Edu Commentary

Thanks to everyone who contributed to help the team from Lynwood Middle School compete in the FIRST LEGO League. Happy to report the team won the Rookie Award, Mentor Award, and Judges Award. Apparently more awards than any other team.

Contra Costa Times updates the status of the GAO investigation into Department of Education grants to K-12 and ABCTE.

Blogger Dave Shearon deconstructs some NCLB mythology.

Washington Post looks at teen drivers and minority higher ed application rates. Post also reports that Educate is planning to expand rapidly in the tutoring market and takes a look at Sallie Mae, a must-read if you follow the issue.

NYT’s Schemo unpacks the new IDEA bill. Boston Globe looks at some of the problems the new law seeks to address. Via Jacobs.

Pete Wright of WrightsLaw has put together a marked-up version of major changes to IDEA.

Did Joel Klein really call some high schools in New York City hellholes and then back off later? NY Daily News has the scoop. Note: Please see this clarification.

NASBE has produced a concise and useful overview about early-childhood assessments and current policy debates on that topic.

The Washington Post editorial board gives props to the new IDEA bill.

Transcript of Ed Week’s chat about charter schools can be found here.

More Spellings reax: NSBA loves her, Center for American Progress not surprisingly hates her. Interesting…

Yikes! Someone call Alfie Kohn! Mathew Yglesias says “bribe the kids” to do well in school!

NYT on Spellings here, CSM here, Wash. Post here. Just how pissed are conservatives about this? Also, word is Deputy Secretary Hickock leaving…that will likely trigger other departures.

NYT’s Schemo writes up the new IDEA bill, which overall is a step forward on that policy in several key ways.

Brookings’ Tom Loveless takes on NAEP math questions, NAEP officials not pleased. Film at 11.

Edu Commentary exclusive! Must credit Edu Commentary! Here is the text of the first memo from Margaret Spellings to political appointees at Department of Education and conservative education activists:

From: Incoming Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings

To: Department of Education political appointees, Bill Bennett, Chester Finn, Clint Bolick, Heritage Foundation staff, and various “family” groups

Date: November 18, 2004

Re: The New Regime

The usual suspects are very concerned cum panicked that Bush II will mean an explosion of choice proposals from the administration. Actually, it’s the choiceniks that should probably be concerned, putative Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings is not a big choice fan. The good gossip is filled with funny anecdotes about Spellings dissin’ various voucher schemes and the ideological fervor that underpins them.

In fact, she’s not even that hot on charter schools (possibly because Texas isn’t exactly the leading model on charter quality…). Ironically, the usual suspects have a lot less to worry about than even supporters of public charter schools.

Of course, if the President was looking for a place to build some bipartisan unity on education policy, he could do a lot worse than focusing on charter schools.

Ed Week is hosting a chat on charter schools, tomorrow at 1 EST. More info here.

The National Rifle Association’s lawyers just live for moments like this. And then tend to win in court, too…

Want to learn more about Margaret Spellings? This story starts with her childhood…she was a good student…

One can be skeptical of or opposed to vouchers and still find BoardBuzz’s enthusiasm for Blaine Amendments pretty off-putting.

AP’s Feller writes up the current state of play on IDEA reauthorization.

NYT’s Schemo takes a look at Paige’s exit as does MO’s Sager. Both note that conservative choiceniks are likely to be let down by the Spellings appointment. However, showing that preemption is not just a military strategy, Fordham’s Finn calls for choice to be the central organizing principle of Bush II.

Here’s Paige’s resignation statement. How does he know that about the reading scores? Russ Whitehurst, over to you?

Wash Post’s Jay Mathews takes a look at the complicated issue of measuring learning in college. And, NCES has new data on collegiate persistence and completion here.

On Sunday this Washington Post editorial made a good point about the suburban achievement gap and how No Child is laying the problem bare.

More on Rod Paige’s exit in this Washington Post story (last graf). Say what you want about his tenure, which has certainly had its share of problems, he was loyal to the Bushies. But his loyalty was not reciprocated in the handling of his departure…