Retired UK professor Marty Solomon’s claim that “Most charter schools no better, worse than public ones” comes up short. Claiming it is a “most-trusted” report, Solomon repeats an oft-heard partial citation of findings in the Stanford University (CREDO) “Multiple Choice” report on charters. What Solomon conveniently doesn’t tell us about that report is disappointing and…
I’ve been looking at some more data from ‘The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010” from the World Economic Forum. The US rankings page, shows our country only ranked 22nd when business executives from around the world were asked, “How well does the educational system in your country meet the needs of a competitive economy?” Some of…
(Updated) I just KNOW some member of the ‘KERA Amen Chorus’ is going to jump on this one, but don’t jump here. I first learned of this unsettling statistic from Kentucky Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday’s blog. Per Holliday, the 48th place ranking comes from the World Economic Forum. I checked out the actual World…
Talk about denial! The latest activity by some Jefferson County teachers makes it abundantly clear – some of the school district’s educators definitely are part of the problem. Louisville’s teachers want to repeal or seriously strip back House Bill 176, a law that finally put a small amount of accountability into the schools in Kentucky.…
I’m talking about a new survey on whether kids in this country appreciate the importance of mathematics and science education. They definitely “get” the importance. According to the survey, • “99 percent of teens believe it is important to be good at math and science.” • “58 percent aspire to pursue a math- or science-related…
We’ve gotten a belly full of excuses and complaints from educators over the past few days about how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is terrible and schools and school districts that have finally had to face some accountability are being treated unfairly. These whiny educators claim NCLB sets impossible goals. Well, maybe not. Maybe, not…
We are learning that current attempts to fix schools don’t work “I came on the local (school) board in 1987. What you just said to me is no different than what I heard in 1987. So why should I be hopeful?” Kentucky Board of Education Chair Joe BrothersOctober 8, 2009 Kentucky Board of Education Meeting…
Fayette County superintendent fussing about finally being held accountable It didn’t take long. The new report on Kentucky’s low-performing school districts has only been out a few hours, but the superintendent of Fayette County is already crying alligator tears about being called to task for low student test scores. It’s sad when the superintendent of…
Ten more Kentucky schools named Persistently Low-Achieving Thirteen districts tagged for low performance and targeted for intervention, as well You know it’s a real shock because two key education bloggers who normally sing praises for Kentucky’s school system are both are carrying related stories here, here, here, and here about newly announced low-performing school systems.…
The Center for Education Reform just released the news that nationwide the number of charter public schools grew by nine percent in 2010. Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia has them, and they now have more of these public schools which, in places like Boston, New Orleans and New York City, are beginning to…