With a month left before the application deadline for the second round of the $3.4 billion Race to the Top grant competition, state leaders are torn between trying to implement bold reform ideas and obtaining support from teachers unions. The winners of the first round of the competition, Delaware and Tennessee, achieved, respectively, 100 percent and 93 percent of union support
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Education Reform: Stakeholder Support vs. Bold Ideas
A Compromising Position Is it better to strive for bold reforms or greater buy-in? This classic question is relevant to RTTT and virtually all political change in our country
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Steve Peha responded to Education Reform: Stakeholder Support vs. Bold Ideas on May 3, 2010 06:02 PM
Bold Reform + Union Buy-In Are Possible The question presents a false dichotomy. You can have bold reform and union buy-in when you put kids first in the equation.
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Dennis Van Roekel responded to Education Reform: Stakeholder Support vs. Bold Ideas on May 3, 2010 03:17 PM
An Offer Teachers Can and Should Refuse Normal.dotm 0 0 1 487 2778 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 23 5 3411 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Today’s question implies that obtaining union buy-in for Race to the Top (RTTT) would mean losing something valuable, i.e., “bold reform ideas.” That’s a false dichotomy, created by politicians searching for an educational “magic…
Good News, Bad News & the Nuclear Option It speaks volumes that Secretary Duncan has responded to this question. His insistence that states choose reform over buy-in is valuable
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Andy Smarick responded to Education Reform: Stakeholder Support vs. Bold Ideas on May 3, 2010 01:46 PM
All’s Well That Ends Well I appreciate Secretary Duncan’s comment and believe that, if he and the Department follow the more specific guidance given here by Jon Schnur and Margaret Spellings, Race to the Top could end up making a positive contribution to further reform of our system.
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Sandy Kress responded to Education Reform: Stakeholder Support vs. Bold Ideas on May 3, 2010 10:14 AM
RttT Should Demand Big Reforms Broad support is helpful for widespread implementation, but RttT is a package of big ideas meant to be implemented in a handful of places to show the way forward.
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Tom Vander Ark responded to Education Reform: Stakeholder Support vs. Bold Ideas on May 3, 2010 09:29 AM
RTTT: Just say NO Race to the Top is chock full of bad ideas for improving education. The states should just say no.
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Diane Ravitch responded to Education Reform: Stakeholder Support vs. Bold Ideas on May 3, 2010 09:10 AM
by Best Colleges Online We’ve all heard the jokes about “underwater basket weaving,” but the truth of the matter is that there really are some crazy courses out there for people looking to get their degree online. Some of them are a little outrageous in terms of topic, but others seem to take online learning to the limit. http://www.bestcollegesonline.net/blog/2010/20-most-obscure-online-college-courses/ Share on Facebook
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Online Learning: 20 Most Obscure Online College Courses
By Joe Bailey, the Collegian The Digital Campus (DC) at Fresno State is designed to enrich courses by offering an online aspect to every course that uses Blackboard or other online resources, officials said. Former DC director Lynda Harding says that Fresno State is ahead of the national curve in regards to online learning according to the 2008 Sloan-APLU national survey about Online Learning
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Online Learning instructors see digital divide
Change Teachers, Then Training When this week’s question was posted, I was attending the wedding of a friend who is becoming a doctor.
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Steve Peha responded to Should Teachers Train The Same Way Doctors Do? on April 29, 2010 02:39 PM
Residency programs make sense The highly relevant Boston Teacher Residency program reflects a movement that, as Steve Peha noted, must be replicated and encouraged.
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Chad Wick responded to Should Teachers Train The Same Way Doctors Do? on April 27, 2010 10:37 AM
You can tell a lot about someone's priorities by where they spend their money. Pet lovers spend disproportionately large amounts on chew toys and animal sized sweaters
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Is education important to gov’t?
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist last Thursday vetoed legislation approved by the Republican-controlled legislature that would have overhauled the state’s education system by eliminating the traditional teacher tenure system and linking teacher pay to student performance. The backlash from teachers, students and other concerned citizens was unprecedented : Crist’s office received thousands of e-mails and phone calls in opposition to the bill and protests sprung up across the state
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The Florida Teacher Bill
Crist’s action puts spotlight on tenure Has the Florida education cocktail been diluted? Will the upward trajectory of academic improvement in Florida reverse course
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Deborah McGriff responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 20, 2010 04:50 PM
SMART POLITICS, SMART POLICY Did Charlie Christ make a political calculation in vetoing the Florida Teachers BIll? Of course: any elected official who didn’t think about the political ramifications of his decision wouldn’t last long. We”ll learn soon enough whether the veto will salvage Christ’s future–what is clear now is that, on policy grounds, Christ made the right decision
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David L. Kirp responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 20, 2010 04:40 PM
Better Solutions Are Available It has become a kind of received wisdom these days to take for granted the positive effects of removing teacher tenure and paying teachers more money for better test scores. But I wonder from where or whom this wisdom has come and whether or not our unquestioned belief in it leads to smart decisions. Governor Crist’s political calculus aside, the question to ask is this, “How would the bill have improved Florida schools?” At best, it’s unclear
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Steve Peha responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 19, 2010 06:29 PM
Mean-spirited Bill, Crist Made rt Choice Governor Crist displayed remarkable courage in vetoing this pernicious bill. Commentators have accused him of political calculation, but just the opposite is the case. He threw away his party base and did what was right for the kids, parents, and teachers of Florida.
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Diane Ravitch responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 19, 2010 03:36 PM
Crist Veto Put Kids First, Not Politics Gov. Crist’s veto of SB 6 put the best interests of Florida’s students above party politics. He rejected legislation that would have based virtually all school and personnel decisions on scores from standardized tests, and listened to tens of thousands of educators and other Floridians who clearly saw a better path for Florida’s schools
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Dennis Van Roekel responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 19, 2010 01:52 PM
The Education Department unveiled final regulations last week for its $350 million assessment grant competition. A component of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top program — the Obama administration’s signature education initiative — the competition aims to “create a new generation of tests that measure critical thinking skills and a broader range of content.” To compete for the money, states must form groups and apply as consortia; applications are due June 23 and the winners will be announced in September
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How Should Students Be Assessed?