Little Eddie the Liar?
Have you ever been accused of saying something you didn’t? You know, like the time your mom thought you nodded slightly after she asked if a new dress made her look fat, but you were really just looking at ball of fuzz on the floor? Or when someone accused you of being a data-distorting Common […]
New PARCC Scores Are Ugly, but the Real Question Is Why
(An important note for today’s post before we get started: PARCC results cannot and should not be compared to previous TCAP or CSAP results. Seriously, don’t do that. Yes, I’m looking at you.) A lot of kids my age would love to go to the park on a fine Friday like this one. I, however, […]
Don’t Fall Victim to MisNAEPery
It’s NAEP season, my friends. The 2015 National Assessment of Education Progress results were released this week to a barrage of spin, rhetoric, and general “misNAEPery.” I’ve mostly seen this misNAEPery pop up in the form of certain folks using the data to show that education reform efforts aren’t working. (For now, we’ll ignore the […]
New York Charter Success: You Know How to Spell It
It’s often been said “you can’t argue with success” (or Success). But that doesn’t stop some from trying. Last year, I pointed out the collective jaw-dropping that took place when test results came back from students in the Harlem Success Academies, a New York City charter network that overwhelmingly serves poor and disadvantaged families. Just […]
A Rocketship Visit to Jeffco: More Than Just Eddie’s Big Dream?
There’s a lot of attention on the school board politics in Jeffco these days. Dealing with it sometimes is a necessity. But to me it’s a shame, given the pockets of great need for students in the Jefferson and neighboring Alameda articulation areas, just west of Denver. Last November I first highlighted the significant positive […]
Fact-Challenged (or Math-Challenged?) Jeffco Recallers Send Wrong Messages
You can learn a lot by observing people’s actions, not just their words. How do you “get politics out of our schools”? More politics. How do you “restore democracy”? By trying to overturn the will of the voters. How do you “fight to save education”? By feeding people lies and misinformation rather than encourage critical […]
Colorado More Leader than Laggard: A Report Card Eddie Can (Mostly) Enjoy
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you probably know I have a fondness for report cards. A certain kind, anyway. Just as long as it’s not my report card going home to my parents about my performance. Seriously, though, I like to talk about report cards related to education policy — […]
How Far Will Colorado Reform “Human Capital” to Win Race to the Top?
Education leaders here in Colorado have shown a great deal of interest in the federal Race to the Top dollars, a multi-billion dollar program that we are told is designed to spur reform. In order to be eligible for rewards, states will be rated according how well their policies and goals line up with innovative […]
Real Alternative Certification May Actually Help Boost Student Learning
I’ve told you before about groups like ABCTE that are reaching out to top-notch professionals and making it easier for them to make an effective transition into classroom teaching. But where’s the proof this is a good idea for the bottom line of education?
In the new edition of Education Next, Daniel Nadler and Paul Peterson […]
Hoping Race to the Top Spurs Colorado Funding, Teacher, STEM Innovations
Katie Redding at the Colorado Independent reported yesterday on the official recommendations for Colorado’s application to receive Race to the Top federal reform dollars. One of my Education Policy Center friends got a chance to chime in:
Ben DeGrow, education policy analyst for the free-market Independence Institute, found much to like about the application, particularly the […]
Defenders of Fuzzy Math Do Students a Disservice
The longer a student stays in the Colorado public school system, the less likely he is to be proficient in math.
