Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson’s announcement that he would not run for governor may have political rivals breathing a sigh of relief, but what he said in his announcement leaves me scratching my own head. Abramson told the Elizabethtown Rotary Club that his true passion is not politics but education reform. Could it be? Had the…
The Kentucky Enquirer ran a front-page/page A4 article yesterday about a new push to finally get Kentucky into the 21st Century with a charter school bill. There are some great comments from Kentucky State Representative Brad Montell, and they even picked up my comments about the state continuing to leave minorities behind. From the Enquirer’s…
On August 2, 2013 the New York Times ran an article titled, “Sneak Preview,” which talks about coming changes in both the SAT and the ACT. The changes are supposed to align these college entrance tests with the new education standards from the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards efforts. But, something…
Bluegrass Institute President Jim Waters talks public charter schools Thursday at 10 am (EDT) on The Joe Elliott Show on 970 WGTK-AM. Listen live here. Then, if you like what you hear, help keep the Bluegrass Institute’s voice on the airwaves by contributing here. Join the discussion as we compare education-reform efforts around the country with…
Here are comments Jim made about why Kentucky needs charter schools at the Kentucky Charter School Association’s summit in Louisville on August 22, 2013.
From a CNBC Press Release: “On the 2013 New York State exam, aligned for the first time with the rigorous Common Core State Standards, Success Academy Schools ranked in the top 1 percent of all New York schools in math and in the top 7 percent in English language arts. Two Success Academy Schools in…
It used to be inappropriate to do much state to state ranking with the ACT scores because the percentage of high school graduates in each state that took this college entrance text varied dramatically. Particularly in states where the SAT is preferred, relatively few students took the ACT, making comparisons to Kentucky’s performance impossible. That…
In its 2006 evaluation of state standards, the Fordham Institute said California came out at the very top, with a solid “A” grade for both math and English. That was then. Now, California is converting to use of the Common Core State Standards. And, a new Education Week Article, “N.Y. Test-Score Plunge Adds Fuel to…
Surprising comments and data in the new ACT Profile Report for Kentucky for the Graduating Class of 2013 shed more light on one of the most contested parts of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in math. That contested CCSS policy is the shifting of Algebra 1 from the eighth grade to the ninth grade.…
Today, the recently formed Kentucky Charter Schools Association hosted its First Annual Education Summit on Public Charter Schools in Louisville, KY. Many important champions of the school choice movement in Kentucky were present and accounted for, including Board President of the Association, Hal Heiner, Pastor Jerry Stephenson from the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the…