This Week in Education Reform

I can't help, but be drawn to any article on education reform.  If you aren't already familiar with the topic, a few of the key players to watch are Arne Duncan, Geoffrey Canada,  Michelle Rhee, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

A Former School Chief Shapes Her Comeback
"Ms. Rhee, one of the best recognized, and most polarizing, figures in public education."  After resigning as Chancellor of Washington, D. C. schools, the nation was waiting for her next move.  Read about it at NYTimes.com.

What I've Learned by Michelle Rhee 
For those of you who want more on Michelle Rhee and her thoughts about education reform, read this Newsweek cover article.

New Challenges for Obama's Education Agenda in the Face of a G.O.P. Led House
NYTimes.com covers how the administration is having to recalibrate its goals for working with Congress

Teach Your Children...Better 
This interview with Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, appeared in Nov in the WSJ.  Here is my favorite part of the interview and the reason why I believe so strongly in the long term impact of Early Childhood Education.  

MS. BLUMENSTEIN: President Obama has a goal of increasing college graduation rates. I believe the U.S. has now sunk to No. 9 in the world and he wants to make us No. 1 by 2020. How is he going to do that, given the state of public education?

MR. DUNCAN: We're putting a huge emphasis on early-childhood education, which is a long-term play. We've talked a lot about K-to-12 reform.

We've also put a huge amount of money to make college more affordable, have increased Pell grants, lots of money behind community colleges. And so with a comprehensive—we call it cradle to career—continuum of change, we basically need about another eight million young people to graduate. 

 Many Officials Willing to Replace Half of Staff to Turn School Around 
In the much talked about film, Waiting for Superman, there was a lot of blame placed on a system with the inability to replace low performing teachers.  This article from the Washington Post addresses the Obama's administration attempt to tackle this issue.

Geoffrey Canada Said to Have Rejected Chancellor Job 
We might not live in NYC, but Geoffrey Canada is such a leader in education reform that anything about him is worth reading.  Read at NYTimes.com

What Works in the Classroom...Ask the Students 
  This NYTimes.com article covers a two year project sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Part of this project was research that shows preliminary findings that students views of their teachers are quite useful.

 Growth in Test Scores is a Sign of a Good Teacher
Another article on the two year project from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  This one, in the Washington Post, discusses the effectiveness of using test scores to measure teaching ability.