“Education reform” on The Daily Caller

Many, if not most, discussions of American education begin with curriculum. Do we need more math and science? Are the arts and physical education being ignored or unreasonably minimized? Are the historical “facts” being taught accurate or biased? Is the Constitution or anything to do with civics even in the curriculum? Should the concept of what is now called “intelligent design” be offered as a scientifically sound alternative to Darwinism? Should there be two tracks, one that leads to college and one that leads to trade? These are all valid concerns. (more)

We, the American public, hold it as an article of faith that those responsible for devising and implementing public policy have our best interests at heart. Our best minds are hard at work, striving to make the world a better place. Our elected officials are dedicated to protecting our freedoms, increasing our prosperity, and securing justice for all. (more)

Daisy is a child who wants to be a doctor so that she can “help someone in need.” (more)

When New York State made its standardized English and math tests tougher to pass this year, causing proficiency rates to plummet, it said it was relying on a new analysis showing that the tests had become too easy and that score inflation was rampant. (more)

Kevin P. Chavous, the chairman of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, today released an open letter to President Barack Obama regarding school choice. His letter, reprinted below, was also published as a full page advertisement in Saturday’s New York Times. For more information, visit www.RevolutionInEducation.org (more)

“Waiting for Superman” (2010). Davis Guggenheim, director. Paramount/Vantage, 102 minutes.  Documentary.  (more)

I have been fighting to improve America’s schools for almost my entire adult life. I say this not to brag, but because it’s true. I chose a career in education reform, and as a result, I’ve learned a lot of lessons over the last 20 years. (more)

Few people are likely happier about D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty’s loss yesterday in the Democratic primary than members of the Washington Teachers Union. (more)

Over the next several weeks, 54.4 million children will go back to school. For many children, the start of school marks the ceremonial end of summer, and a return to the excitement of a new school year. (more)

Two New York entrepreneurs are offering college students the chance to put their money where their grades are. (more)

With the Obama administration pouring billions into its nationwide campaign to overhaul failing schools, dozens of companies with little or no experience are portraying themselves as school turnaround experts as they compete for the money. (more)

If Education Secretary Arne Duncan has his way, kids would be spending a lot more time at school — and a three-month summer would be a thing of the past. (more)

Less than two months after the nation’s governors and state school chiefs released their final recommendations for national education standards, 27 states have adopted them and about a dozen more are expected to do so in the next two weeks. (more)

In a recent column, David Brooks, who fills the center-right slot on the New York Times opinion page, asserts that the Obama administration’s education agenda adheres to a “measured vision of a limited but energetic government.” Citing the president’s $4.5 billion Race to the Top (RTTT) education-funding program, Mr. Brooks argues that the administration “has used federal power to incite reform, without dictating it from the top.” (more)

When I started on the education beat in the late 1950s in New York—having been an alumnus of the high expectations and discipline of the public Boston Latin School—whose other alumni included Samuel Adams and Ralph Waldo Emerson—I used to take careful notes of the annual city-wide school test scores. I paid particular attention to a Brooklyn elementary school in a low-income neighborhood with many “disadvantaged” students, as black youngsters were called then. (more)

Black people need to expand their vocabulary and read to their kids more. They also need to be nicer parents. (more)

A few weeks ago, a National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report entitled “The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2009” was released. The document records the results of reading-abilities tests given to 178,000 fourth graders and 160,000 eighth graders. The results showed that, while a slim group (33 percent) in fourth grade, and 32 percent in eighth grade, scored at or above the “Proficiency Level,” the vast majority of young people in the study, 34 percent in fourth grade, and 43 percent in eighth grade, performed at the “Basic Level.” The study also showed that 26 percent of eighth graders and 34 percent of fourth graders performed below the “Basic Level.” (more)

ALBANY — Accountability is a mantra of the charter school movement. Students sign pledges at some schools to do their homework, and teachers owe their jobs to students’ gains on tests. (more)

Rigid contracts, uniform pay schedules, and teacher-union dues ultimately protect poor teachers and mediocre performance. When even America’s education newspaper of record, Education Week, admits that newer teachers’ commitment to the union is “tentative at best” in large part because of these policies, it is clear that union leadership is out of touch with economic and educational reality. (more)

Culminating a year’s work, a panel of educators convened by the nation’s governors and state school superintendents released a set of proposed common academic standards on Wednesday. The standards, posted on the panel’s web site, lay out the panel’s vision of what American public school students should learn in math and English, year by year, from kindergarten to high school graduation. (more)