Adults can be strange sometimes. Create a government program. Make it about helping little kids like me. Give it a catchy name like “Head Start.” Spend billions of dollars. And then when the evidence repeatedly shows it doesn’t work? Just ignore it.

Wait, huh?

Okay, not all adults have that mindset. But it’s funny to see the reaction some have when the idea of cutting 15 percent of Head Start’s budget is introduced. Writing at National Review, Mona Charen takes on the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne. She criticizes him for being “impervious to evidence,” and then opines the following: Continue Reading »

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It’s the middle of July. It’s hot outside. If they’re not swimming in the pool, people are more interested in political scandals than education stories. That’s too bad.

Whether we realize it or not, I’m beginning to believe I am lucky enough to be coming of age during a truly transformational time in public schooling and education reform. I mean now. On that note, here are a couple of items I stumbled across today that may not seem to go together. Maybe it’s kind of a hodgepodge, but so what?

First, in the Wall Street Journal (H/T Matt Ladner), John Fund’s Political Diary highlights a speech made by mega-billionaire Bill Gates right here in Colorado at the Aspen Ideas Festival: Continue Reading »

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Being the cute little kid that I am and all, you’d probably think I’d be all on board for raising more federal dollars to fund the long-running, early childhood school readiness program known as Head Start. If not as a blogger, at least as a stage prop … right?

Wrong. I mean, it sure sounds like a nice idea on paper. But when you look at the long-awaited comprehensive research on Head Start that finally was released last month, you realize the billions of dollars spent every year is not accomplishing a whole lot of results beyond making us feel good about ourselves.

What do I mean? Check out the report by the Heritage Foundation’s David Muhlhausen and Dan Lips. In the dozens of measurements that made up the areas measured — cognitive development, social development, child health and parenting outcomes — virtually none showed a positive impact from Head Start. Their conclusion? Continue Reading »

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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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Today’s Denver Post has an excellent story about a generous Christmas deed performed at a truly inspirational school:

Millionaire businessman Tom Gamel stood before a classroom of sixth-graders at Cole Arts & Science Academy on Wednesday, about to blow their minds with a nifty gift, but first, he wanted to impart some wisdom.

“I am a very lucky person,” said Gamel, who owns Timpte Trailers and has made wise investments. “The reason I am able to buy you each a present is because of education. I want to urge you, if you want to grow up and be successful, get an education.” … Continue Reading »

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You’ve all heard that little girl singing about all she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth. Well, forget her. All I want for Christmas (and I really, really mean it … no Legos, no Nintendo games, nothing else would matter) is to be nominated for the 2009 Edublog Awards — Best Individual Blog category. Because their rules say I can’t nominate myself, I am dependent on the kindness of strangers.

In shameless hopes of a little reciprocation (hey, I’m 5 years old … what maturity level do you expect?), I will take this opportunity to nominate a few of my favorites:

• Best Individual Blog: Colorado Charters
• Best Group Blog: Jay P. Greene
• Best New Blog: Education Next

Okay, now please hurry up! You only have until next Tuesday, December 8, to nominate me (read the instructions here). I won’t ask for anything else for Christmas … I promise. Well, maybe, except for the Denver Broncos Mr. Potatohead — that would be totally awesome!

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Last year I told you about the remarkable education reform success story in Florida. The elements of this success can be traced to a comprehensive set of policy changes made while Jeb Bush was governor, including:

• School accountability
• Student accountability
• Private school choice
• Scientific-based literacy instruction
• Alternative teacher certification

In a comprehensive article for the Summer 2009 edition of Education Next, Matt Ladner and Dan Lips explain exactly what Florida did to make dramatic gains on 4th grade national test scores.

Perhaps more importantly, they take on critiques from those who say the scores are misleading because of social promotion policies or can somehow be attributed to other education initiatives voters approved: universal preschool and class size reduction. Check out the article.

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Update 5, 9/8: The speech that went off today, and the lesson plans that accompanied it, were a lot less creepy and controversial than the original release. Who knows how much the uproar had an effect on that? Anyway, I commend to you two thoughtful perspectives on the whole episode: by Jay Greene at Education Next and by coolreformchick at Edspresso.

The good news about the President addressing schoolchildren across the nation? At least this time Congress won’t start an inquiry into it.

Update 4, 9/4: I have gathered and posted numerous responses from Colorado teachers and schools to Obama’s address to schoolchildren. Also, my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow explains what he told Denver Post reporter Jeremy Meyer that didn’t end up being quoted in today’s story.

Update 3, 9/3: Westword blogger Michael Roberts noticed me!! I’m glad he likes my sense of humor. I have a 5-year-old kid crush on him now …. Hope he also reads my latest on this topic.

Update 2: Jim Geraghty notes that the Department of Education has reworded the teacher’s guide to make it less offensive. A good idea … you think? Meanwhile, Douglas County School District south of Denver, the state’s third-largest school district, is allowing parents to opt out. Will others follow?

Update: Jim Geraghty of the Campaign Spot blog notes capitalization and grammar errors in the U.S. Department of Education’s teacher guide for the Obama speech to schoolchildren. That instills a lot of confidence!

The heebie-jeebies, that’s what it gives me, I tell you. Sure some of the bigger kids may just think it’s lame, but I’m kind of creeped out by the idea of the President of the United States giving a speech to all the public schoolchildren in America. When? Next Tuesday, September 8, at 10 AM here in Colorado, that’s when it’s supposed to happen, according to the U.S. Department of Education:

The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.

Do I really need President Obama to take time out of my school day to tell me this? What about phonics? Multiplication tables? Science experiments? Learning about our nation’s Founding? Continue Reading »

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Who doesn’t like carnivals? I’m thinking about the carousels, moonwalks, ferris wheels, and the cool prizes — don’t forget the hot dogs, popcorn, and funnel cakes!

Okay, now that I’ve whet your appetite and got you nostalgic for childhood, what I really wanted to bring your attention to is the new weekly Carnival of Education Innovation — as explained by Dave Saba, the first host and guy who got it going:

It’s basically a collection of links to recent blog posts on a particular subject. People can come browse the links as a sort of one-stop-shop for all that’s happening in education innovation that week—a “best of the week” so to speak, taking place each Tuesday.

This blog carnival has started out small, with only six participants — including yours truly. I far and away won the prize for the youngest carnival contributor with my post on dead people receiving health insurance benefits from Detroit Public Schools.

Six participants isn’t enough. Let’s keep this thing growing. Submit your blog entries, and encourage others you know writing about education innovation to join in. Thanks to Joanne Jacobs for bringing attention to the carnival!

The idea of the blog carnival is to rotate hosting among the different members. I’m hoping that Ed Is Watching will get its turn soon. Please stay tuned, and come join in the fun!

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I was never really big into the whole preschool thing. My parents decided not to enroll me anywhere before kindergarten. So maybe I’m biased a little bit, but the piece “Does Universal Preschool Improve Learning? Lessons from Georgia and Oklahoma” by Lindsey Burke of the Heritage Foundation really shoots holes in many of the arguments for expanding early childhood education.

Apparently, the idea that universal preschool gives kids an accelerated start into improved learning just doesn’t bear out on any large scale. Especially when you look at the Sooner State (and I think you ought to look at it sooner rather than later):

More than a decade after offering students uni­versal preschool, neither Oklahoma nor Georgia has shown impressive progress in students’ academic achievement, as measured by the National Assess­ment of Educational Progress. In fact, in Oklahoma, fourth-grade reading test scores have declined since 1998 when the state first implemented universal preschool.

Say what? Well, I guess you shouldn’t be too surprised — if you’ve been following what I say for any length of time. Like several months ago, when I pointed out what the brilliant Krista Kafer said about the overblown promises of government preschool pushers. They may not be trying to sell us shiny trombones and gold-striped uniforms for a new boys’ band, like the famous fictional Professor Harold Hill, but the purveyors of universal preschool utopia will be at least as hard-pressed to deliver the goods.

If you find this topic really interesting, you may want to check out the new book Reroute the Preschool Juggernaut by Checker Finn.

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