Deborah Hofmann, senior editor of the New York Times Best Sellers List, has put together a new list of education books that is sure to raise some eyebrows. Offering an eclectic list that includes books such as Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, Diane Ravitch’s Reign of Read more
Many teachers are taking part in the increasing number of Gates-funded teacher organizations, while others remain skeptical. These organizations, such as Teach Plus and VIVA Project, are providing teachers with a unique chance to discuss education policies, but many teachers outside these organizations question the authenticity of these dialogues because Read more
At the core of the transformation of education toward student-centered learning is the ability to personalize learning for each student, to open student pathways and encourage student voice and choice in next generation education models. To aid classroom, school and state leaders in their pursuit of this goal, the International Read more
As usual, Marc Tucker offers some incisive commentary on how to improve American schools. What is not so typical about his recent blog post, “The American System for Improving Our Schools,” is that his formula for improvement does not involve any new teaching methods, grant proposals, or changes to teacher Read more
Education Nation, which we blogged about last year, is, according to John Merrow, the “Super Bowl” of education events. Most all of the big names in Education Policy either presented there or were at least present. Moreover, many of these figures, such as Education Secretary Arne Duncan or former Florida Read more
Thousands of pages have been written this month alone on the failings of America’s education system and what to do about it. Diane Ravitch’s new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, tries to debunk some of the pessimism of Read more
Many have made their careers in the field of education by comparing and contrasting the American education system with those around the world. Marc Tucker, of the National Center on Education and the Economy, is one of those. His book, Surpassing Shanghai: An Agenda for American Education Built on the Read more
The National Center for Education Statistics recently released The Condition of Education 2013. The 42 indicators presented in The Condition of Education 2013 provide a progress report on education in America and include findings on the demographics of American schools, U.S. resources for schooling, and outcomes associated with education. Report Read more
The Spencer Foundation, an organization that investigates “ways in which education, broadly conceived, can be improved around the world,” is seeking research studies to inform the current push for data-based educational reforms. Here is more from the press release: We announce a second-round Request for Proposals (RFP) to promote research Read more
Big changes may be coming in the way the Department of Education selects grant recipients. Last year, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo to federal agencies requiring them to demonstrate the use of evidence in their fiscal 2014 budget requests. This new requirement signals a shift of Read more
The National Center for Education Statistics, in conjunction with the Institute of Education Sciences and the U.S. Department of Education, has recently released the Forum Guide to Taking Action with Education Data. The goal of the new Forum Guide is to give educators practical ideas about how they can process Read more
The Measures of Effective Teaching Project, the collective work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Harvard University’s Center For Education Policy Research, has recently released a detailed report on three years of research on 3,000 teachers in seven school districts that conclusively finds that “the quality of teachers Read more
The Strategic Data Project (SDP), part of Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research, has teamed with Los Angeles Public Schools (LAUSD) for the last two years and has just released findings based on “analysis of student achievement data to measure teacher effectiveness.” The formal title of the revealing report is Read more
The United States Census Bureau has released educational statistics that have been compiled as part of its “How Do We Know?” initiative. The statistics are broken down into three categories: enrollment, cost, and outcomes and displayed in a visually appealing infographic. For enrollment, the Census Bureau focuses on showing the Read more
The results from the 6th annual Education Next survey have recently been released. Education Next is an education policy journal which, according to their website argues that “bold change is needed in American K–12 education” although they claim to partake “of no program, campaign, or ideology” and only to go Read more
This second in a series of two-page briefs from the National Education Policy Center summarizes current research findings on the likely effects of the widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The brief, written by Dr. William Mathis, managing director of the National Education Policy Center, notes that Read more