Monthly Archives: January 2010

I Guess Some People Are Still Offended Parents Can Choose to Homeschool

It’s important to recall from time to time that there are so-called intellectual elitist types out there who are uncomfortable with families exercising an educational choice they don’t agree with. Such appears to be the case with Robin L. West who wrote an article titled “The Harms of Homeschooling” (PDF) for a university publication. There isn’t much left for me to say in response to this shoddy and prejudiced piece of work. Big Journalism’s Izzy Lyman and the American Enterprise Institute’s Jay Richards already have effectively skewered it. Let me just add: As Education Next writer Milton Gaither clearly showed a little over a year ago, people choose homeschooling for a wide variety of reasons. The caricature West tries to draw is simply a figment of someone’s imagination.

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One Big Reform Speech from Teachers Union Leader Doesn't Change Much

So American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, leader of one of the national teachers unions, gives a big speech this week on how her group is interested in reforming the tenure system and is willing to accept student performance as part of meaningful teacher evaluations. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert gives Weingarten a fair hearing (H/T Eduwonk) but concludes: If the union chooses not to follow through on these proposals, its credibility will take a punishing and well-deserved hit. Otherwise, skepticism seems to be the word of the day….

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Colorado Legislative Session off to Blazing Fast Start on Education Bills

Today is the start of Colorado’s legislative session, and the people under the Golden Dome are wasting no time getting to work on education issues. With Race to the Top deadlines looming, lawmakers are working to speed some bills through the process. Right now, the Senate Education Committee is considering Senate Bill 36 — which would use data to link teacher performance to teacher preparation programs, so we better know which education schools are getting the job done and which are not. You can listen live (Senate Committee Room 354) like I am, and you’ll get a sense of just what kind of fast track this legislation is on. CDE associate commissioner Rich Wenning just raced across Colfax Avenue from testifying to the State Board and receiving their unanimous support for SB 36 to the Senate Education Committee. Now the committee is debating amendments. There are more bills coming, and plenty of hectic action underway. My Education Policy Center friends and I are doing their best to stay on top of the situation. If there are late-breaking developments, please follow me on my Twitter page. The action is fast and furious, almost enough to wear out an energetic little kid […]

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NEA's Recent Political Giving Flatters Colorado with a Badge of Honor

Every year the Education Intelligence Agency’s Mike Antonucci undertakes the daunting work of going through the National Education Association’s federal financial disclosure report (hosted online by the U.S. Department of Labor). In his latest exclusive analysis, Antonucci found the NEA’s contributions to advocacy groups and charities reached $26 million in 2008-09 — nearly double from the previous year’s total. To almost no one’s surprise, the NEA’s disclosed giving includes plenty of money for liberal causes and some education-related initiatives. But the biggest chunks of money went to politically active committees to fight state-level issues. Out of the $26 million, the NEA sent more than $5 million right into our Colorado backyard — including the single largest recipient on the list:

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Just How Tired Will Colorado Legislators Be of Education Reform?

Two days from now Colorado’s state legislature starts the 2010 session. And with a recession cutting into tax revenues, many lawmakers will show up without the enthusiasm to create new programs or boost spending on existing programs. As legislative sessions go, this one has a particularly strange character about it. Tough and unpleasant decisions will have to be made. But what about K-12 schools? As Todd Engdahl explains in a thorough preview for Ed News Colorado, at least a few lawmakers (Engdahl quoted many more from the majority Democratic Party) are not looking forward to education reform debates when budget cuts are on the table: Some wish that were the case. “I’m hoping there isn’t too much [education legislation], quite frankly,” said Rep. Karen Middleton, D-Aurora and a member of House Ed.

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Unveiling TFA's Secrets of Quality Teaching… How Do We Scale It Up?

Writing for the new edition of The Atlantic, Amanda Ripley talks to the Teach for America (TFA) crew about what they’ve learned about quality teaching from their vast stores of data. We know quality instruction can make a huge difference, but you may be surprised to learn what characteristics TFA finds match up with making the biggest positive impact on student learning: What did predict success, interestingly, was a history of perseverance—not just an attitude, but a track record. In the interview process, Teach for America now asks applicants to talk about overcoming challenges in their lives—and ranks their perseverance based on their answers…. But another trait seemed to matter even more. Teachers who scored high in “life satisfaction”—reporting that they were very content with their lives—were 43 percent more likely to perform well in the classroom than their less satisfied colleagues. These teachers “may be more adept at engaging their pupils, and their zest and enthusiasm may spread to their students,” the study suggested.

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Families Leaving Private Schools Can Make Strong Choice Advocates

A new USA Today article by education reporter Greg Toppo is featured under the banner of “Recession fuels shift from private to public schools” — more middle-class parents with less money to spend on tuition are making the switch: Private-school parents typically find that the structure of public schools takes some getting used to. In most states, funding for public schools is calculated on a per-student basis, based on average student counts during the first few weeks of the school year. If a student drops out after 40 days, the funding that student generated stays with the school — even if he or she does not return to that campus. Private schools, on the other hand, risk losing tuition payments once a student leaves. “Private schools tend to treat you more like a customer than the public schools,” [parent Angela] Allyn says. Public schools are “going to get their tax dollars whether or not you as a parent are upset. If you’re in a private school and you yank your kid out, that’s a lot of money walking out the (private school’s) door.” Many of those parents who were accustomed to selecting private education options through their own financial means […]

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Male Teacher? Female Teacher? Boys Really Need School Choice

You can write about education issues a lot, have your eyes focused on the future, and still miss some of the debates that are going on out there. Washington Post blogger Valerie Strauss says that schools need to hire more male teachers, especially in the early grades, for the sake of boys. Citing Richard Whitmire’s book Why Boys Fail, blogress extraordinaire Joanne Jacobs responds: “Boys can learn without male teachers.” While I don’t have much to add to the debate, I at least have a vested interest in the discussion. As a boy, I want a smart and caring teacher who keeps the standards high and doesn’t let me get away with nonsense. (Someone who believes in homework quality over quantity, and has a soft spot for Legos and Mr. Potatohead, would also be appreciated.) More important for troubled boys than whether their teacher is male or female is expanded opportunity for an excellent education through school choice. That’s what Independence Institute senior fellow Krista Kafer persuasively argued for in “The Boy Crisis in Education” (an Independent Women’s Forum publication), and that’s what I’m sticking with.

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Disrupting Class Means Future Change for School System, Teacher Unions

So with this new year of 2010, I’m really thinking all futuristic. Yesterday it was brain skills testing. But what about technological changes that promise to transform our education system? That’s what Harvard professor Clayton Christensen writes about in his 2009 book Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. If you can’t afford the time or the money for the book, then you’ll at least want to check out this audio/video presentation on the topic by Dr. Scott McLeod (H/T Mike Antonucci).

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It's 2010, the Future is Here, What About More Brain Skills Testing?

Did you miss me while I was gone for a couple weeks there? Okay, hopefully not too much. One of the articles I nearly missed right before Christmas makes the case for a type of reform that could be easily overlooked in the Race to the Top. From December 21 of last year (last decade even!), Cognitive First leaders Larry Hargrave and Mickey Elliott wrote in a Denver Post column about the need to focus on student “learning capacity”: Discoveries in brain science and innovations in educational theory have recently converged and made it possible to cultivate learning capacity and enhance academic performance by addressing weak cognitive skills and strengthening giftedness. Just as researchers in medicine work to understand physical disorders by their causes, cognitive skill development allows education to move beyond an academic and correlative model to a new understanding of learning that is foundational and prior to improving academic performance.

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