Recently in Advisers Category

The Colorado Senate lost a big education advocate when Peter Groff, that chamber's president, left for a new job with the U.S. Department of Education.

But never fear, ed reformers.

Taking Groff's seat (but not his leadership role) in the State Senate is Michael Johnston, an education adviser to then-candidate Barack Obama. Johnston is the principal of a Denver-area charter school that got a much-publicized visit from Obama (when he was still a candidate.) UPDATE: Thanks to the commenter below, who pointed out that while Mapleton is a choice school within the school district, it's not a charter school.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 5:05 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | TrackBacks (0)

From guest blogger David J. Hoff:

Michael Bennet is the latest to have his name surface as a potential secretary of education. Jonathan Alter mentioned the Denver superintendent in his Newsweek column about Bill Gates using his philanthropic efforts to influence national and federal K-12 policy.

Bennet is one of three urban superintendents who "would suit Gates and other reform-minded philanthropists just fine," Alter writes. Chicago's Arne Duncan and New Orleans' Paul Vallas are the others, but New York City's Joel Klein is an unlikely pick because of his strained relationship with AFT President Randi Weingarten, Alter says.

"I have my money on Bennet, whose new compensation system is popular with Denver teachers, if not the union," Alter writes parenthetically.

The Denver media jumped on Alter's article as an indication that Bennet might get the job. (See here and here.) If you read closely, though, Alter doesn't provide a source within the transition team saying that Bennet is under consideration, or that Klein is not. Maybe Alter has good sources in the Obama camp and has decided to be coy. Or maybe he doesn't.

We'll see if Bennet's name rises in Mike Petrilli's daily poll of Washington insiders. But the Washington insiders aren't making the pick. A small group in Chicago is. And so, far its members are playing this one close to the vest.

Posted by David J. Hoff, edweek.org at 12:48 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

As my colleague Vaishali Honawar reports over at the Teacher Beat blog:

During the debate at Teachers College on Tuesday night, which was webcast by Education Week and edweek.org, Linda Darling-Hammond, an adviser for Sen. Barack Obama, and Lisa Graham Keegan, Sen. John McCain's top education adviser sparred over whether alternative teacher-preparation programs, such as Teach for America, are a good way to recruit prospective teachers, or whether universities are still the best place to train educators. And they had a substantive discussion of other recruitment and retention issues, such as career ladders vs. merit pay.

Check it out...she's even got video!

Posted by Alyson Klein at 10:05 AM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

Barack Obama spokeswoman Melody Barnes' statements today on NPR about her candidate's support of student portfolios as a method of assessment have caused quite the dust-up. It even came up at tonight's debate between the education advisers to the campaigns—Lisa Graham Keegan for John McCain and Linda Darling-Hammond for Obama.

Though there were pleas today for the Obama campaign to clarify the Democratic presidential nominee's stance on the use of portfolios to gauge student achievement, I'm not sure that's been accomplished.

In an e-mail to me before the debate, Obama campaign domestic-policy director Neera Tanden said: "Senator Obama has said he supports testing but wants to make sure our tests are better and smarter. He does not support replacing the current structure of NCLB with portfolios and to suggest otherwise is a willful misreading of his comprehensive agenda on education."

Not sure what exactly she means by not supporting "replacing the current structure of NCLB with portfolios." (I don't think anyone thought he would replace the entire structure of the law.) What this does indicate is that NCLB and testing are very complex issues, and neither Obama nor McCain have been very specific on how exactly they would change the law as president.

During tonight's 90-minute debate at Teachers College, Columbia University, Keegan brought up the portfolio issue, noting: "The problem with backing off of assessments and turning them into portfolios that are more subjective is that we can't compare kids. That's where we were before we had accountability."

Keegan, who is McCain's chief education adviser, emphasized that "state standards and the assessments have got to stay in place."

Darling-Hammond, one of several education advisers to Obama, said quite a lot about assessment: "If you look at other countries, their assessments include relatively few multiple-choice items and in some cases none. Their kids are doing science inquiries, research papers, technology products. Those are part of the examination system." (Are those examples part of a broadly defined "portfolio"?)

Darling-Hammond addressed what Barnes said—and didn't say—on NPR directly:

She said in addition to standardized tests we need to look at other assessments. She did mention portfolios. They are used in the charter school she is on the board. ... And we have to get knowledgeable about what does go on in other countries. ... They routinely include elements like research products, they are scored, they are scored in consistent and reliable and valid ways.

In general, tonight's debate, co-sponsored by Education Week and its Web site, edweek.org, was vigorous, and pointed at times, and covered many of the same topics that have been chronicled here or discussed on the stump. (The archived Webcast should be available for viewing here as of noon Wednesday.)

The two advisers talked about teacher quality, the need for more research, whether money matters, and even whether either of them would like to be their nominee's secretary of education. (They each ducked that question).

Posted by Michele McNeil at 9:21 PM | Permalink | 6 Comments | TrackBacks (0)

Two weeks before the election, edweek.org will broadcast a debate between top education advisers to Barack Obama and John McCain. Register now.

The live debate on Oct. 21 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time from Teachers College, Columbia University, will pit Linda Darling-Hammond, on behalf of Obama, against Lisa Graham Keegan, on behalf of McCain.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 8:30 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | TrackBacks (0)

So the gloves are finally coming off. Kinda.

I've been to a number of head-to-head policy debates between various members of Team Obama and Sen. John McCain's go-to-guru on education issues, Lisa Graham Keegan, a former Arizona schools chief. And they have always been very collegial, with a lot of 'my candidate would do this-and-so' as opposed to direct critiques of the other candidate's record or proposals.

But on Monday, during a dinner at the Aspen Institute's seminar on federal education policy in Washington, Keegan and Jon Schnur, co-director of New Leaders for New Schools, actually had something resembling a lively debate.

Instead of just talking about McCain's support of accountability and testing, Keegan criticized Sen. Barack Obama for failing to support performance pay tied to test scores. Schnur repeated the Democratic nominee's proposal to permit school districts to make merit pay linked to student achievement part of an alternative-pay plan. And he asked why McCain's plan didn't include any new resources for schools. Keegan explained that the sputtering economy would make it tough for the Republican nominee to promise big increases for education, but she said McCain would target resources to programs that are likely to be effective (such as merit pay).

Still, the debate remained very civil--and very much on the issues--a welcome change of pace from last week's attack ads.

During the event yesterday, I also got a chance to talk to another Obama adviser, Linda Darling-Hammond, an education professor at Stanford University. I asked her about the claim some folks have made that there are some major ideological differences among Obama's education advisers. She disagreed, saying that inside the campaign, work is very collaborative. Those who say there are disagreements are looking through "an external lens," she added.

I wonder if that spirit of cooperation would hold true under a President Obama administration.

Posted by Alyson Klein at 3:52 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

Minnesota Public Radio had a nearly hour-long conversation yesterday with education advisers for Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, which you can listen to through the station's web site. Former Arizona schools' chief Lisa Graham Keegan for McCain and Steve Robinson, a former science teacher who joined Obama's staff in 2006, discuss teacher quality, No Child Left Behind, and federal K-12 funding. (There's an interesting, pointed exchange that begins around the 46th minute of the broadcast about school choice, and Obama's decision to send his daughters to private school in Chicago while he opposes voucher programs like the one in Washington D.C.)

If you're wondering just how influential these campaign advisers are, check out Alyson Klein's new story about the role of advisers. And in this story, David Hoff explores the influence of Teach for America in the Obama campaign.

Posted by Michele McNeil at 2:23 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)