Over the years the Bluegrass Institute has issued several reports on the white minus black achievement gaps in the Jefferson County Public School District (JCPS) (Click here for the latest edition). We found a number of surprises in this report series, including the fact that the largest white minus black math achievement gaps in JCPS…
The Richmond Register reports that the Madison County Board of Education has adopted a resolution in favor of Senate Bill 55. Senate Bill 55 would bring more rationality to the way Kentucky’s schools are governed under the current School Based Decision-Making laws (SBDM). For more about why such a change is needed, check our new…
Interest in the administration costs associated with Kentucky’s public education system increased recently, so I decided to explore some available data. Several days ago, I wrote about “Are Kentucky’s education administration costs out of line?” That blog looked at education funding breakdowns from the US Census Bureau’s annually issued Public Education Finances series and found…
Wow! The American Federation for Children recently hired Beck Research, which they identify as a Democratic polling firm, to survey the public about school choice. And, the results strongly show Americans like school choice. Some highlights from the press release: 63% of Likely 2018 Voters Support School Choice, including 41% who strongly support it. 72%…
Does choice work? EdChoice just issued a nice summary of research on the impacts of school choice programs, and I think you will find their comments easy to understand and interesting. Some points from EdChoice: “Given enough time, school choice programs create small, positive test score gains for participating students.” “School choice programs appear to…
The quick answer is that the state does appear to spend an unusually high amount on general education administration. In fact, if the state could just reduce those general administration costs to match the overall US average, annual savings on the order of $20 million seem possible. That would be about enough to give every…
The January 17, 2018 edition of Education Week includes an update to an electronic article titled “Majority of Teachers Say Reforms Have Been ‘Too Much‘” that was posted on December 19, 2017. It’s an interesting “read.” And, it appears teachers generally are unsettled by all the changes that have been going on recently thanks to…
One of the true maestros of technology doesn’t allow his own children to have unlimited access, as this interesting article from Business Insider points out. Other parents would be wise to pay attention.
Along with Kentucky, Washington, DC was one of the first school systems to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards and then move to create a new test to measure those standards. Unlike Kentucky, which has delayed its implementation of new science tests due to various challenges, students in DC began taking their new science tests…
A chance for parents, guardians and child mentors to get together with teachers to get questions answered, find resources to help children, and build support systems returns to Northern Kentucky on Saturday, January 27, 2018, and there is no cost to attend. The meeting will run from 8:30 am to 11:30 am at the Beechwood…