Month: January 2012

A Civil Right to a Good Education

by Jack Jennings | Jan 30, 2012 | academic standards, accountability, federal education policy, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Oldies But Goodies, teachers

American schools are not as good as they need to be, according to President Obama, the Republican presidential candidates, business leaders, and many others. It has not been for want of trying to improve education, so the problem must be the way we have gone about it....

Coal for Christmas

by Jack Jennings | Jan 10, 2012 | assessments / tests, federal education policy, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), teachers

In 19th century England, children were told by their parents that if they didn't behave, Father Christmas would bring them coal for Christmas instead of nice presents. Two weeks ago, American children in large urban school districts did not produce the higher test...