Kids make gains in reading and math
Associated Press, April 28, 2009
Tom Loveless (Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
Kids in the U.S. are improving in reading and math, with low-achieving students making the biggest gains...
Education Next Forum on the Future of No Child Left Behind: Mend It? Or End It?
Business Wire, April 28, 2009
John E. Chubb (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) and Education Next (Publication) are featured in this news release.
The question about what to do with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, an issue likely to be taken up by Congress this year as it is brought forward for reauthorization, took center stage again as the Obama administration sent signals this month that it is planning to strengthen the law, a clear message that the President supports an even stronger federal role in education policy...
From Hoover Press: Learning from No Child Left Behind: How and Why the Nation’s Most Important but Controversial Education Law Should Be Renewed, by Hoover fellow John E. Chubb
Business Wire, April 22, 2009
John E. Chubb (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is featured in this news release. Terry M. Moe (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned in this news release.
The controversial No Child Left Behind program has generated much debate since its passage in 2002...
Edge Found for District-Run Schools
Education Week, April 22, 2009
(Subscription Required)
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
A new study of the Philadelphia schools has found that students in district-run schools posted larger test-score gains than those attending city schools run by private managers...
$3.1-billion economic stimulus windfall offers a chance to reform California schools, top education official says
Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2009
Williamson M. Evers (Research Fellow) is quoted in this article.
As California received billions of dollars Friday to stave off widespread teacher layoffs, the state's highest elected education official pledged to reform schools, aligning academic standards with other states, rewarding teachers who work in the most challenging classrooms and improving student assessments...
Why NAEP Matters
Gotham Schools, April 17, 2009
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned.
NYC Chancellor Joel Klein’s response in Wednesday’s New York Times to Diane Ravitch’s op-ed last week provides a lot to chew on...
California Schools Superintendent Wants to Water Down Academic Standards in Name of "21st-Century Skills"
Ed Policy (Blog), April 17, 2009
by Williamson M. Evers (Research Fellow)
California State Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell spoke to the annual EdSource Forum in Irvine today (April 17)...
Supreme Court Preview: Horne v. Flores
Education Week, April 13, 2009
(Subscription Required)
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Paul T. Hill (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) are mentioned.
This is the first in a series of previews in the School Law Blog on the three education cases being argued in the U.S. Supreme Court this month...
The Bloom Could Not Survive
Cato Institute, April 8, 2009
Terry M. Moe (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Michael J. Petrilli (Research Fellow) are mentioned.
“Among several outstanding nominations made by President-elect Obama, I believe Arne Duncan is the best.”...
President Obama's Manufactured Crisis Speech
Education Week, March 31, 2009
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
I want to go back and discuss President Obama’s big speech on education...
STEM Education
Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 30, 2009
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned in this article.
The STEM education initiative is long overdue-thank God it is here at last!...
Will Public Education Survive the Embrace of Big Money?
Education Week, March 24, 2009
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
My guess is that we will have a long time, not months, but years, to discuss national standards and a national curriculum...
Put to the test
Tallahassee Democrat, March 16, 2009
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) are mentioned in this article.
Don't talk about it — be about it...
One Principal Knows What to Do With Stimulus Money. Do Others?
Washington Post, March 16, 2009
(Registration Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned in this article.
I doubt we will get much school improvement out of the roughly $100 billion in stimulus funds the Obama administration is about to spend on education...
Teacher Rx: The Perfect Storm For Reform
Huffington Post, March 12, 2009
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted.
No reform is more critical to closing the nation's shameful achievement gap than boosting the quality of teachers in high-poverty schools...
Stimulating a Race to the Top
Education Week, March 11, 2009
(Subscription Required)
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ), Michael J. Petrilli (Research Fellow)
Public education stands to receive some $100 billion from the enormous economic-stimulus package enacted last month by Congress, about one-eighth of the total...
21st-Century Skills, Accountability, and Curriculum
Education Week, March 10, 2009
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Last week, I attended three different conferences in Washington, D.C....
Can we get to national standards, considering the pitfalls?
Education Gadfly (Thomas B. Fordham Institute), March 5, 2009
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) Tom Loveless (Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned.
My feet aren't frozen, but as the march toward national or "common" academic standards trudges through deepening snow, they're getting chilly...
Checker Finn's Seven Worries about National Standards
Ed Policy (Blog), March 5, 2009
by Williamson M. Evers (Research Fellow) Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is featured. Tom Loveless (Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned.
Checker Finn, one of the nation's leading proponents of national standards, writes in Gadfly today (Mar. 5) that he has accumulated seven worries...
National Standards Gain Steam
Education Week, March 4, 2009
(Subscription Required)
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Tom Loveless (Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) are quoted in this article.
National standards—once the untouchable "third rail" of American education policy—now have the backing of the nation’s governors, a growing number of education leaders, and the U.S. secretary of education...
What About 21st Century Skills?
Education Week, March 3, 2009
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Since you brought up the subject of “21st Century skills,” it seemed like an opportune time to talk a bit about this subject...
National Education Standards: Here They Come Again!
History News Network, March 2, 2009
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned.
Remarkably, Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, has come out in favor of national education standards (Washington Post, February 16, 2009)...
NCLB: Act II
Education Week, February 24, 2009
(Subscription Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned.
At the National Governors Association's winter meeting this weekend, most news organizations focused on some governors' reluctance to take portions of the stimulus money...
Is Arne Duncan Really Margaret Spellings in Drag?
Education Week, February 24, 2009
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
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...
Educational patchwork
Las Vegas Sun, February 22, 2009
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
A new study has confirmed what many critics of the No Child Left Behind federal education law have said all along, that many school districts judged as failures would be judged as successes if only they were located in a different state...
Academic standards vary by state, U.S. study finds
Associated Press, February 20, 2009
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
Some schools deemed to be failing in one state would get passing grades in another under the No Child Left Behind law, a national study found...
Education Next: New Study Identifies Classroom Gains in Philadelphia Schools Operated by For-Profit Companies
Business Wire, February 10, 2009
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this news release. Education Next (Publication) is mentioned in this news release.
Philadelphia schools managed by for-profit companies outperform district-managed schools in math, and for-profits fare better in both reading and math when compared to schools under nonprofit management, according to research by Paul E. Peterson and Matthew M. Chingos of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University...
To Close a School: A Decision Rooted in Data, but Colored by Nuance
New York Times, February 1, 2009
(Registration Required)
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
On a recent December morning, a trio of education higher-ups arrived unannounced in the principal’s office at Public School 90 in the Bronx...
Getting Accountability Right
Education Week, January 28, 2009
(Subscription Required)
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) are quoted in this article.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act has succeeded in highlighting the poor math and reading skills of disadvantaged children...
Improve the structure and they will stay
University News (University of Missouri-Kansas City), January 26, 2009
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is featured in this article.
Largely unsuccessful compared to the performance of other school districts across the country, some say the Kansas City school district is in need of a new beginning...
Advice for Duncan: The Professor
Washington Post, January 12, 2009
(Registration Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is featured in this article.
Chicago public schools chief Arne Duncan goes before a Senate committee on Tuesday for a confirmation hearing...
The Productivity Imperative
Education Week, January 7, 2009
(Subscription Required)
by Paul T. Hill (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force )
The current economic crisis will challenge just about every public- and private-sector institution in America...
The Business Model and Its Discontents
Education Week, September 30, 2008
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
You were a great partner in our debate last week in Washington, where the two of us—accustomed to differing—sparred with former governor of Colorado Roy Romer (who now chairs the group ED in ’08) and Jon Schnur (the founder of New Leaders for New Schools)...
No Child Left Behind: a maligned law that's working
Scripps Howard News Service, September 25, 2008
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
Guess what? Because of the much-maligned No Child Left Behind law, fewer children are being left behind in America's public schools, and you can thank the even more maligned president of the United States for that...
The Dumbing Down of 'Accountability'
Education Week, September 23, 2008
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
I heard from a friend who attended the New York state Senate hearing where you testified...
Murray's Truths
Weekly Standard, September 22, 2008
(Subscription Required)
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)
Charles Murray has written a bracing book about education, one determined not only to upset apple carts, but explode them...
'A Nation At Risk' 25 years later
News Herald (NC), September 16, 2008
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted in this article.
The education report "A Nation At Risk" was a call to action by President Ronald Reagan...
The Law that Dare Not Speak Its Name
National Review Online, September 9, 2008
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
As the new school year and the climactic period of the presidential election both commence, the future of federal education policy is murkier than ever before...
Don't Know Much About History
Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2008
(Subscription Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned in this article.
Republicans May Waver Over NCLB
Education Week, September 3, 2008
(Subscription Required)
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Michael J. Petrilli (Research Fellow) are quoted in this article.
At the Republican National Convention in St. Paul this week, President Bush was expected to anoint Sen. John McCain as his successor and the new leader of the party...
This Strange New Era of "Reform"
Education Week, September 2, 2008
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Welcome back from vacation...
Survey Gives Obama Edge on Education
Education Week, August 27, 2008
(Subscription Required)
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article. Education Next (Publication) is mentioned in this article.
A larger proportion of the American public thinks that the Democrats are more likely to strengthen public schools than Republicans, according to a pair of opinion polls released recently...
When Learning Has a Limit
Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2008
(Subscription Required)
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) are mentioned in this article.
In the early 1980s, my mother taught at an Oakland, Calif., community college...
Answers About Charter Schools, Part 2
New York Times, August 21, 2008
(Registration Required)
Caroline M. Hoxby (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned.
James D. Merriman IV, the chief executive of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, is answering City Room readers’ questions this week about charter schools in New York City...
Bush education law: shift ahead?
Christian Science Monitor, August 21, 2008
Education Next (Publication) is mentioned in this article.
This could be the last back-to-school season for No Child Left Behind...
Poll Gives Obama Edge on Improving Schools
Education Week, August 20, 2008
(Subscription Required)
Education Next (Publication) is mentioned in this article.
A greater proportion of Americans think that Sen. Barack Obama would be more likely than Sen. John McCain to improve public schools as president, according to a poll being released today...
Poll shows unrest about education system
Grand Rapids Press (MI), August 14, 2008
Hoover Institution is featured.
Grand Rapids Public Schools are embarking on an all-out blitz to boost the district's image, and a national poll shows the city schools -- and their suburban friends, too -- might have some work to do...
Poll Finds Drop in Public’s Regard for Schools
Education Week, August 12, 2008
(Subscription Required)
Education Next (Publication) and Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) are mentioned.
Americans express less confidence in the nation’s public schools and less support for the renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act than they did a year ago, according to the results of an opinion poll released today...
Poll: U.S. tepid on school performance
United Press International, August 12, 2008
Hoover Institution is quoted in this article.
A poll released Tuesday indicated Americans are losing confidence in public schools but see the Democrats as the party most capable of stemming the decline...
Confidence in Public Schools and NCLB Declining, Democrats Favored to Fix Nation's Education Problems, Education Next/PEPG National Survey Finds
Business Wire, August 12, 2008
Education Next (Publication) and Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) are mentioned in this news release.
Public confidence in America’s public schools and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) declined in 2008, according to findings from the second annual national survey by Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) at Harvard University...
Differentiated accountability
Washington Times, July 30, 2008
by Margaret (Macke) Raymond (Research Fellow)
While endless discussions of No Child Left Behind play out in Congress, the two presidential candidates clearly recognize the American public endorses the basic idea of holding schools accountable for performance...
Narrative Buster: Report Cites Improvement in Test Scores Since Enactment of NCLB
News Busters, Media Research Center, July 29, 2008
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted.
A multi-year study designed to report on the effects of the much maligned 2002 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has determined that students achieved moderate to large gains on state tests in math and reading...
The Vision Vacuum
Education Week, July 17, 2008
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned.
"You're too young to be this cynical, " he said, staring across his desk at me with a perplexed half smile...
S. Florida falls short of federal standards for students
Miami Herald, July 9, 2008
Michael J. Petrilli (Research Fellow) is quoted in this article.
Only about a third of schools in South Florida and a quarter statewide met federal government standards for student performance, the state Department of Education said Tuesday...
The ghetto of gifted education
Vero Beach Press-Journal (FL), July 8, 2008
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
“Can we be excellent and equal too?”...
Obama’s F
National Review Online, July 7, 2008
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)
The sky over Washington, D.C., was gray and gloomy this past Saturday when Barack Obama addressed thousands of members of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, who had assembled several blocks from the Capitol for their annual convention...
No Child Left Behind due change
Sand Springs Leader (OK), July 2, 2008
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned in this article.
It is said that confession is good for the soul and so is vindication...
Birthday Thoughts
Education Week, July 2, 2008
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Well, we have been blogging for more than a year now, and there was bound to be a screw-up sooner or later...
6 states to design own plans for fixing schools
Washington Post, July 1, 2008
Margaret (Macke) Raymond (Research Fellow) is quoted in this article.
Six states are getting the OK to write their own prescriptions for ailing schools under the Bush administration's signature education law...
Too many children left behind, groups say
People’s Weekly World, June 30, 2008
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned in this article.
Two new national groups, the Task Force for A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education and the Education Equality Project, have denounced the No Child Left Behind Law as a failure and called for a new course for education that will bring about equal opportunity and educational excellence for the neediest students...
Hard to Take
National Review Online, June 23, 2008
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)
Hard Times at Douglass High, a documentary that airs tonight on HBO, is subtitled “A No Child Left Behind Report Card.”...
No Child Gets Ahead
National Review Online, June 19, 2008
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ), Michael J. Petrilli (Research Fellow)
In his seminal 1961 book, Excellence, John W. Gardner posed the question, “can we be equal and excellent too?”...
2 New Coalitions Seek Influence on Campaigns
Education Week, June 18, 2008
(Subscription Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned in this article.
Should schools be held primarily responsible for improving student achievement, or do they need help from health and social programs to ensure their students’ success?...
Is More Testing the New Civil Rights Agenda?
Education Week, June 17, 2008
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
To answer your question, “How come, since there are more teachers than policymakers,” the policymakers get to run the show?...
A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education
Huffington Post, June 10, 2008
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned.
A new task force of national policy experts with diverse religious and political affiliations, in public policy fields including education, social welfare, health, housing, and civil rights today launched a campaign calling for a "Broader, Bolder Approach to Education" to break a decades-long cycle of reform efforts that promised much and have achieved far too little...
The Battle Over Size
Newsweek, May 29, 2008
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted in this article.
It is 8:45 on a raw spring morning in a hardscrabble section of the Bronx...
Education Reacts to Senator Kennedy's Illness
US News & World Report, May 23, 2008
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings hasn't always seen eye to eye with Sen. Ted Kennedy...
Groups Urge That FERPA Rules Give Researchers Access to Data
Education Week, May 21, 2008
(Subscription Required)
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
The Department of Education received some 125 comments on proposed new regulations for the main federal school privacy law suggesting revisions to make sure student data remain accessible to researchers, to enable states to better track student outcomes, and to protect school officials who disclose student information to ensure the health and safety of students and others...
Virtual schools see strong growth, calls for more oversight
Christian Science Monitor, May 14, 2008
Hoover Institution is mentioned in this article.
Rather than send her kids off on the yellow bus, Briana LeClaire has school come to her home...
Study gives Fla. C-plus on No Child Left Behind standards
Associated Press, May 12, 2008
Hoover Institution is mentioned in this article.
Florida rated a C-plus for difficulty on reading and math tests used to meet requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act last year, a study released Monday showed...
Presidential Candidates Have Little Opportunity to Talk About Education
US News & World Report, May 8, 2008
Michael J. Petrilli (Research Fellow) is quoted in this article.
They're like the kid in the back of the classroom with his hand raised, whom the teacher never gets to call on because the other students are shouting for attention...
The Delusion of Accountability
Gotham Gazette, May 5, 2008
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
In the six years since Mayor Michael Bloomberg won control of the city's public schools, installed Joel Klein as chancellor and instituted sweeping changes, teachers, parents and other New Yorkers have differed sharply over the city's education policies and their effects on more than one million students...
A Nation at Risk: Worth Reading Again
Common Core, April 28, 2008
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
April 2008 marks the 25th anniversary of “A Nation at Risk,” the report on the condition of American education that continues to be controversial to this day...
Ballot question: Who's that?
Charlotte Observer, April 26, 2008
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted in this article.
As you'll be reminded when you go to the polls for the May 6 primary, North Carolina elects too many state officials...
Segregate This
National Review Online, April 15, 2008
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)
Those who divvy up by race strain to justify it...
5 Myths About No Child Left Behind
Washington Post, March 30, 2008
(Registration Required)
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
It's the 800-pound gorilla of U.S. education....
First Things First In School Reform
Investor’s Business Daily, March 3, 2008
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) and Frederick M. Hess are mentioned in this article.
No Child Left Behind is once again under attack for its focus on basic skills...
Com“Pell”ing Proposal
National Journal, January 30, 2008
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned.
The president wasn’t wrong when he said during his State of the Union address that the No Child Left Behind Act is “succeeding,” though he cherry-picked the available evidence to document his claim...
Life in the post-Gutenberg age
Washington Times, January 7, 2008
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
Good theater demands an intermission...
Ravitch Reports: Dems Don't Want Big Changes to NCLB
Education Week, November 21, 2007
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Toward the end of her latest entry on the Building Bridges blog, Diane Ravitch reports on her inside knowledge about how much Democrats want to change NCLB...
No Child Left Behind: Pass or Fail?
Hoover Institution, November 21, 2007
This fall, Congress will reexamine the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to decide whether it merits reauthorization, revamping, or outright dismissal...
Study Finds No ‘Educational Triage’ Driven by NCLB
Education Week, October 31, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Education Next (Publication) is mentioned in this article.
A new study offers evidence to dispute the notion that the federal No Child Left Behind Act is pressuring educators in struggling schools to focus on the “bubble kids”—students who fall just below the passing threshold on state tests—at the expense of students at the high and low ends of the achievement spectrum...
New Study Finds Schools Don’t Target Resources to Students Near Proficiency Threshold in Response to NCLB
Business Wire, October 31, 2007
Education Next (Publication) is featured in this news release.
A new study in the winter 2008 issue of Education Next finds no evidence of schools engaging in “educational triage” -- targeting students who are near the proficiency threshold for more attention and resources -- to ensure they meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act...
Easy test leaves Maryland behind
Baltimore Sun, October 18, 2007
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)
The No Child Left Behind law, which is up for reauthorization, is suffering...
Checker & Rick: Change NCLB's Goals
Education Week, October 15, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned.
Chester E. Finn Jr. and Frederick M. Hess (aka Checker and Rick) keep saying that NCLB, as as its currently constructed, won't result in better schools...
When state proficiency standards are lowered, there will be No Child Left Behind
San Francisco Chronicle, October 14, 2007
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)
California's state test scores leveled off in 2007, after having jumped seven percentage points in the previous two years...
No Child Left Behind: Hands-On Where It Should Be Hands-Off and Vice Versa
Huffington Post, October 13, 2007
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted.
As Bush prods Congress to reauthorize No Child Left Behind he has rightfully taken a tremendous amount of heat for his seemingly well-intentioned but poorly-executed education law...
Leave no (none, zero, nada) child behind?
The Education Gadfly, October 11, 2007
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
Passed by Congress in late 2001 and signed by President George W. Bush one year after his inauguration, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the most ambitious federal education statute ever...
Michigan's tests leave children behind
Detroit News, October 10, 2007
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)
Low passing scores create 'proficiency' illusion that sets up students for failure...
Let’s Scrap No Child Left Behind
RedState, October 9, 2007
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted.
I have been increasingly outspoken about the negative impact that NCLB has had on our children’s education, and consequently on our children’s future...
Letters: Many Children Are Being Left Behind
New York Times, October 8, 2007
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned in this article.
Re “Get Congress Out of the Classroom,” by Diane Ravitch (Op-Ed, Oct. 3)...
Dumbing Education Down
Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2007
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
President George W. Bush's signature education reform -- the No Child Left Behind Act -- is coming in for a close inspection in Congress...
Proficiency Illusion
National Review Online, October 4, 2007
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)
Tests are getting easier, but student scores on them are stagnating...
Ravitch: Feds, States Should Switch Roles
Education Week, October 3, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is featured.
Diane Ravitch, one of the nation's most influential education writers, gets prime real estate on today's New York Times op-ed page to argue for dramatic changes to NCLB...
Get Congress Out of the Classroom
New York Times, October 3, 2007
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Despite the rosy claims of the Bush administration, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 is fundamentally flawed...
False Prophet
City Journal, October 1, 2007
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned in this article.
Jonathan Kozol has a new education book out, which means that he hasn’t been eating...
The Suburban Schools Relief Act of 2007
National Review Online, September 14, 2007
by Michael J. Petrilli (Research Fellow)
The political strategy of George Miller and Buck McKeon, respectively the chairman and top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, has now come into full relief: to get an NCLB reauthorization bill through Congress by appeasing the suburbs...
No Question Left Behind
National Review Online, September 12, 2007
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
With every passing week, the 110th Congress looks less likely to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the fate of which will therefore hinge on the 2008 election...
No Child Left Behind: What Would Al Say?
Education Week, September 5, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) and Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) are mentioned in this article.
Albert Shanker, the legendary president of the American Federation of Teachers, was a founding father of the modern movement for standards-based education reform in the United States...
No Child Should Assess Individuals As Well
The Post Chronicle, August 22, 2007
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Education Next (Publication) are mentioned in this article.
The No Child Left Behind Act measuring stick needs tinkering to better assess and identify failing schools, a new study reported...
Education Next: NCLB Uses a Flawed Measuring Stick to Judge School Performance
Business Wire, August 22, 2007
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this news release. Education Next (Publication) is mentioned in this news release.
The federal law No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is using the wrong measuring stick to identify failing schools, says Harvard University's Paul E. Peterson in the new issue of Education Next...
School Districts Find Loopholes in No Child Left Behind Law
PBS, August 14, 2007
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is interviewed in this article.
School districts are getting around certain requirements of the No Child Left Behind law by setting the bar measuring student progress low in the beginning....
Senior Fellows Diane Ravitch & Chester Finn: Not By Geeks Alone
Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2007
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow), Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
In a globalizing economy, America's competitive edge depends in large measure on how well our schools prepare tomorrow's workforce...
No Child Left Behind Act in need of supporters in Congress
RightWingWorld, August 2, 2007
Milton Friedman is mentioned.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a U.S. federal law signed on January 8, 2002, by President George W. Bush...
More Folks Like NCLB Than Like Their Local Schools, Says New Poll
Education Week, July 31, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Hoover Institution and Education Next (Publication) and Education Next (Publication) are mentioned.
It's easy to forget that parents and the public don't necessarily think the same things about NCLB that you do -- and that their feelings about NCLB may actually be better than their feelings about their local schools or schools nationwide...
Survey: Public Narrowly Supports NCLB Reauthorization
T.H.E. Journal, July 31, 2007
Hoover Institution and Education Next (Publication) are mentioned in this article.
According to a new survey released this week, a not-so-overwhelming majority of Americans favor reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act with little or no modification...
Lawmaker: No Child Law Should Be Changed
Associated Press, July 30, 2007
(Registration Required)
Hoover Institution and Education Next (Publication) are mentioned in this article.
A revised No Child Left Behind law should include merit pay for teachers and new ways of judging schools, the chairman of the House education committee said Monday...
Education Next: New National Survey Shows Majority of Americans Support Reauthorization of No Child Left Behind
Business Wire, July 30, 2007
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this news release. Education Next (Publication) is featured in this news release. Hoover Institution is mentioned in this news release.
A new national survey by the Hoover Institution’s Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government finds that a majority of the public backs the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the accountability it has brought to public education...
Linear thinking in a political spin
Portsmouth Herald News (NH), July 22, 2007
Hoover Institution is mentioned in this article.
I’m back from vacation and I need to clear the (hot) air (conditioning) comment in my last column before I headed off on that much-needed respite...
Read It and Weep
Weekly Standard, July 16, 2007
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted in this article.
In a classroom at Ginter Park Elementary School, a century-old brick schoolhouse on a dreary, zoned-commercial truck route that bisects a largely African-American neighborhood in Richmond, a third-grade teacher, Laverne Johnson, is doing something that flies in the face of more than three decades of the most advanced pedagogical principles taught at America's top-rated education schools...
Beyond the Basics: Achieving a Liberal Education for All Children
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, July 11, 2007
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ), Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
History offers many explanations for why people should acquire a broad, liberal-arts education...
Question & Answer: The Truth About America's Schools
The American, July 1, 2007
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Is K–12 education really lagging badly, or have we ‘raised our sights’?
Students shortchanged in testing
Salem Statesman Journal (OR), June 24, 2007
Hoover Institution is mentioned in this article.
Oregon's students are held to some of the lowest standards in the nation, according to a recent Gannett News Service analysis of test scores...
State Tests, NAEP Often a Mismatch
Education Week, June 13, 2007
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
Many of the states that claim to have large shares of their students reaching proficiency in reading and mathematics under the No Child Left Behind Act have set less stringent standards for meeting that threshold than lower-performing states, a new federal study finds...
The Chinese work ethic and other news
Education Week, June 11, 2007
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
I hope you had a wonderful trip to China and that you are not too wiped out...
State Tests Show Gains Since NCLB
Education Week, June 6, 2007
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned in this article.
Scores on state tests have increased consistently and significantly in the five years since the No Child Left Behind Act became law, and there’s some evidence that gains that started in the 1990s accelerated after the law’s enactment, a new report concludes...
Education’s Difficult Stage
Gotham Gazette, June 4, 2007
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted.
On most mornings about 1,000 students show up at I.S 287, the Christa McAuliffe School in Bensonhurst Brooklyn...
Narrowing The Grade-School Standards Gap
CBS News, May 30, 2007
Hoover Institution is mentioned in this article.
Good grades always make teachers happy...
Standardizing the Standards
New York Times, May 27, 2007
(Registration Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned in this article.
“I know you’re restless today, but I need to see you sitting at your desks...."
The State of Science Education
Education Week, May 25, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted.
Welcome to today's chat about the release of the NAEP science results and what they tell us about the state of science education in the United States...
Jeb Bush has few regrets on education
Orlando Sentinel, May 20, 2007
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article. Education Next (Publication) and George P. Shultz (Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow) and Edwin Meese III (Distinguished Visiting Fellow ) are mentioned in this article.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush says he wishes he had done a better job of convincing educators and parents that the FCAT exam and other education reforms were necessary and would improve Florida schools...
Spellings to Expand Pilot Test Reversing Order of NCLB Sanctions
Education Week, May 18, 2007
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned in this article.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has announced plans to expand a pilot initiative under which school districts may reverse the order of key consequences for schools’ low performance under the No Child Left Behind Act...
What Do Students Know about History?
Huffington Post, May 18, 2007
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
American students do worse on national tests of American history than any other subject....
Principals Choose Status Quo
New York Sun, May 18, 2007
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted in this article.
Faced with three reform options meant to transform the way schools will be run next year, school principals this week overwhelmingly chose the most familiar of the three, the Department of Education announced yesterday...
US students aren't history whizzes, but they're improving
Christian Science Monitor, May 17, 2007
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted in this article.
The latest report card for America's students bears good news: kids are making gradual progress, especially in younger grades...
Should Data Matter?
Education Week, May 9, 2007
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
As you know, Mark Twain (or Disraeli or someone) once wrote that there are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics...
How School Testing Got Corrupted
Huffington Post, May 3, 2007
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Ask almost any teacher or principal, and they will tell you that testing has gotten out of hand...
Education Next: Education Secretary Margaret Spellings Faces Tough Test in NCLB Reauthorization Fight
Business Wire, May 2, 2007
Education Next (Publication) is featured in this news release.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is likely to be facing the fight of her career when the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) takes center stage in the coming months...
Editorial: No educrat is left behind
TCPalm News, April 26, 2007
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
Well-intentioned, but crippled by manipulation in some states, the federal No Child Left Behind law is up for renewal in Congress...
It’s Not Just the Schools
Education Week, April 18, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
The latest test scores for reading and math from the National Assessment of Educational Progress are bound to inspire renewed doubts about the public school system. ("Students Taking More Demanding Courses," Feb. 28, 2007.)
No Law Left Behind?
Harvard Political Review, April 11, 2007
Caroline M. Hoxby (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
Half a decade after the bipartisan fanfare that accompanied its passage, the Bush Administration’s No Child Left Behind Act comes up for renewal later this year...
Tricks About Kids
Harvard Political Review, April 10, 2007
Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) are quoted in this article. Koret Task Force is mentioned in this article.
79.8 percent of statistics are made up, as the old adage goes...
Educational Inspiration or Failure?
Harvard Political Review, April 10, 2007
Stephen Fletcher and Margaret (Macke) Raymond (Research Fellow) are quoted in this article.
Since its founding in 1990, the non-profit organization Teach for America has worked to narrow the country’s educational achievement gap...
The Future of NCLB
Huffington Post, March 25, 2007
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
The federal education law called No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is due to be renewed this year, but political insiders in Washington predict that Congress will not take action until after the next Presidential election in 2008...
Administration Wants Districts Free to Transfer Teachers
Education Week, March 21, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Hoover Institution is mentioned in this article.
The Bush administration wants district officials to have the freedom to override collective bargaining contracts while staffing their most troubled schools, but the controversial proposal could face an uphill battle against a Democratic-led Congress and the teachers’ unions...
AACTE Warned of Efforts to Harm Public Education
Education Week, March 7, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is featured in this article.
Diane Ravitch, no friend of the current state of teacher education, got a standing ovation from an unlikely crowd last week: a roomful of deans and directors gathered here for the annual conference of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education...
Federalism: The Path to School Choice
Human Events Online, February 20, 2007
Milton Friedman is mentioned in this article.
At a conference last spring, Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman reflected on the state of education reform and the movement to implement widespread school choice...
Fool Me Twice
National Review Online, February 14, 2007
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
With all the trappings of an IMPORTANT WASHINGTON EVENT, including the presence of the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House education committees, the Commission on No Child Left Behind yesterday unveiled a report that should be called “No Idea Left Behind...."
Bush Speech to Showcase Domestic Issues
Associated Press, January 23, 2007
Peter M. Robinson (Research Fellow) is quoted in this article.
Delivering his first State of the Union address to a Democratic-controlled Congress, President Bush hopes to balance a rebuke of his Iraq policy already promised by lawmakers with a high-profile invitation to cooperate on vexing domestic problems...
The Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K-12 Education Presents A Debate on School Reform: Curriculum and Instruction or Markets and Choice?
Business Wire, January 11, 2007
Koret Task Force and Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) and Caroline M. Hoxby (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and E. Donald Hirsch Jr. (Distinguished Visiting Fellow) and Terry M. Moe (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and Herbert J. Walberg (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) and John E. Chubb (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) are mentioned in this news release.
A debate between four of the nation's foremost scholars in education policy on the following resolution...
A Marshall Plan for Teaching
Education Week, January 9, 2007
(Subscription Required)
Hoover Institution is mentioned in this article.
Views about the No Child Left Behind Act are currently as divided as Berlin before the wall came down...
Things Fall Apart: No Child Left Behind Self-Destructs
Huffington Post, December 9, 2006
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted. Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is mentioned.
For the record, my first anti-No Child Left Behind (NCLB) article was commissioned by Newsday in late 2000 and published January 28, 2001...
U.S. Urged to Rethink NCLB ‘Tools’
Education Week, December 6, 2006
(Subscription Required)
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) and Frederick M. Hess are quoted in this article.
With more U.S. public schools entering the restructuring phase under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, experts convened here last week agreed that the remedies for schools and districts that don’t meet their achievement targets have so far had more bark than bite...
NEA stands against real reform to help students
Chicago Sun-Times, December 2, 2006
Eric Hanushek (Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ) is mentioned in this article.
The number of high school dropouts is reaching crisis proportions...
No time to waste in fixing DCPS
Examiner, December 1, 2006
Hoover Institution is mentioned in this article.
Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty promised major changes in the District of Columbia’s Public Schools system...
‘Proficiency for All’ Is an Oxymoron
Education Week, November 29, 2006
(Subscription Required)
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force ) is quoted in this article.
The No Child Left Behind Act requires all students to be proficient by 2014...
Only the Bathwater -- Or the Baby, Too?
Columbia University Teachers College, November 21, 2006
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) is quoted in this article.
If there was a central question at issue during the College's recent two-day symposium on the federal No Child Left Behind Act, it was whether the country should set its sights on more realistic (and potentially more meaningful) achievement targets than NCLB presently endorses, or whether the law's current goal -- of universal student proficiency in reading and math by 2014 -- is the most powerful way to ensure improved outcomes for poor, minority and disabled students...
Education Next: New Study Finds Teacher Certification Matters Little for Student Learning
Business Wire, November 20, 2006
Hoover Institution and Education Next (Publication) are mentioned in this news release.
A new study published in the winter issue of Education Next finds virtually no difference in the average impact on student achievement between traditionally certified teachers in New York City and those who entered teaching without certification, through Teach for America (TFA) or through the city’s Teaching Fellows programs -- a finding that could have significant impact on the debate over the reauthorization of NCLB and the law’s “highly qualified” teachers provision...
Equity Symposium to Focus on NCLB at Midpoint
Columbia University Teachers College, November 6, 2006
Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow) and Frederick M. Hess are mentioned in this news release.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is raising positive expectations for special education students and focusing attention on the educational needs of poor and minority youth....
Put to the Test
Stanford Magazine, July 18, 2006
by Terry M. Moe (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force )
Debate about the state of U.S. public schools heated up with the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001, better known as No Child Left Behind…
Bridging Differences
Education Week, May 24, 2006
(Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
In the course of the last 30 years, the two of us have been at odds on any number of issues—on our judgments about progressive education, on the relative importance of curriculum content (what students are taught) vs. habits of mind (how students come to know what they are taught), and most recently in our views of the risks involved in nationalizing aspects of education policy...
Bridging Differences
Education Week, May 24, 2006
(Registration Required) (Subscription Required)
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow), Deborah Meier
In the course of the last 30 years, the two of us have been at odds on any number of issues—on our judgments about progressive education, on the relative importance of curriculum content (what students are taught) vs. habits of mind (how students come to know what they are taught), and most recently in our views of the risks involved in nationalizing aspects of education policy…
Keeping an Eye on State Standards
American Enterprise Institute, May 23, 2006
by Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force ), Frederick M. Hess
While No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires all students to be “proficient” in math and reading by 2014, the precedent-setting 2002 federal law also allows each state to determine its own level of proficiency…
Good News in U.S. Education
August 10, 2005
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
In a test given regularly by this federal agency since the early 1970s, nine-year-old students earned the highest scores ever in both reading and mathematics.
Lifting School Standards
April 20, 2005
by Herbert J. Walberg (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force )
Tests are one of the cheapest and most effective means of raising achievement.
The Qualified Teacher Charade
October 13, 2004
by Terry M. Moe (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force )
The HOUSSE provisions create a loophole big enough to drive three million veteran teachers through—and the states have incentives to do just that.
No Child Left Behind: How to Ace Those Tests
May 12, 2004
by E. Donald Hirsch Jr. (Distinguished Visiting Fellow)
Schools should start teaching a solid, cumulative curriculum that replaces the time now being devoted to trivial content and fruitless comprehension.
No Child Left Behind: No Unfunded Mandate
April 19, 2004
by Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force )
Roughly 20 percent of students in big cities currently attend "failing" schools.
The Cost of a Proficient Student
December 23, 2002
by Herbert J. Walberg (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force )
U.S. taxpayers spent an average of $107,000 to produce a proficient fourth-grade reader.
Leaving Many Children Behind
December 9, 2002
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
This halfhearted choice provision was supposed to take immediate effect for pupils in more than 8,000 schools that have already lingered for two years or more on their states' lists of education failures.
The Tests We Need
September 23, 2002
by Herbert J. Walberg (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force )
Despite many reforms and substantially increased spending, our schools are doing no better than they were in 1983.
Where's Our Sense of Urgency?
July 22, 2002
by John E. Chubb (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Member, K–12 Education Task Force )
Twenty-five to fifty years waiting for no child to be left behind means several lost generations.
How Bad Is the Education Bill?
June 25, 2001
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force )
There will, in fact, be no fundamental overhaul of this LBJ-era legislation, despite decades of evidence of its failure. But there will definitely be a whopping price tag.
The Nation’s Report Card in Peril
May 14, 2001
by Diane Ravitch (Senior Fellow)
Unfortunately, Congress is about to act on legislation that could jeopardize the entire NAEP program.