– Kudos all around for selecting a superior team! At just the right time, Kentucky has a new “A Team” of nationally-known testing experts to advise us as we rebuild our defunct CATS testing program into something that cannot help being far better. Most of the members of the reformed “National Technical Advisory Panel on…
– Major Los Angeles Times article discusses dramatic performance of LA charters – Sees indications the “raise all boats” theory is working there, too! While our House legislators drag their heels about allowing charter schools in Kentucky (instead, pushing what could be a “do-almost-nothing” House Bill 176), kids in Los Angeles charters “outshine those at…
We’ve started to write about House Bill 176, which will support Kentucky’s application for Race to the Top (RTTT) funding, but I realize some readers may not know about this federal education funding sweepstakes. RTTT is a competitive federal grant program intended to spur educational innovations in the nation’s poorest performing schools. It was created…
– How House Bill 176 conflicts with Race to the Top requirements While Kentucky Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday’s testimony yesterday on House Bill 176 tried to make it seem like this bill is totally compliant with the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) guidelines, I don’t think that is right. This table outlines the…
The Kentucky House Education Committee met today to discuss House Bill 176, legislation supposed to support our application for funding under the federal Race To The Top (RTTT) competition. A logical question was asked – how many schools are going to wind up tagged as Persistently Low-Achievers subject to sanctions and support to be offered…
The Kentucky House’s Education Committee discussed and approved House Bill 176 today. This bill is designed to support the state’s entry in the federal ‘Race To The Top’ funding sweepstakes. We’ll be doing a lot of analysis of the bill, but one provision is such bad policy that we think Kentuckians need to know about…
– Lower standards? The State Journal reports that students in Franklin County’s alternative high school are getting to graduate after completing notably fewer credits than students in the system’s regular high schools. These kids only need to complete 22 course credits rather than the 27 or 26 credits students in the Western Hills High School…
Education Week is reporting (subscription) that a second study has just been released on the charter schools in New York City. Like an earlier study from Stanford researcher Caroline Hoxby, this new report also finds kids in NYC charters are outperforming kids in the regular school system. What is different, this time, is the new…
I wrote yesterday that some are saying Kentucky can make a first round attempt to get Race to the Top (RTTT) federal education dollars without creating charter schools. If that doesn’t work, then there might be a lot of pressure to create charter school legislation before the Phase 2 RTTT awards are due. The implication…
– Take from Kentucky School Boards Association’s Governmental Relations Director David Baird RTTT Phase 1 refers to the US Department of Education’s competitive program to receive “Race to the Top” federal funding. Funding is to be awarded in two phases. There is no guarantee that any state will get any of this money. Quote in…