Education Reform

Making the Right Choices for Education and the Economy

Randi Weingarten | Posted 11.18.2008 | Politics

Read More: Education, Nclb, Economy, Education Reform, Finance, Money, Economic Reform, Politics News

The financial crisis, the deepening recession, and their destructive consequences all threaten state and local governments' most essential investment: educating the next generation.

Read Post

"Reinvest, Don't Disinvest" in Education: Randi Weingarten Takes the National Stage

Dan Brown | Posted 11.17.2008 | Politics

Read More: No Child Left Behind, Nea, American Federation of Teachers, Performance Pay, Randi Weingarten, Economy, Michael Bloomberg, National Education Association, United Federation of Teachers, Barack Obama, Nclb, Aft, Teachers, Education Reform, National Press Club, George Miller, Dennis Van Roekel, Politics News

Weingarten's speech was an impassioned call to spare the hatchet -- or scalpel -- in federal funding for education.

Read Post

McCain's Education Plan is Scary as Hell

Dan Brown | Posted 10.31.2008 | Politics

Reforming America's inadequate public school system--a crucial priority for our country's future-- should not be undertaken with a failed ideology. Th...

Read Post

This Election Doesn't Leave Our Children Behind

Christopher Fink | Posted 10.27.2008 | Home

Many children have been learning about and engaged with this election. This is sure to have an affect on our children's sense of civic responsibility to vote and care about our democracy as they grow up.

Read Post

"The Great Expectations School" Paperback Gets AFT President Randi Weingarten's Endorsement

Dan Brown | Posted 10.20.2008 | Living

Classrooms are ready-made for great stories. Comprised of twenty-some children and one adult, bound by a common mission, they are intersections of you...

Read Post

McCain Selling Discredited "Magic" of the Market as School Solution

Erika Szostak | Posted 10.14.2008 | Home

Read More: Public Schools, Education, John McCain, Election 2008, Education Reform, Schools, Mike Rose, Public Education, Barack Obama, Offthebus, Home News

In an exclusive interview, a UCLA Graduate School of Education Professor discusses the differing educational policies of the presidential candidates. McCain stresses school choice and "educational mobility" while Obama talks about expanding the overall education budget.

Read Post

Extreme Disparities in School Funding are Promoting Inequality

Rep. Mike Honda | Posted 10.03.2008 | Politics

Read More: Education, Education Reform, Public Education, Schools, School Funding, Politics News

The substantial differences in funding between schools prevents too many children in poor areas from realizing their potential, leading to ever more economic inequality in our society.

Read Post

McCain, Obama On Iraq, Afghanistan And Trade

Eliza Margarita Bates and Cara Zwerling | Posted 09.18.2008 | Home

Read More: Iraq War, Iraq Surge, John McCain, Nato, Arugula, Katie Couric, Iraq, Barack Obama, Afghanistan, Iraq Withdrawal, Obama Iraq, Free Trade, Auto Workers, Cafta, Education Reform, Election 2008, Home News

Over the course of this week, OffTheBus is running a primer on some of the most important foreign policy issues the next president will face. The primer can act as a guide to how candidates Barack Obama and John McCain stand on each issue. Check out the links for more information on these issues. Today, the primer looks at where Obama and McCain stand on Iraq, Afghanistan and trade policy.

Read Post

Education and the Election: A Crucial Constituency Raises its Voice

Dan Brown | Posted 09.09.2008 | Politics

Read More: Public Schools, No Child Left Behind, Education, John McCain, John McCain 2008, Parents United for Responsible Education, Common Sense Reforms, Class Size Matters, Public Schools Teacher Quality, Election 2008, Joe Biden, Education Reform, Leonie Hamison, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Politics News

When parents organize, it's hard to ignore. Chicago-based Parents United for Responsible Education and New York City-based Class Size Matters have jum...

Read Post

Educators: If You Enjoy NCLB, You'll Love the McCain/Palin Plan!

Gary Stager | Posted 09.02.2008 | Politics

Read More: Education, John McCain, Education Reform, Nclb, Sarah Palin, Presidential Politics, Phonics, Politics News

Although much of what Sarah Palin says in her education plan for Alaska, reads like an undergraduate homework assignment, she does express support for something called ABC Schools.

Read Post

And She Homeschools? 10 Reasons Sarah Palin Terrifies (and Fascinates) Me

Dan Brown | Posted 09.01.2008 | Politics

I'm worried that I'm obsessing too much about Sarah Palin. She terrifies me! She fascinates me! She could be running our country! Here are ten reasons...

Read Post

An Anonymous Blogger Superhero is Unmasked!

Dan Brown | Posted 08.25.2008 | Media

Read More: New York City Public Schools, Jennifer Jennings, New York Sun, Ed Week, Michael Bloomberg, Joel Klein, Education Reform, Education Week, Elizabeth Green, Blogging, Eduwonkette, Media News

In the past year, the national discussion on education has been elevated and informed by an anonymous blogger known as Eduwonkette. Her daily updated ...

Read Post

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is Bridging Gaps: Past to Present, Harlem to Harvard

Dan Brown | Posted 08.19.2008 | Media

Renowned professor and author Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has a new project that could be a true gift for raising engagement in African American students. ...

Read Post

Virtual Learning Hits Campaign Trail

Clayton M. Christensen and Michael B. Horn | Posted 08.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: McCain Education, John McCain, Education, Education Reform, No Child Left Behind, John McCain Education Solutions, Politics News

With McCain's ideas on education, we finally have something new that can move us beyond the tired debates around No Child Left Behind. McCain supports virtual learning -- to the tune of $1 billion a year.

Read Post

What Makes Bobby Run

Gerald Bracey | Posted 08.18.2008 | Politics

Read More: Achievement, National Assessment, Fear Mongering, Education, Education Reform, Motives, Politics News

Bob Wise was speaking on C-SPAN and equated the National Assessment of Educational Progress achievement level of proficient to grade level. This is absurd on its face.

Read Post

What Next For Meeks? Bring New Trier Kids To CPS

Alexander Russo | Posted 08.17.2008 | Chicago

Read More: Education Reform, Chicago School Boycott, Meeks Boycott, Chicago Public Schools Funding, CPS Boycott, James Meeks, School Funding, CPS Funding, Chicago Schools Funding, Meeks New Trier, Civil Rights, Cps, Chicago News

Disrupting the start of the school year is a small price to pay for something that could transform education in Illinois, which has the second-most inequitable funding system in the nation.

Read Post

Exporting NYC's Education "Miracle": Buyer Beware!

Dan Brown | Posted 08.12.2008 | Politics

Read More: Public Schools, New York City Department of Education, John McCain, New York Sun, Michael Bloomberg, Achievement Gap, Bloomberg, Joel Klein, High-Stakes Testing, Education Reform, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Green, Politics News

Since his election in 2001, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made narrowing the white-minority achievement gap in New York City his signature issue. After ...

Read Post

Illuminating Public Schools' Possibilities: "Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way"

Dan Brown | Posted 07.29.2008 | Living

Read More: No Child Left Behind, Aft, Education, Urban Education, Nclb, High-Stakes Testing, Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way, Teachers, Education Reform, Nea, Brian Schultz, Project Citizen, Living News

What happens when a teacher decides to disregard the canned standards and the stacks of test prep materials? Do the students wallow in ignorance, cheated out of a proper education by an "activist" teacher?

Read Post

"Prep for Prep"--A Brilliant Education Idea Realized

Dan Brown | Posted 06.24.2008 | Business

Read More: Public Schools, Waldorf-Astoria, Urban Schools, Collegiate School, No Child Left Behind, Lilac Ball, Achievement Gap, Exeter, Choate, New York University, Brearley, Education Reform, Independent Schools, Phillips Academy, Prep for Prep, Business News

Have you heard of Prep for Prep? It's a brilliant idea realized. Here's how it works: Every year for the past thirty years, approximately 150 low-inc...

Read Post

Two Million Minutes Takes a Lifetime to Endure

Gerald Bracey | Posted 06.22.2008 | Entertainment

Read More: Change, India, Education, Schools, Education Reform, China, Entertainment News

Toward the end, when the Indian or Chinese kids were on the screen, I wanted to yell at it: "Get a Life!" Not as a put-down, but as a wake up call.

Read Post

Exclusive, Anonymous Book Excerpt: An Insider Reveals the "Drunks, Dingbats, and Dilettantes Who Write & Score America's Standardized Tests"

Dan Brown | Posted 06.13.2008 | Media

Read More: Public Schools, High-Stakes Testing, Standardized Testing, Education, Publishing Companies, Education Reform, Education Policy, Media News

I am highly critical of the current use of standardized tests in American public schools. While testing certainly deserves a place in the world, I bel...

Read Post

Watch and Join a Heated Three-Minute Education Debate

Dan Brown | Posted 05.23.2008 | Politics

Read More: Partnership for Learning, Public Schools, Wendy Kopp, Performance Pay, No Child Left Behind, High-Stakes Testing, Robert Pondiscio, Teacher Quality, Core Knowledge, Teach for America, Ascd, Student Achievement, Amy Wilkins, American Federation of Teachers, Education Policy, Ed in 08 Blogger Summit, Student Assessment, Standardized Testing, Ed in 08, Teaching in the 408, Teachers, Education Reform, Public Education, Politics News

At last week's Ed in '08 Blogger Summit, I asked a question about alternatives to high-stakes testing to the education policy panel and received an an...

Read Post

Schools at Risk: A Unique Perspective

Gerald Bracey | Posted 05.20.2008 | Living

Read More: Education History, Education Reform, Technology, Public Schools, Fertilizer, U.S High School Graduation Rate, Fritz Haber, Pills, Living News

Discussions about the condition of public schools usually center on curriculum, instruction and test scores. A new book by Gene V. Glass reads more like a thriller than an academic treatise.

Read Post

Newt Gingrich and Me: A Charged Moment at an Education Blogger Summit

Dan Brown | Posted 05.16.2008 | Media

Read More: Public Schools, Hotel Palomar, School Vouchers, Monopoly of Failure, Education Policy, Bloggers, School Funding, Ed in 08 Blogger Summit, School Reform, Education Sector, Teachers, Education Reform, New Gingrich, Ed in 08, Media News

Gingrich's automatic dismissal of everyone currently within the struggling education system feels parallel to the disastrous de-Baathification process following the US invasion of Iraq.

Read Post

Is Reading First a Flop?

Gerald Bracey | Posted 05.07.2008 | Living

Read More: No Child Left Behind, Reading First, Department of Education, Education Reform, Living News

On a measure of reading comprehension, Reading First students didn't do any better than students in similar schools without the program. How come?

Read Post