Edu Commentary

Two good reads from the Houston Chronicle. On the op-ed page Glenn W. Smith challenges the Texas Legislature to do right by kids there instead of setting ridiculously low standards that hamstring poor and minority youngsters. Meanwhile, the editorial board pleads for better quality teaching and less rote memorization but does not indict standards and testing. It’s a subtle but vital point. Good quality tests and accountability in and of themselves do not lead to reductive teaching, it’s how schools and teachers approach them that matters.

The New Dem Daily writes up Edu Commentary today along with The New Republic’s Ryan Lizza on Campaign Journal. Lizza, a terrifically gifted political writer, is must reading if you’re interested in presidential politics. Lizza also highlights a new regular column by Kenneth Baer that promises to be well worth following.

The National College Athletic Association Board of Directors just enacted new policies to hold schools accountable for academic progress of student athletes. It’s not quite the landmark shift the NCAA claims, but a step in the right direction from the current flawed graduation rate reporting.

Update! Sally Jenkins is not impressed.

Interesting article from the AP about problems foreign students seeking to attend American colleges and universities are having with visas.

It’s an issue, but don’t be fooled into thinking that educational issues are the primary cause of all the concern. Universities are probably most worried because these students most often pay the full tuition cost providing a tidy fiscal boon.

Link thanks to Educationnews.org

Update: More isolationism…

…all the data is a boon for litigation in the states aimed at making state school finance systems more equitable. Daniel C. Vock explains why in the new Catalyst Chicago.

The punchline, as Michael Rebell a school finance attorney explains in the article, is:

“…these reforms require students to take standardized tests and hold teachers and schools accountable for how well students perform. Through these requirements, states define what the standards are for an adequate education and provide data to show whether or not those standards are being met. If students do not, the data eases the way for plaintiffs to prove to a judge that the state isn’t meeting its obligation…”

Slate’s Mickey Kaus suggests a new motto for Edu Commentary, “…reading those mushy, brain-numbing education stories so you don’t have to!”

It’s sure got a certain ring! But we’re going to stick with Education News and Analysis from the Progressive Policy Institute’s 21st Century Schools Project at least for now…

The North Carolina State Education Board wants to stop testing out-of-state teachers to see if they know the subject they teach. The stated rationale: to address teacher shortages so NC can meet No Child Left Behind’s “highly-qualified teacher” requirements. Of course, the point of the NCLB requirements is to make sure teachers understand the subjects they teach! Here is a tip-off that the proposed plan is a bad idea: Both current Governor Mike Easley and former Governor Jim Hunt oppose it.

A more promising approach might be to think about reducing some certification coursework barriers — North Carolina’s are among the most burdensome.

The USA Today editorial board and Angelo Ancheta of the Harvard Civil Rights Project debate the legacy of Brown. The editors say it’s time to address the minority achievement gap while Ancheta highlights the failure to follow through on desegregation as a cause of educational problems. Really both are right and the Civil Rights Project has done excellent work documenting the extent of segregation and re-segregation in schools. Problem is, the political time has passed for many of their preferred remedies. Complaining about Dowell and other decisions does not do a lot of good now. For the most part, the ideas put forward by the editorial board have more immediate saliency for kids in low-performing schools.

Everything you always wanted to know about high school transcripts…from the U.S. Department of Education. Actually, a lot of good data here, more than 20,000 transcripts from 277 schools. Inferences galore! Make yours now while they last!

Next week is National Charter School Week. The Charter School Leadership Council has some ideas for teachers.

Update! They’ve figured out a pretty perverse way to celebrate charter school week in Massachusetts…