This Week In Education: Best of the Blogs Archives

No Crony Left Behind

Over at the Huffington Post, comedian Bill Maher rips on President Bush for always making sure that his policy ideas benefit his friends and allies financially: "In the next fifteen months, President Bush has to perform at least one act that doesn't make money for someone he knows. Take "No Child Left Behind." At first it just looked like gentle empty bullshit, a way to neutralize the Democrats edge with voters on education issues...It made Lady Bird Johnson's wild-flowers-by-the-highways project look like the fucking Marshall Plan. Except, like all Bush ideas, there was more to it." (No Crony Left Behind)

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Comply, Or Perish, Says NEA To Congress

The newsiest of recent blog posts is Joe Williams' revelation that the NEA wants politicos to sign a pledge against NCLB (NEA to Congress: Comply or Perish). Nice. Overwhelmed with all the Shanker coverage, EIA Mike wonders whether Rick Kahlenberg is channeling the dead union leader (Shanker Seance). Creepy. Out in the real world, Wake County is threatening to take money back from schools because of an error calculating bonuses (Taking money away from teachers). Doh! Speaking of errors and bonuses, Andywonk covers the Ravitch Vs. NYC back and forth with relish but little reflection (Ravitch Responds!). At the very least, it's a big gaffe for Bloomberg's folks (and a lot of fun for the rest of us). Last but not least, the folks at TAPPED are vexed by conservatarian views on vouchers (VOUCHERS FOR WHAT?). They do their headlines in caps cuz they're so angry.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brittanic Blogs

The folks at Encyclopedia Brittanic are taking a shot at a blog that includes several names you may already know: Karin Chenowith (of "It's Being Done"), Joanne Jacobs, etc. As with the Hufington Post, the idea seems to be to invite a variety of voices in one place to give different perspectives. Check it out here.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blogosphere Blitz

Has anyone noticed I just can't stop blogging lately? Over at the Education Election blog, Cathy Grimes notes a part of the recent Democratic debate that included TIMSS, of all things (TIMSS makes the debate "lightning round"). I must have been sleeping by then. The NSBA blog pushes back on the notion of "dropout factories" that was popularized in a recent AP story. Meanwhile, the NCLB blog compares conservative views on vouchers and the SCHIP (SCHIP's Rationale vs. Vouchers'). Joanne J digs out some standardized misdeeds in Washington State (Sham standards). And The Hoff shares tutoring news (Demand Doesn't Keep up With SES Supply, Civil Rights Project Says). Charlie Barone picks up on the issue with his post (Supplemental Educational Services: End 'em or Mend 'em?). Eduwonkette finishes off her Halloween Edu-Parade with a flourish.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vivid Writing About Urban Education

Much as I love the New York Times' weekly Sam Freedman column on education, or the Post's Jay Mathews, what I'm really liking right now is Will Okun's weekly posts about teaching high school on Chicago's rough West Side. Published on Nick Kristoff's New York Times blogsite, Okun's posts (and their accompanying pictures) are at their best like little scenes from "The Wire" -- vivid, unsentimental, and complex.

Last week's profile of a smart, independent student has generated 200 comments so far and the creation of a scholarship fund (Nicholas, pictured). This week's post is about a different student who dropped out of Okun's school despite all attempts and ended up dead (one of 54 Chicago students who have been killed this year):

"Our school’s faculty tried everything to reach Gregory Dugar...We tried tough love, then unconditional love. We kicked him off the basketball team then allowed him to rejoin. We made him read books by rehabilitated gang members. We had higher-ranking gang members speak to him about the importance of education. We found him legal employment. We initiated counseling. We visited colleges and took him on weekend retreats to the country. Our school’s mentors talked with him on a daily basis. And still, Gregory just disappeared one day."

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Knocking On Edu-Neighbors' Doors

A quick spin around the block before I head out in my Reading First costume to get as many razor-filled apples as I can find:

Over at Early Stories, RLC digs out an overview of Where the Democratic Candidates Stand on Child Care and Preschool. Meanwhile, Charlie Barone writes from his hidden lair about educational triage and NCLB: Is the NCLB "Bubble Kids" Theory About To Burst? The AFTies win the best headline of the day award for their post about how NCLB is affecting Chicago area schools: Give Us Growth Models...Or The Nation Will Explode. EIA Mike keeps tabs on the NEA's anti-voucher budget in Utah (NEA Contribution to Anti-Voucher Campaign Is... $3 Million). Speaking of vouchers, Joanne Jacobs links to a story about progressive parents who send their kids to private schools (Voucher hypocrites). And, as you know, it's Halloween. What a good day for the Carnival (Let's Carnival!).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Peas In A Pod? We Wouldn't Last A Minute.

Eduwonkette is at it again -- and I love it. She's got mad Photoshop skills (or at least knows how to cut and paste), and has me and Andywonk dressed up as peas in a pod. It isn't pretty. I'm not sure how that would work, since co-existence is required. I was hoping for me as K-Fed and Andy as Britney. But this will do. Check it out.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Quick Spin Around The Edusphere

Not that much is catching my eye this morning: Web Watch riffs off of yesterday's NYT story about de-stressing schools (8th Period Stress Relief). EIA Mike asks if the NEA is stalling on its endorsement to help Obama (The October 29 Communique' Is Up!). The conversation between Ravitch and Meiers is heating up (This Is Not Good Education). The Washington Monthly's uber-blogger Kevin Drum opines on gaps in the voucher argument (School Vouchers). And Joe Williams apparently forgot to invite me to one of those DFER shindigs where I get to drink beer on his tab (Talking About Ed Reform).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around The Blogs

A quick spin around the edusphere to see what looks interesting: Scott Elliott from Dayton says that there's a Big Obama education plan coming in November.I can't wait, though I'm not particularly hopeful. It's going to take lots more than a new education plan for Obama to catch up to Clinton. The New York Times' newest blog cracks wise about schools' efforts to de-fang Halloween celebrations: "The parade included a devil with no pitchfork, a Power Ranger without a laser blaster and a pint-size Batman who had been told to leave his utility belt at home." (Are We Having Fun Yet?). Reacting to a post I made last week, Kevin Carey from the Ed Sector says that Time writer Cloud's characterization of education research is exaggerated and, frankly, kind of obnoxious: "What a shame that education research doesn't enjoy the pristinely empirical, de-politicized, consensus-rich environment that characterizes debates over tax policy, entitlement reform, and other issues studied by economists like Martin Feldstein."Meanwhile, In These Times has a piece about how a two year-old split within the labor movement has affected union organizing not nearly as much as predicted: Has the Change Led to Wins? Last but not least, the Times has a fun article about parents being asked to pay for kids' Internet games: Pay Up, Kid, or Your Igloo Melts.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around The Blogs, Noontime Edition

On Deadline tells us that "sudents" are giving $2M to presidential candidates so far, assuming most of it comes from parents (Toddlers giving to Obama). Eduwonkette says she's on the KIPP bandwagon, at least when it comes to extended learning (What lessons does KIPP offer for urban education reform?). The folks at TLN give kudos to the LA Times for including classroom voices (LA Times Featuring Teacher Bloggers). The AFTies highlight the news that childcare workers are going to be unionized now, along with paras in NYC (Today, She Has A Union). Does that make UPK more or less costly, I wonder? The Wonks remind us it's carnival time (Carnival-Carnival). Elena Silva from TQATE posts about the NTC report on teacher turnover costs (Money's Worth for New Teachers). Jenny D. is happy to be included in a new report on covering classrooms (Hechinger's New Publication).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Of The Education Blogs, Early Edition

Media watchdog Jim Romenesko reports about what happens when satire seems too real in high school (Principal confiscates papers). He also points to a recent headline saying that 25 percent of South Carolina teachers are sexual predators (Paper apologizes for hed on AP's bad teachers story). Oops! EIA Mike says that the California teachers union has its own problems (Labor Challenge).

On a related note, The Hoff says they're going viral on NCLB (CTA Goes Multimedia). USA Today's Richard Whitmire makes the case that preschool is the new NCLB for presidential candidates (Preschool vs. NCLB). I'm not buying it, but it's an interesting idea. The Hechinger Institute's Liz Willen is blogging about her son and more (Middle School Muddle). At least it's not another EdWeek blog. Last but not least, from The Onion: Diabetic Child's Survival Hinges On Contents Of Piñata.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Quick Spin Around The Blogs

Because you have better things to do than read them all: It's not just teachers who get staph infections, says EdWeek's web watch (States Report Teacher Staph Infections). Good to know. Fighting against the inevitable Clinton win, says Scott Elliott, Obama stands and delivers in LA (Obama's "in your face" move). Meanwhile, Mary Ann Zehr has the ELL provisions of the new Kennedy draft (Senate Draft of Title III of NCLB). And the AFTies note that acceptance of gay teachers is on the rise (Good News for Dumbledore). EIA Mike makes fun of the notion that performance pay is sweeping the nation just because NYC is going to do it (It's a Performance Pay Tsunami!). Speaking of which: Merit Pay Mania (Quick And Ed). There's also lots about merit pay and NCLB in Swift & Changeable (Kahlenberg on Al Shanker, Tough Liberals, and Teacher Merit Pay). Though I have to admit I'm a little sick of Shanker and Kahlenberg. Sorry!. Meanwhile, Dana Goldstein of TAPPED writes hopefully about progressive parents choosing public schools (ANOTHER LOOK AT EDUCATION AND INEQUALITY).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Honk If You Have An EdWeek Blog"

The ever-amusing folks over at the AFT blog have a little fun at EdWeek's expense, pointing out the seeming proliferation of blogs that have sprouted up on the site:AFT NCLBlog. It's true, there are an awful lot of blogs around here these days, creating a fair amount of overlap (as well as some helpful new coverage). But it's EdWeek's site, so they get to add as many separate blogs as they want. Whether it's NCLB news, politics, or media criticism, you can still find pretty much everything you need here.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Of The Blogs

Over at EIA, Mike is not jumping on the PFP bandwagon (Sorry, I Can't Join the Party). Meanwhile, Joanne Jacobs tells us about how some districts are gaming the AYP ratings system by transferring students (The ‘alternative’ dodge).

About the flawed NCLB story in the NYT, Eduwonk makes many of the same points Charlie Barone and I made a day before (Hustle And Flow...). The carnival is up at the Education Wonks (The Carnival Of Education: Week 141). AFT Michele slams me for wanting folks to link back to me when I link to them all the time (Blog Minutiae). Show some class, my good woman! Links are about credit and community, not traffic. The Hoff says there's a Senate discussion draft out there, but not about the juicy parts (Senate Distributes Partial Draft). Eduwonkette is lining up costumes for her Halloween edu-parade (Costume Nominations!). I call dibs on K-Fed.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mad Crushes, Hypocritical Teachers, Carey Vs. Rothstein, & More

The Post's Jay Mathews is crushing madly on the Edwards education plan, and making mean fun of Richardson's. Charlie Barone points out that, that despite all the complaints about too much testing, teachers in at least one California school still aren't using results to inform instruction. He also agrees that the NYT story was off. Next up, Kevin Carey, who riffs off of an American Prospect article to say that those like Richard Rothstein who think economic reforms are more important than school reforms, over all, still shouldn't attack school reform efforts. Or at least I think that's what he's saying. Last but not least, the BoardBuzz from NSBA has put out a side-by-side (PDF) comparing current law and Miller (and, ugh, their proposals). I love side by sides, but I don't know if this one is any good. Seen a better one? Let us know.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Quick Spin Around The Blogs

Conspiracy theorists are ignoring NCLB's lefty origins and labor union funding sources, says EIA. Eduwonk is still selling Spellings for governor. I'm not buying, but what do I know. Press coverage keeps suggesting that NCLB won't get reauthorized anytime soon, observes the AFT blog. That means it will [not] happen soon.

Meantime, Slate blogger Mickey Kaus doesn't think much about district efforts to reorganize low performing schools as LA is planning (and NYC and Miami have done). This is what happens when smart but not necessarily knowledgeable folks play education pundit. Via AFT. Meanwhile, Sherman Dorn says that the Bush veto threat is petulant and irrelevant. Charlie Barone goes all psychological on us and says that how we view NCLB is a snapshot of ...how we view ourselves? Diane and Deborah are also deep into their discussion, talking about the uncertainty of knowledge, whether it be in education or medicine.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Once Around The Blogosphere

Newbie blogger Charles Barone annotates (eviscerates?) a Mike Smith-Bruce Fuller op-ed (Smith & Fuller Automatic Revolver). Joanne Jacobs passes us a secret note that there's a girl's version of The Dangerous Book For Boys out (The girly book for girls). I'm not sure she's a fan of either. TeacherKen says that Barack Obama's education plan is ok (Decent, not spectacular), which is probably as much as Obama can ask for. Make Mike Goldstein happy and watch this ABC News segment on his charter school in Boston (via Eduwonk). From the picture, it looks like they make the teachers work in the cafeteria, too. Excellent. Meanwhile, Yale undergrad Zach Marks ambushes NCLB on the Huffington Post. The arguments are pretty basic, but I'm jealous of his comments (14!). My screed against Wendy Kopp has zero. Want a cute story? Check out Web-Logged's Will Richardson: How to Fix a Monarch Butterfly’s Wing (and Other Random Tales).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blog Roundup

Forget about Obama not wearing that lapel pin -- now he's gone completely crazy, according to Scott Elliott (Obama: Let illegals get aid for college). The AFTies, too, apparently. They poke at the President for claiming to have invented NAEP (Pres. Bush Invented NAEP) but seem to forget that taking the test was voluntary for states before NCLB. Now, we do have NAEP scores for every state. Meanwhile, Joanne Jacobs is calling for votes (The 2007 Weblog Awards). Vote for her blog, then vote for mine. That is, if I'm even nominated. Over at WakEd, they combine 'cafeteria' and 'auditorium' and get Cafetorium. Education Election introduces a new blogger and a new candidate (Fred Thompson on NCLB, and an introduction).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Best Of The Carnival

This week's Carnival of Education is up ("with no further adieu"). Some of the most eye-catching contributions include The Red Pencil on blogs that Carnival Goers read regularly, John from the Teacher Leaders Network tackles the difference between "best practices" and "what works in schools," Great College Advice on why increased accountability won't work at the college level but is perfectly fine for K-12 education, Friends of Dave posts about how badly education news is reported by the press, Scheiss Weekly on the joys of living in the neighborhood where you teach. And many, many more.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around The Blogs

I blog about them, even though they never blog about me...EIA notes that public education employees now number 10.3 million (3rd behind health care and service industries), including 2.4 million state education employees. And they say SEAs are understaffed. Over at Early Learning, Richard Lee Colvin says "This blogging business is harder than it looks." Amen to that. Then Colvin goes on to say -- no surprise given his sponsor -- that UPK is going strong. Kevin Carey joins a small but merry band of folks who didn't like Linda Perlstein's new book, Tested. Any pub is good pub. There's a Latino version of Brown, says Dana Goldstein at TAPPED. Who knew? Charlie Barone's new blog, Swift And Changeable, takes on the Miller-CTA debate. I interviewed him yesterday (see below) and got some background on the history of this relationship. The Hoff wraps up on the Rose Garden speech from yesterday, with some excellent personal tidbits.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Best Of The Blogs

Over at the DFER Blog, Joe Williams writes about a recent article following high school graduates out into the world. Foolish teachers are getting fired for their racy MySpace pages, notes Joanne Jacobs here. On a more serious note, Kevin at D-Ed Reckoning has some pointed things to say about educators complaining about NCLB. The Intelligencer points out that SEIU didn't endorse Edwards despite all his pandering. Over at Education Election, Jeff Solocheck highlights a new site that is checking Clinton and Edwards' claims about education.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ASCD SmartBlogs

Thanks to the folks at ASCD's SmartBrief for including me on their list of SmartBlogs, and welcome to all of you SmartBrief readers. Bookmark the SmartBlog page or click on the right to get a daily or weekly email summary.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SuperTutors, School Closings, Less NOLA, USDE Blog

Edwards' education plan is a good one, says the Ed Sector's Kevin Carey, except for just one crazy idea (Super Tutors). Denver can learn some lessons about closing schools from what other cities have done, says Schools For Tomorrow's Van Schoales (Closure lessons from other districts). TFA is a great place to start a career, says BusinessWeek via EdWize (Teacher News of the Day). Exactly. Refomers should stop making such a big deal out of New Orleans, says Eduwonk (A Little Less New Orleans?). Jenny D says that it won't be long before there's a US Department Of Education "blog" (Been Gone Too Long).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Women's Soccer Player Of The Year (Marta) Loves The Carnival

This week's Carnival of Education is up, including promising posts such as Bellringers' comparison of NCLB and "My Rather Large Behind," Right On The Left Coast on teachers and free speech, What It's Like on the pros and cons of teaching to the test, and Scheiss Weekly on the food stash for kids who forget their lunch.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday Blog Roundup

I read them... so you don't have to:

About the Ravitch op-ed (see below), Eduwonk asks "didn't we try this already?" (States Right?). The AFT blog is concerned about the NYT piece on New Orleans from a couple of weeks ago (Predictable Sign Of The Times) -- namely whether the focus should be on poverty or school reform. School closings are getting too much coverage, says Sari Levy at Schools For Tomorrow (School closures bring out the drama queens). Educators and researchers don't usually get along, writes Eduwonkette -- except in one case (Cool people you should know). EdWize lets us all know that Ms. Frizzle is back to blogging and has some things to say (Ms. Frizzle on TFA).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Of The Blogs -- Tuesday Edition

Three Raleigh schools have won the national Blue Ribbon School Award, but none are from the school system. (Winning the Blue Ribbon award WakEd)

Last week was exhausting -- I didn't feel good about any of my classes. (Discipline part II School Of Blog)

If you’re shopping around for lesson plans, look no further than FactCheckEd.org. (Teaching the Art of Persuasion Learning Now PBS)

Sure, Miller and Spellings don't always agree, but he's hardly out to gut NCLB... he's taking a lot of heat for defending it! (Mixed Message Eduwonk)

As proof that leftovers can be delicious, here's the rest of the advice. (Delicious Leftovers Teacher Leaders Network)

The road to NCLB's reauthorization in the House goes through California. (CA Legislators Cite NCLB's Flaws NCLB II)

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How Schools Are Like Sweatshops

The rhetoric surrounding "children first" is powerful and needed stuff, I'd argue, but not to the point of disregarding the needs of classroom teachers whose needs are often not being met by schools, either. Sherman Dorn makes this point eloquently in a recent post: "Elementary and secondary schools are environments that are about the least adult-friendly you can imagine, outside sweatshops," writes Dorn (The adults v. children meme). "Where else can adults be vulnerable to being hit by children, be told when they can go to the bathroom, and be told that their own intellectual development does not serve the organization's interests?" I guess that leaves only administrators to gang up on. Yeah, it's all the administrators' fault. Faceless bureaucrats, etc. Get 'em!

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Best Of The Blogs

I read them (so you don't have to):

Local control sucks! Schools For Tomorrow
There, I said it.

The kids love Obama Education Election
Obama and John Edwards said in last week's New Hampshire debate that they would be comfortable reading the book "King and King," which has same-sex relationships as a theme, to their young children and would support its use as part of a school curriculum.

Evolution of Complexity AFT Blog
It seems that NCLB 2.0 is adhering to the principles of evolution--it's getting more complex, but I'm not sure it's a higher level organism.

Teachers vs. performance pay Joanne Jacobs
Teachers strongly oppose linking pay to performance, concludes a survey of teachers in Washington state.

Are you as smart as a 8th grader? D-Ed Reckoning
Take this test and find out.

NCLB Lawbreakers TQATE
Via Eduwonk, a story of what appears to be a widespread conspiracy within the Missouri Department of Education to systematically violate the No Child Left Behind law.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stephen Colbert Is The Perfect Teach For America Candidate

Check out this week's Carnival Of Education at Global Citizenship, a roundup of education blogs that includes tasty posts of all kinds. Some favorites: Education Notes Online doubts that teacher quality is really the single most important factor in education. Learn Me Good recounts a student who claimed to have temporary blindness, brought on by a science assignment. Joanne Jacobs tells us the disturbing story of a cheating ring, and the reactions of parents and educators, at Hanover High in New Hampshire. Shrewdness of Apes finds that some people use co-teaching as a cover for slacking off. Last but not least, Blog and Deliver thinks Stephen Colbert might be the perfect candidate for a Teach for America post.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LA Times Revamps, Relaunches Education Blog

The LA TImes has revamped and relaunched its education site, now called HOMEROOM, and brought in a handful of new teachers, students, and others to blog about their school- and classroom-level experiences. I'm all for group blogs, and ones that include real, live educators. And it's good that the LAT has an education blog (unlike the NYT, the Washington Post, USA Today, etc.). So there.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TAPPED In

Welcome to all the readers from TAPPED, The American Prospect's blog, who read about that whole Hillary-at-the-NEA building thing (and wonders whether Edwards is still hoping). Look around, there's lots more tidbits and treasures to be found.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two More EdWeek.org Blogs Online

EdWeek.org has two more blogs online now, a campaign-oriented one (Campaign K-12) and a business-oriented one (edbizbuzz). Congrats, condolences.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Race & Retaliation At A Louisiana High School

"The story begins at an assembly last fall, when a black freshman asked if he was allowed to sit under a large tree on school grounds that he had heard was "whites-only." From The Nation, via School of Blog.

UPDATE: Presidential candidate Barack Obama is being called out for his mild response to the Jena students being arrested (Politico).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I Heart D-Ed Reckoning

"Super-blogger Alexander Russo is jealous that he sold his independence for a paycheck and is now under Edweek's corporate jackboot," writes D-Ed Reckong in this update, apparently having mistaken my compliment for an insult. I actually like how harsh his blog posts are sometimes -- they're bracing and contrarian. Of course, the idea of George Miller being a "whiny bitch" is funny, considering how big and bruising the guy is. And the the idea of my being under EdWeek's "corporate jackboot" would be of concern if it weren't also sort of funny. Have you met those guys, Kevin? They're all in Tevas and Crocs. So stop being a whiny bitch and get back to tearing apart bad research. I'll try and do the same.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wait, Didn't I Read About That Somewhere Else?

Today's edition of the Andywatch features this timely post about the fake CNN segment "Students First In Line" (about training high school kids to be soldiers) that has been going around the blogosphere for about a week now.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Blogger Calls Out House Education Chair

Once again, Kevin DeRosa at D-Ed Reckoning outdoes my in the nasty negative category, calling the House education chairman a "whiny bitch". Basically, he doesn't like Miller's draft, and thinks Miller is carping too much about Spellings' disapproval. And you thought that I was bad.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't Name Your Blogs Like I Have

I've done just about everything wrong when it comes to blog naming, according to this recent article from Slate (What not to name your blog). I named this one something boring, and didn't name it after myself. I named the other one (District 299) something so obscure that even folks in Chicago didn't know what it was (at first). But at least I didn't go for irony, Star Wars allusions, or bad puns. And I like to think I've chosen my antagonists wisely.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Exploding Playground Wood Chips ... And More

Catching up on the education blogs:

Mike Antonucci thinks that that the NEA may be censoring its own blog (The Mystery of the Missing Link).

Scott Elliott addresses the age-old achievement gap question: Is it racist to track minority group scores?.

The BoardBuzz likes the ACT news: Good news for American high schools.

Eduwonk reminds us that there's a good NYT column to read today: Dillon On Barber.

The AFT Blog derides the notion that the Newark kids might have been saved by vouchers: And vouchers will cure the common cold, too.

Joe Williams has pennant fever: Baseball and Education Reform.

Ed Sector's Elena Silva goes long: School Time Update.

Sherman Dorn slices and dices reauthorization: Multiple issues in multiple measures.

The Hall Monitor tells us about exploding wood chips: Something new to worry about.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday Video Snippet ("Test The Kids!") & A New Blog

The irrepressible ~~David~~ Denis Doyle is now blogging (The Doyle Report) and it's already clear that one of his strengths is finding and posting video snippets like this music video whose refrain is "Test The Kids!":

Catchy. Welcome to the blogosphere, Denis.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Little Action, Lots Of Blogging

There's not that much going on in the education-policy-politics space, but that doesn't seem to be stopping anyone from starting new blogs on the topic. Last week's newest addition was NCLB 2, EdWeek's reauthorization blog. Now it's the Education Writers Association who are blogging about education, politics, and the 2008 campaign, according to Dayton Daily News blogger Scott Elliott (Barack Obama, education and me). Different reporters are going to track each of the main candidates for the next 18 months, and send their observations here. Congrats, condolences, per usual.

*Free Daily E-Mail Updates Now Available -- See The Yellow Box To The Right.*

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Of The Blogs

We read them -- so you don't have to:
Over at Joe Williams' blog, Joe reflects on the AEI event earlier this week and observes that Charles Murray gives him heartburn, incentives work (not that there's anything wrong with that), and don't mess with Mesecar. Meanwhile, Richard Lee Colvin resurfaces to point us to an excellent editorial in the Boston Globe about holes in Hillary's pre-k plan.
Now you're done.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now Blogging NCLB: The Hoff

EdWeek's much-anticipated new blog "NCLB Part II" didn't show up on my RSS reader until this morning even though its author, reporter David (Hassel)Hoff, had kicked things off last week by pointing out one of my many mistakes. Welcome to the blogosphere, David. Part of me thinks that having an EdWeek blog dedicated to NCLB will be helpful and great -- less work for me to do, the more the merrier, etc. Another part of me thinks that there are already too many blogs out there doing pretty much the same thing. I guess the real test will be whether Hoff's blog provides information and insight that the rest of us don't have.

Related post:
Is EdWeek Reaching On Obama?

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yet Another Thing For Chancellor Klein To Worry About

Recently named along with Joel Klein as one of the most influential parts of the New York City education scene, InsideSchools.org goes beyond the usual news coverage and profiles individual schools. Now it has a blog to go along with all the rest.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Carnival Time Vs. The Mustache

I managed to pull myself away from Burger King's "grow your own mustache" site (I'm 'stashing Obama) to skim this week's ed policy posts over at The Carnival Of Education: Week 127 and saw that there are posts on zero tolerance, harassment, student obesity, and the gaps between research and policy. Check it out.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who Decides What's Important -- Readers, Or Editors?

Washington Post, media critic Howard Kurtz points out that much of the astounding success of the Huffington Post, a group blog that features all sorts of generally Democratic commentary and content (including mine), has come from the ability (and willingness) of its editors to go beyond the now-standard "most read story" gizmo in the corner and actually bring popular articles to the front page, top center. Editors hate this because it means that readers are making placement and prominence decisions and mixing commentary with news. Advertisers love it because it makes the site the sites that do this (Daily Kos and Google News are other examples) all the more popular. Check out Kurtz's piece here: The Huffington Empire.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Of The Blogs

I skim them so you don't have to..

Reading on the same page Joanne Jacobs
Congress hates the most successful part of No Child Left Behind, writes Charlotte Allen in a Weekly Standard story on Reading First.

Lampkin Goes Off On NEA And Prez Candidates Joe Williams' Blog Marc Lampkin, of Ed in 08 fame, and writing on the Huffington Post, gave all the candidates who appeared at last week's National Education Association Pander-Palooza an 'F' grade.

It's All About The Kids! Eduwonk
The Washington Post editorial board lays out the real behind the scenes tension surrounding confirmation hearings for D.C. Mayor Fenty's picks to manage the school system: Two guys want to be mayor, but only one is.

First Amendment Pressures Mount for High School Journalism
Editors, high school journalists need your help. First Amendment freedoms are at stake.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Remembering John Kerry

Eduwonk thinks that Obama did himself good with the merit pay mention, or at least does no harm. But at the same time he reminds us that John Kerry didn't win any friends with his merit pay ideas in the 2004 elections. Here's a rundown of what Kerry did and didn't propose on education, from EdWeek. Interesting stuff to remember.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Does "The Pulse" Need CPR?

Someone told me that you're not supposed to do mouth-to-mouth anymore, just clear the airway and focus on the heart compressions. Whatever it is, District Administration magazine's group blog "The Pulse" may need it. The posts are increasingly infrequent, it seems, and many of those included are too busy blogging and writing in other places to contribute much. (Sorta like me with Edustat and the Huffington Post.) There's got to be a better way to get diverse perspectives and create some sort of conversation going, but I don't know what it is.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"YouTube For Nerds"

If anyone asks you about The Futures Channel, I suppose you could tell them it's "YouTube for nerds" as some have described it -- video, lots of it, concerning the sciences, technology, engineering and allied fields.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Letter From The AFT Blog Summer Camp About Questionable Bush Claims

AFT John writes me a stern letter from the AFT Blog summer camp to remind me that the President's claims about increased test scores due to NCLB have been around -- and hotly disputed -- for a long time, especially on the AFT blog. Thanks, John. I knew it sounded fishy, but I had forgotten.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"My Name's Emmet And I'm An Eduholic."

There's a new and aptly-named blog at Teacher Magazine called Eduholic, although it turns out to be just the new name for a blog that's been running on the site for a while by a guy named Emmet Rosenfeld. Welcome back, Emmet. Great name for a blog.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Internal Differences: Preschool, Choice, and More

Sara Mead over at TQATE gets the award for the most ambitious and attention-grabbing headline of the week with Preschool and School Choice Movement Leaders Combine Forces to Form New Pornographers-style Education Advocacy Supergroup, and for highlighting internal differences among various preschool advocacy folks (and similar internal differences among various choice/voucher groups). The whole supergroup thing seems like a nonstarter, but it's important not to mistake these movements -- preschool and choice -- as monolithic. Ditto for charters, standardistas, and everyone else, now that I think of it.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PEN NewsBlast Guru Rides Off Into The Sunset

The news is at least a week old, but I would be remiss if I failed to notice that the infamous Howie Schaffer, who authored and popularized the PEN Weekly Newsblast e-newsletter and has been a great friend to this blog, is off to Diversity Best Practices, an organization dedicated to "improving cultural and racial sensitivity in the workplace." Longtime readers will recall that Schaffer was profiled as one of the HotSeat interviews early last year, in which he opined on all sorts of interesting things. "On the HotSeat, "SuperHowie" Schaffer slams empty school reform ideas and lame blogs, comes clean about his sketchy past as a spammer, crushes on his favorite education writers (platonically, of course), and claims that the Blast is an equal-opportunity critic. Right, Howie." Congrats and condolences. Stay in touch.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Familiar Sentiment: Adults Create Test Anxiety, Not Kids

Over at The Quick Ånd The End, Sara Mead's post about what's really causing kids so much test anxiety (teachers and administrators) is good -- so good in fact it reminds me that I said pretty much exactly the same thing nine months ago. To her credit, Mead adds some ideas for how to address the problem. Now when Senator Clinton next talks about sources and solutions for test anxiety the idea can properly be attributed.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not Much To Learn About NCLB At Reality Check '08

In Hillary: Leaving Children Behind? Probably Not, Reality Check '08 does a frighteningly amateurish job of explaining HRC's votes, positions, and all the rest --mostly taken from the Clinton website, it seems. I hope the site -- another of these FactCheck-style blogs -- does a better job on other issues than it seems to be doing on education.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Of The Blogs

I read them -- so you don't have to...

EdWeek Debunks Teacher Attrition Myth EIA
Teacher turnover is roughly in line with that in other professions with similar educational requirements for entry, such as nursing and accounting. And that is so even with the pressure on school districts to get rid of teachers in their first two or three years before tenure protections make it more difficult.

The Carnival Of Education: Week 123 Ed Wonks
Here's this week's roundup of entries from around the EduSphere. Unless clearly labeled otherwise, all entries this week were submitted by the writers themselves, even this school-related limerick.

Virtual Worlds for Kids Entwined with Real World PBS Mediashift
While the media has been abuzz about Second Life and adult virtual worlds, a bevy of virtual worlds for kids have been even more popular than their adult counterparts.

School Water Fountains vs Bottled Water vs Toilet Water BizOfKnowledge
Kids at North Bend Middle School were told they couldn't bring in bottled water to school.Reason - some were smuggling in alcohol. Bigger reason - they didn't want to drink from the water fountains. For an English class, one student decided to investigate which had the least bacteria, the water fountains or the toilet bowls. The water fountains lost.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Secretary Spellings Walks Into A Bar..."

Susan Ohanian is working up an old-school Spellings joke and needs your help (NCLB Outrages). I know there are some good jokesters out there.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Time To Update The Map Of Education Blogs

There are a couple of fun maps of political blogs out lately (Inside The Blogway, and this one from Politico) showing the relationships among them, which reminds me that it's time (for you) to update the Map Of Education Blogs, which currently has 60-odd folks signed up.

Check it out. Add yourself or your favorite education blog. It's free.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Worst Blog On EdWeek: This One

Shallow, combative, and close-minded, this blog is arguably the worst blog on EdWeek.org, which includes more than just a couple of more reflective and reasonable blogs that you may not know about: On the Reservation, for example, chronicles the experiences of a second year SPED teacher on a reservation (on break until fall), while Certifiable? follows one teacher's quest for national certification (still waiting to find out). Then there's Ready or Not, about a career-changer. More are in the works. Of course, there's also the Meier/Ravitch confab Bridging Differences (currently on break) and MA Zehr's Learning the Language focused on ELL issues.

No, EdWeek didn't pay me to say this. But they should have.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spellings Suck-Up, Part 234

Over at Eduwonk, Andy's Spellings suckup continues with his typically belated and rose-colored recap of Spellings' appearance on TV. According to Rotherham, Spellings "looked good, and came off well, pragmatic and not ideological...they should send her out to big-time TV more, would help their case.". Excellent. Hey, why read about it here when you can read a less critical version of it three days later over there?

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

LA Times Education Blog Bites The Dust...For Now

For a while now, the LA Times' School Me blog has been a much-admired newspaper education blog, what with its fun graphics, combo of commentary and superlocal news, and all the rest. Now comes news that the site is going on haitus. It's hard to tell whether this is temporary or permanent, but my honest guess is the latter. It's nothing more than a guess, though, and I hope I'm wrong. Either way, thanks to Bob and Janine for giving the edusphere a look at what a well-run blog could look like.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Colorado (Education Blog) Is In The House

Welcome to Schools For Tomorrow, the new blog from HeadFirst Colorado, the education magazine that describes itself as "education on the edge." Already in its first week, the blog has tackled topics as diverse as the Tough Choices report and the exodus of students from Denver Public Schools. And, lest you think Colorado is some sort of school reform wasteland, remember that Ed In '08 honcho Roy Romer used to be governor there, much-touted outsider superintendent Michael Bennett is pushing hard there (especially on the ELL and charter fronts), and that the Gates Foundation's first major debacle, the failed conversion of Manuel High School, took place there.

UPDATE: I have written for HeadFirst and may do some work for them in the future.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Student Terrorists & More

Check out education reporter Chad LIvengood's new newspaper-sponsored education blog (Taking Notes), which features some fascinating news about a student accused of being a terrorist. Welcome to the edusphere, Chad.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Of The Blogs

We sift through them so you don't have to...Another Nail in the Coffin of the Savage Inequalities Meme D-Ed Reckoning: According to the Kozol crowd, our educational inequalities can be solved by putting poor and minority kids into affluent suburban schools. Gagaless Over Kristoff Eduwonk: Based on emails and blog posts it seems everyone is gaga over this Nicholas Kristof column today. Me, not so much. Are People in Washington Stupid? AFT Blog: Sec. Spellings is too smart to think that her bunny attack means anything to conservatives now or that she can use vouchers, a nonstarter, to get concessions in other areas. The question that Reading First's Chris Doherty never asked Sherman Dorn: Reading the Title I Monitor's article I get the sense that everyone in Washington involved in Reading First has no clue about academe. Honoring judgment Bridging Differences: Dear Diane, Agreed. Fear itself Joanne Jacobs: We Protect Kids From Everything But Fear, writes a mom in Newsweek’s My Turn. Let's Carnival! The Education Wonks: The 117th edition of The Carnival of Education (hosted this week by Dr. Homeslice) has opened-up the midway for your EduEnjoyment. Huckabee Backs No Child Left Behind The Hill Blog: “The federal No Child Left Behind Act is often misunderstood and unfairly maligned as a total federal intrusion,” Huckabee said.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ideal Education Blog -- Multiple Voices, Interacting

Blogs written by groups rather than individual writers have been all the rage for a little while now -- combining as they do the pleasures of distinct voices with the diversity of multiple perspectives. Perhaps the best example of this has been the two year-old Huffington Post, which includes a wide range of voices, as well as predecessors like Daily Kos. Group blogs have been coming along in education, too, with the AFT Blog, the Quick and The Ed, and the Ravitch/Meier blog.

Now, that trend seems to be accelerating. There's The Pulse, run by District Administration, and now the EduStat blog, run by SchoolNet. Ideally, these blogs will create a sort of community discussion among bloggers that's convenient to readers and lively and pleasurable for everyone. Still, there needs to be more interactivity among the writers, and diversity of perspectives.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Who The Hell Is Whitney Tilson?

I've been scanning Whitney Tilson's education blog now and then for the past few months, but only just now looked up his bio, where I found that he was a charter member of TFA and is a honcho at KIPP New York and a money guy by day. Not only that, he's got three blogs, one of which is about school reform. Some recent posts include:

Posted by Alexander Russo at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looking Into VA Test Participation Rules

Over at Learning the Language, M.A. Zehr follows up on the whole Fairfax thing and looks into VA's test participation rules. What she finds (Virginia's Definition of Test Participation) is pretty amazing -- namely that any kid, ELL or not, can decline to complete an exam, and that the scores still count even if fewer than five items have been attempted. Check it out.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

School Reform Vs. Global Outsourcing

"While the Congress deliberates over the Business Roundtable's and the Aspen Institute's Great Domestic Diversion, NCLB, American corporations continue their off-shoring of American jobs, both service jobs and highly-skilled professional jobs," begins this blistering post Fiddling With Test Scores While America Burns. "And while the U. S. Chamber of Commerce polishes its plans to transform American high schools into science and math camps, Boeing and Cisco continue to funnel science and engineering jobs to cheap labor markets overseas."

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Of The Blogs

We read them ... so you don't have to:

Extra Help or Racial Profiling? The Chalkboard
The NY Times story about programs aimed at helping black boys in the suburbs is fascinating, and is the kind of thing we should be talking about more often and openly.

Preschool Attendance: More Likely in Mex. Than in the US Learning The Languge
A new research brief about children in immigrant families contains some interesting observations that indicate education policy can make a difference in whether children of Mexican heritage go to preschool.

Ed Sector's "But" Fetish AFT Blog
The Deep Pockets Foundation has awarded Education Sector a $240,000 grant to analyze the use of conjunctions, prepositions and articles in teacher union communications.

Edspresso at a new cafe Joanne Jacobs The Center for Education Reform has taken over Edspresso from the Alliance for School Choice. Au revoir to webmaster Ryan Boots, who’s “moving on to other endeavors.”

An AERA Newbie TQATE
I just finished my first trip to AERA and, while shocked by the sheer number of people there, I was generally impressed with the research, presentations, and thoughtful comments. Consistently, people expressed a desire to make research a critical part of both ground-level action and the policy decision-making process.

Whither Ed Schools? Whither Ed Journalism? Early Stories
...What goes on inside classrooms is a complicated interaction between and among students, and with their teacher, while wrestling with important content. And all of those interactions are influenced by what happens outside of class and outside the school.

Principal Pornstar Meets Ms. Horndog The Teacher EdWonks
School principal Leroy Coleman and 8th grade teacher Janet Loften thought that it would be cute to "get their honey 'lovin' where they get their money."

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AFT vs. AFT

Apparently my fairly bland observation that traditional schools struggle with screening out criminals just like charter schools didn't sit well with the folks at the AFT blog, who dug up an old post of mine and try to argue that I'm wickedly inconsistent (Russo vs. Russo). Too bad the old post is about lax enrollment policies (not lax hiring), that my posting something doesn't mean I endorse it (far from it), and that the AFT has me beat by a long shot when it comes to inconsistency and internal contradictions (charters, NCLB, etc.).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Chinese Way

This post from Get On The Bus (Seeking a liberal arts education ... in China?) includes a roundup of several interesting NYT school life stories from the past few days, including one about Chinese vs. American schools: "Critics of the American system must have choked on their Corn Flakes at the thought of China emulating the U.S. education system rather than the other way around."

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New Blog: Does The Message Reach The Real World?

By now, you may have heard that there's a new education blog out there called Eduflack. What you may not know is that the blog is authored by Patrick Riccards, a longtime education PR pro who is currently VP for public affairs for Lipman Hearne, a PR firm for nonprofits whose clients include the National Governors Association, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, and International Baccalaureate. Riccards says his focus is "seeing if the message behind the reform is effectively taking hold (or if we are merely having researchers or wonks talk to researchers or wonks." Welcome, and condolences.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Best Of The Blogs

We read them so you don't have to:

Voucher action heats up in the states BoardBuzz (NSBA): Lots of activity in state legislatures this week on private school vouchers, including South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Georgia...11 Cents on the Dollar? AFT Blog: Teachers had a tough year in 2005 and that the 2006 data we’ve seen is not much better. And that comes on top of a decade of pretty bad news...There must be a macro D-Ed Reckoning: I don't think a week goes by that I don't read some version of this story in today's Daily Mail...ABCs for Latino Children; Roadmap for Journalists Early Stories: Maria Glod of the Washington Post did a nice job over the weekend of reporting on the efforts of pre-school programs to get Latino parents on board....The Unions Come Clean The Quick & The Ed: Over at EdWise, Leo Casey finally reveals the answer to the Master's degree mystery...Diane Ravitch: Feds should only do what it can Sherman Dorn: "In the future, the federal government should do only what the federal government can competently do."...Where We Stand Doublechecked: Before Fordham was for NCLB, we were against it. After we were for NCLB, we were against it. In between, we were for it....Online Tutoring: Outsourcing activities that are already "outsourced" EdBizBuzz: The challenge of providing value ("results at a price") in this market will drive every tutoring firm to a mix of "on-site/online" and "human/artificial intelligence" services...High-Income Blahs Jay Mathews: "We know you are going to college. We can't stop you from going to college. But we can and will keep you from taking courses and tests that will prepare you for college."

Posted by Alexander Russo at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cloning Charters, And Letting Parents Pick Principals

Check out what's going on in America's heartland, which includes the defeat of a bill to allow current charter schools to "clone" themselveswithout violating the charter cap in Chicago, as well as ongoing debate surrounding local school councils and their right to choose principals. New York City may not have community school districts anymore, but parents, community members, and a couple of teachers give principal contracts in Chicago, and have since 1988. It's amazing, and messy, and currently under seige.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All NewsBlast, No Gadfly -- Plus Some Equity

As of Friday morning, the Forhdam Gadflies must still be perfecting their usual April Fool's wit. In the meantime, check out the latest PEN NewsBlast, which includes stories about kids being separated by race for assembly, more about how to transform low-performing schools, the usual provocative quotes and useful grant announcements, and -- most interestingly -- findings of a panel on education and American democracy: "Both Democratic and Republican pollsters reported that education is indeed a top priority of voters. However, other concerns, such as the war in Iraq, creating affordable health care, and protecting the environment compete for public attention."

Feeling empty? One weekly not enough? Click below for the EdTrust's Equity Express, which is (I think) email-only.

Continue reading "All NewsBlast, No Gadfly -- Plus Some Equity" »

Posted by Alexander Russo at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What Passes For Journalism

I've got nothing against any of the three blogs mentioned in this Fast Times article about "front of the class" education blogs. The three -- 2¢ Worth, Moving At The Speed Of Creativity, and JoanneJacobs -- are all good blogs. But the article (here) written by Michael Prospero is just so slim and shallow it's frightening. I should talk, I know.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Monday Morning Blog Round-Up

We check them out ... them so you don't have to:

Deadbeat Parent Mugshots Coming To Pizza Boxes Huffington Post: Customers at some suburban pizza parlors are getting something extra with their pepperoni and mushrooms.
Kennedy on NCLB AFT Blog: So why would Sen. Kennedy write this op-ed now?
Fooling the College Board Inside Higher Ed: An MIT professor coached student on how to get a good score on a lousy essay -- and pulled it off.
Associated Press Series on Unions Mike Antonucci: There's something for every viewpoint here and well worth the time to read them all.
Here's what teen sex really looks like Get On The Bus: That spider web at the top of this post is teen sex.
Charter Lotteries Eduwonk: There is a long two part debate about how public charter school admission lotteries (the random selection mechanism for over-subscribed schools) should be.
Accountability and Head Start Early Stories: I'd like to see a story done this spring that tells me how the NRS actually works in practice, by going out and observing the administration of the test.
Keeping the customers captive Joanne Jacobs: Some 15,000 children applied for 5,000 slots for new charter students [in Illinois].
Whole-wheat lunchroom Hall Monitor: “If they want certain kinds of food for their children, why don’t they pack their lunch?” she says.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Market Heats Up For Fulltime Bloggers

The AFT, Ed Sector, and Alliance For School Choice aren't the only organizations that have decided that blogs might be a good way to go, and the Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Ed Week, and Pre-K Now aren't the only folks who've decided to look outside their staff for a blogger.

However, things are really heating up now. I just got a call from someone looking to fill a full-time (salary, benefits) blogging gig based in DC for a large and reputable public-interest organization. Wow. If it was focused on education, I might do it. Except for that living in DC part.

Email me if you think that's you -- journalist, policy wonk, blogger. Must know health, education, other domestic social programs (Social Security).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Best Of The Blogs -- Monday

We read them ... so you don't have to.

Does NCLB need a major overhaul, tweaking or something else? (Tweaking the Ivory Soap AFT Blog)...This 13-year-old Ohio kid vicious little miscreant is charged with allegedly committing 128 felonies, including beating up the child who turned him in (The Bad Seed: 13-Year-Old Andrew Riley Education Wonks)...After the disaster with Venture Systems' online testing system, the Oregon Department of Education has decided to return to paper-and-pencil testing for the rest of the year (Oregon moves back to paper- and- pencil tests Sherman Dorn)...I got a kick out of looking back 10 years at the first Ohio Supreme Court decision about school funding (A decade of change for schools Get On The Bus)...As school district leaders look to improve stakeholder relations across their districts, some superintendents are experimenting with a tool more commonly associated with tech-savvy students and teachers than administrators: the blog (Supes use blogs as outreach tool eSchool News).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sen. Alexander Reaches Out To Education Bloggers

Watch out, mainstream education reporters. The bloggers are catching up with you.

Earlier today, Senator Lamar Alexander might have been the first US Senator to reach out specifically to a group of education bloggers. The half-hour telephone press conference focused on Alexander's America Competes Act (PDF) and NCLB. About 10 bloggers participated, and it mostly ran like a "normal" press conference -- people asking questions based on their interests and concerns as much as anything else, no big news made. [Alexander still sounds PO'd about the TIF funding having been blocked, and has that politicians' habit of referring to long-ago events.]

Substantively, it's pretty interesting that Alexander and others got the authorizing and appropriating committee heads to sign off and let the bill go straight to the floor, effectively bypassing NCLB and HEA reauthorization processes. That doesn't happen that often. However, it'll be a miracle if the proposal doesn't attract a lot of amendments and gets through the House and into law, popular as "competitiveness" may be. And then of course it's mostly about appropriations after that.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Best Blog Posts Of The Week

The 110th carnival of education blogs is up and open for business over at The Education Wonks, including some interesting posts about where education fits into the Presidential campaign.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Fly-Blast: Best of The PEN NewsBlast and the Fordham Gadfly

As per usual, it's too late in the week for me to do much more than point you to this week's Gadfly and NewsBlast and wish you the best.

Some worthwhile-looking posts from the Blast include PLAYING SCHOOL IN KATRINA�S WAKE, about the "new tangle of independently operated educational experiments" in NOLA, MANY STATES ARE LAX IN THEIR OVERSIGHT OF CHILD CARE CENTERS, which makes you wonder about how well states are going to monitor universal pre-K programs, and -- why not? THE CASE FOR NATIONAL STANDARDS IN SCHOOL REFORM.

Some interesting-seeming posts from The Gadfly include Three cheers for Steve Jobs, about Jobs' recent attack on teachers unions, X marks the spot, the Gadfly Show (Mr. Hess goes to Selma), reader nomination for big ideas in education, and Fordham is pregnant, in which a reader finds new ways to describe Fordham's awkward recent weeks on NCLB.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eduwonk Round-Up

Some really good stuff dug up at Eduwonk this week, including a snippet from Obama on education at NPR (Education And Race), a link to a pro-NCLB retelling of the "football story" where everyone has to win the championship or else (NCLB: The Tilson Version), a thing about how TFA made it into the Oscars (An Inconvenient Truth), and some questions about how charter schools will play in the upcoming election (Harbingers).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Week In Review

Not bad, for a holiday-shortened, Congress in recess, Anna Nicole/Britney-fied week:

Best Of The Week
Remembering Shanker
Kids, The Internet, & Adult Fears

What Passes For Ideas These Days
Candidates: Take Your Pick Of Education Plans
NCLB Alternative Unveiled Today
What Is "Adequate"? School Finance Suits In The States

Foundation Follies
Flipper Finn?
What I Really Want from The Ed Sector
Apple & Dell Square Off On Teachers Unions

Reading First
No One Cares About Local Control Anymore
The Monitor Vs. the Daily: Different Takes On RF

Media & Blog Watch
Grownups Needed On The Blogosphere
The "Moving Across The Country" Anecdote
Different Takes On NAEP High School Reports

School Life
It's All In Your Head: Student Perceptions & Performance
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?
This Is Not Your Father's Origami

Posted by Margaret Paynich at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An Invitation: More Grownups On The Blogosphere

Much as some would want it thought of as a fully-formed and sufficient world, it's no big secret that much of the current universe of education blogs --policy oriented ones in particular -- sorely lack key ingredients like deep experience, reflectiveness, and -- how to put this delicately? -- modesty. It's all Fox News and the Daily Show, not much NPR or PBS.

Now imagine a world in which some good number of the most knowledgeable and experienced folks in education are present in the blogosphere to comment directly on the issues of the day or week, rather than the current array of ideologues, know-nothings, and self-promoters?

Well, it's coming. Little by little, bit by bit, the "grownups" are coming to the blogosphere. A little birdie tells me that, starting Monday, the indefatigable Diane Ravitch and the inestimable Deborah Meier are going to be starting their online adventure at EdWeek.org.

With any luck, more will soon follow. Anyone else out there who wants to join in -- occasionally or regularly -- just let me know. It's as easy as sending an email, only a lot more fun. Plus which, we really, really need you.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

He's Been Disqualified

The inimitable Casey Lartigue complains (rightly) about being excluded from Hot For Education 2007 "right in the middle of black history month." Check it out here: I've been disqualified

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"Placed" Items: What The Other Blogs Don't Tell You

Like me (see below), at least a couple of other blogs including edspresso (here) and eduwonk (here) have linked to the thing about how the NEA opposes incentive pay. But what they don't tell you is that the item was sent to them (ie, "placed") by the Republican Senate communications shop, which of course has an interest in making Dems and the NEA look bad. I think that's worth knowing. Not sure why the others didn't mention it.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Teachers Gone Wild... On YouTube

Thanks to DA Daily for this link to an LA Times story about angry teachers and other unauthorized school-based videos that are being put up on YouTube and other video sites.

Surf here for clips of angry teachers.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

EdWeek's Latest Blog

Well, it took less than a month for This Week In Education to lose its standing as EdWeek's newest blog.

But the newbie isn't the Ravitch-Meiers confab that many of us have been expecting. Instead, its a blog focused on ELL called Learning the Language, written by EdWeek assistant editor Mary Ann Zehr.

Congrats, condolences, and welcome.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When NCLB Opponents Make You Wince

Once in a while, Sherman Dorn and I agree about something, and this is one of those times. "There are plenty of ways I can criticize NCLB and its implementation," writes Dorn in this post (Ugly arguments against NCLB), "but to whine that it drains resources for the gifted is one of the more disturbing arguments I've read (and today's story by Joseph Berger isn't the first time it's appeared in the New York Times)."

Posted by Alexander Russo at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Best Of The Blogs -- Early Edition

I'm jumping the gun here a little bit, since we're hosting the Carnival Of Education tomorrow, but here are a couple of blog posts that I've been meaning to highlight:

Teacher Pandering Getting Stale? The Chalkboard
Newsweek's Jonathan Alter says it is time for America to stop pandering to teachers, and uses the "hack" word to describe Democratic politicians who engage in the most hard-core bootlicking.

Competition or Criticism How To Best Motivate America's Schools? OUP Blog
Patricia Graham questions the best techniques for reforming America's schools.

Last but not least, you can find a weeklong rumble over various NCLB issues between Dianne Piche, Joel Packer, and Mike Petrilli at edspresso. But we already know who's going to win that debate, don't we? Or at least, who's not going to.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More Newspapers With Education Blogs - Finally

Last summer, I somewhat over-enthusiastically predicted that there would be a big surge in newspapers with education blogs (Everybody On The Blogging Bandwagon).

Well, that didn't pan out exactly, but they're slowly coming on line. And the latest is just started at the St. Petersburg Times in FLA, where Jeff Solocheck is up and running with The Gradebook. Good luck, Jeff! Welcome to the edusphere.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On The Internet, Everyone's Got Lots Of Readers

People always ask me how many folks read this blog, and I always tell them "One or two" -- which isn't all that far off. It's quality, not quantity.

Others are taking a different tack, however. The NSBA's Board Buzz recently claimed that it had 100,000 unique visitors per month. Wow. The PEN Newsblast says it's "informing 250,000 readers." Impressive. And EdNews says it's got almost 2 million readers. Amazing.

But there's no common or independent ranking system, so they can pretty much say what they want. In which case, I'd like it known that I'm 6'2", 215 lbs, with abs of steel.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Other Kind Of Pay For Performance

Along with the recent spread of teacher-focused PFP experiments has come a similar slew of initiatives focused on paying kids (and their parents) for doing helpful things like passing tests and improving attendance. Here, Joanne Jacobs describes the latest (Paying students for performance). Recently, NYC major Bloomberg proposed paying parents for students' attendance -- something that apparently worked quite well in Mexico.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The PEN NewsBlast, In Summary

There's lots of good stuff as usual in the PEN NewsBlast (NewsBlast)t, though I wish they'd understand how hard it is to read anything after Happy Hour has started. The cutoff is Thursdays at 4 -- how many times do I have to tell them? Some of the standouts this week include a Local Education Fund handbook, and a peek into the secret world of grantmaking.

Posted by Alexander Russo at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Great Blog Writing

Every week, The Education Wonks organize an amazing Carnival Of Education Blogs that includes dozens and dozens of author-submitted blog posts.

Every once in a while, I take my own look at the education blogs and come up with my own favorite posts – usually ones that are particularly counterintuitive, insightful, or well-written.

Click below to see some recent favorites. I guarantee you'll find at least a couple that you really like -- especially the funny ones.

Continue reading "Great Blog Writing" »

Posted by Alexander Russo at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AFT Blog Scores President's Education Agenda

Kudos to the AFTies for being first to find and link to the President's education agenda, such as it is, in tonight's State of the Union. It's nothing unexpected, but it's the latest and offers some hints and details. Can we start the drinking game now, or do we have to wait until he actually starts talking?

Posted by Alexander Russo at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Catching Up With The EduBlogs

The Eduwonks point to a school where the Feds have required cheerleading for girls' sports as well as boys' (Federally-mandated Cheerleading). Jeff Jarvis discusses new ideas about spreading technology access (Two laptops per child ). Joe Williams at The Chalkboard says a top NYC education official is jumping ship (Michele Cahill To Carnegie). Richard Lee Colvin points to an LA Times story about an elementary school story that's turning things around (Leadership Helps Compton School Soar). Eduwonk spanks Kansas for being crazy (What Is The Matter With Kansas?). Joanne Jacobs digs up an NPR correspondent's views on black achievement (Can do). The Hall Monitor finds the state's HQT report predictable (No surprises).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Russo On The HotSeat

From all the laughter in the background, I think Mike Petrilli and Rick Hess must do some mid-day drinking as part of their weekly Gadfly Show. Not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, being on the show was a lot of fun, and they were kind and open-minded to have me on despite my being an early critic of the podcast (and generally skeptical about podcasts that aren't This American Life or the latest episode of "Lost"). They asked about how this blog came to be at EdWeek (I pitched it to them), and about whether I've changed my mind about the do-ability of national standards (not yet), about why I'm so bad at math (my Montessori education), and why I'm so harsh on Andy (I'm a bad person). Here's last week's episode (audio): Average Yak Poundage. The new one will probably be up later today (Thursday).

Posted by Alexander Russo at 5:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This Week in Education

Alexander Russo's inside scoop on education news.

Written by former Senate education staffer and journalist Alexander Russo, This Week in Education covers education news, policymakers, and trends with a distinctly political edge. (For archives prior to January 2007, please click here.)

November 2, 2007

No Crony Left Behind

Comply, Or Perish, Says NEA To Congress

Brittanic Blogs

November 1, 2007

Blogosphere Blitz

Vivid Writing About Urban Education

October 31, 2007

Knocking On Edu-Neighbors' Doors

Peas In A Pod? We Wouldn't Last A Minute.

October 30, 2007

A Quick Spin Around The Edusphere

October 29, 2007

Around The Blogs

October 24, 2007

Around The Blogs, Noontime Edition

Best Of The Education Blogs, Early Edition

October 22, 2007

A Quick Spin Around The Blogs

"Honk If You Have An EdWeek Blog"

October 18, 2007

Best Of The Blogs

October 17, 2007

Mad Crushes, Hypocritical Teachers, Carey Vs. Rothstein, & More

October 16, 2007

A Quick Spin Around The Blogs

October 15, 2007

Once Around The Blogosphere

October 11, 2007

Blog Roundup

October 10, 2007

The Best Of The Carnival

Around The Blogs

October 9, 2007

Best Of The Blogs

October 4, 2007

ASCD SmartBlogs

SuperTutors, School Closings, Less NOLA, USDE Blog

October 3, 2007

Women's Soccer Player Of The Year (Marta) Loves The Carnival

Wednesday Blog Roundup

October 2, 2007

Best Of The Blogs -- Tuesday Edition

How Schools Are Like Sweatshops

October 1, 2007

Best Of The Blogs

September 26, 2007

Stephen Colbert Is The Perfect Teach For America Candidate

September 25, 2007

LA Times Revamps, Relaunches Education Blog

September 21, 2007

TAPPED In

September 19, 2007

Two More EdWeek.org Blogs Online

Race & Retaliation At A Louisiana High School

September 17, 2007

I Heart D-Ed Reckoning

September 14, 2007

Wait, Didn't I Read About That Somewhere Else?

Blogger Calls Out House Education Chair

September 10, 2007

Don't Name Your Blogs Like I Have

August 16, 2007

Exploding Playground Wood Chips ... And More

August 10, 2007

Friday Video Snippet ("Test The Kids!") & A New Blog

July 27, 2007

Little Action, Lots Of Blogging

July 19, 2007

Best Of The Blogs

July 16, 2007

Now Blogging NCLB: The Hoff

July 13, 2007

Yet Another Thing For Chancellor Klein To Worry About

July 11, 2007

Carnival Time Vs. The Mustache

Who Decides What's Important -- Readers, Or Editors?