I attended an interesting event in Washington yesterday: a conference celebrating the 20th anniversary of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for the NAEP. The gathering brought together a lot of people from the nation's capitol and outside the Beltway who have been instrument... Read Full Post >
Dear Diane, A great Tuesday letter. It has outraged some of my friends—whose strategic approach now is to applaud anything moving in our direction and speak quietly about anything we profoundly disagree with. Yes, alas: Duncan’s office is not yet offering a change either of us can believ... Read Full Post >
The New York City school district has commissioned what is believed to be the first standardized test for assessing English-language learners who are "students with interrupted formal education," or SIFE, and has just distributed it to schools, I report in an article published today at edweek.org. ... Read Full Post >
Dear Deborah, I have been watching and listening to our new secretary of education, trying to understand his views on the most important issues facing our schools and the nation's children. I wanted to believe candidate Barack Obama when he said that he would introduce real change and restore hope... Read Full Post >
Dear Diane, Thanks for “nailing” Nicholas Kristof. Another very well-meaning ally. With friends like Kristof we... . Kristof ought to read Rothstein et al more carefully on the complexity of the relationship between the economy and schooling. The lapse between schooling data and economic data ... Read Full Post >
Dear Diane, Fair enough. The “idea” might even be good (downplaying college education and going straight for occupational education at 18), but getting from here to there is a puzzle to me, too, even if it were the right idea. Under far more egalitarian circumstances I can see how we might re-o... Read Full Post >
Dear Deborah, I acknowledge that I have been influenced in my thinking by my frequent exchanges with you. A friend warned me the other day that I have been giving aid and comfort to the anti-testing crowd, which he said was a terrible thing. I think he got it wrong. I am not (nor have I ever been)... Read Full Post >
In case you missed it, the TIMSS results were released this week, and U.S. students didn't fare too badly, unless you count the point difference between them and their 4th and 8th grade peers in Singapore, Korea, and Hong Kong. The report is here, Ed Week's story here, and a critique of the U.S. pe... Read Full Post >
Dear Deborah, You quote John Goodlad, who asks “Whatever became of the idea that representative democracy is the essential starting point for public education?” This is an important question to raise today, as I suspect that our political elites have lost faith in this idea. Take, for example... Read Full Post >
Dear Deborah, I wish, as you suggested, that we could have some influence on the national debate. Even when we don’t agree on the specifics, we at least have the humility to know we don’t have all the answers to the problems. For the next few years, much will depend on decisions soon to be made... Read Full Post >
