Many states have reformed their teacher evaluation systems to hold public school teachers accountable for the academic achievement of their students. The hope is that if teachers are measured by the improvement — or lack thereof — in their students’ achievement, they will work harder to ensure their students learn
“To prepare all citizens to become responsible members of a democratic society” “To develop socialization and citizenship skills in children” “Preparing students for responsible, productive citizenship and imbuing them with values common to one democratic society” These similar phrases were developed by diverse groups of citizens in three communities
Mitt Romney has pledged that if elected president he will enact a voucher program that would allow parents of low-income and special needs students “to choose from any district or public charter school, or a private school where permitted by state law.” This position has become the norm for Republican
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. Over the last
Amid the intense debates about how much progress the nation has made in raising student achievement and whether federal investments in education have produced results, one important trend tends to be overlooked — namely, the notable gains made by African American and Latino students in reading and math achievement since
March is national reading month — and a good time to focus on some rather bleak news about the reading gap between boys and girls. From elementary through high school, males are reading at lower levels than females. This doesn’t bode well for future job opportunities for men or for
Last fall on the campaign trail, Mike Lee, Utah’s new Tea-Party-backed senator, boldly asserted that: “…Congress has no business regulating our nation’s public education system, and has created problems whenever it has attempted to do so.” Other Tea Party candidates picked up this popular refrain. And increasingly other conservatives are
