatorial scoreboard (if the two decide to play in the tournament), but it looks like the Brewer/Goddard rivalry is beginning to go public. The Arizona ELL controversy … Read more