No Child Left Behind

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Teach to the Test&mdash;But Make Better Tests
Teach to the Test—But Make Better Tests 
OPINION
Mar 23, 2009 10:38 AM CDT

Teach to the Test—But Make Better Tests

Tie reading passages in with curriculum to even playing field

(Newser) - Critics worry that the current system of “fill-in-the-bubble” school testing promotes teaching to the test—but maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we had tests “worth teaching to,” writes Ed Hirsch Jr in the New York Times. The tests themselves are highly reliable...

Obama Has Right Idea on Education
 Obama Has Right 
 Idea on Education 
OPINION
Mar 13, 2009 9:50 AM CDT

Obama Has Right Idea on Education

Breaks with party orthodoxy

(Newser) - David Brooks crosses ideological lines to give President Obama a big shout-out on his education strategy today in the New York Times. "He has broken with liberal orthodoxy on school reform more than any other policy," Brooks raves. "He's naturally inclined to be data driven. There's reason...

Education Law in Dire Need of New Name

Ridicule of No Child Left Behind prompts search

(Newser) - No Child Left Behind has become “the most negative brand in America,” says a congressman, and new Education Secretary Arne Duncan says it’s time for a new name for the law. Educators and jokesters alike are trying their hand at rebranding, the New York Times reports. Proposals...

Schoolkids Need Less Work, More Play

Recess cutbacks creating unruly students, researchers discover

(Newser) - Recess isn't just for fun, according to a new study, which has found that cutting back on playtime is harming schoolchildren. The loss of a 15-minute daily recess tended to make 8- and 9-year-old students unruly and deprived them of an opportunity to exercise and socialize, reports Reuters. The study...

Parents Rate Online Report Cards an 'A'

Students can't hide, 'forget to bring home' real-time progress

(Newser) - As more schools embrace digital learning tools and assignment calendars, up-to-the-minute GPAs are going online as well. Students whose schools use online report cards don't have the chance of hiding a low test score, because their parents need only log on to see Junior's latest grades. But it can breed...

'Saving' Public Schools Not a Money Thing

Better education can't be legislated, or bought—parents have to make the effort

(Newser) - As dissatisfaction with the nation’s No Child Left Behind policy grows, it seems educators, politicians, and businessmen all have their own take on how to “save” the US public school system—with little consensus. Gary Stager, in Good, examines the overwhelmingly complex difficulties facing the nation’s ailing...

McCain, Aides Often Part Ways on Policy
McCain, Aides Often
Part Ways on Policy
ANALYSIS
Jul 31, 2008 2:10 PM CDT

McCain, Aides Often Part Ways on Policy

Politico documents the differences

(Newser) - Much has been made recently of John McCain’s difficulty in driving a message from his “eclectic and occasionally politically inconvenient hodgepodge of policy positions,” Politico says, but little has been said about how often the candidate’s top aides disagree with him. And while fewer public disagreements...

Bush Loyalist Hits the Road to Save 'No Child'

Education secretary seeks to shore up reviled program

(Newser) - As George W. Bush has become less and less popular, so too has No Child Left Behind, his education initiative that one congressman calls "the most negative brand in the country." As the administration realizes that its principal domestic achievement is likely to be undone by the next...

It's Time to Bring Back Geography to Classrooms
It's Time to Bring Back Geography to Classrooms
OPINION
May 22, 2008 9:40 PM CDT

It's Time to Bring Back Geography to Classrooms

Americans can't find their way around world maps

(Newser) - The impressive skills of 11-year-old Akshay Rajagopal—the nation's new geography bee champ—are all too rare. In fact, lots of Americans are geographically illiterate to an appalling degree, writes Evan Sparks in the American. At some point, the nation decided to leave the subject out of school curricula. Geography,...

School Supers Draw Big Bucks, Bigger Perks

Turnaround experts find profitable niche in failing school districts

(Newser) - Teachers aren't living in luxury, but some school superintendents are, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Some are pulling in $325,000 a year, plus multi-million-dollar consulting budgets to restructure impoverished, underperforming public school systems. The Monitor calls them "central office rock stars," a product of the No Child...

Obama Quits School Reform Talk on Trail
Obama Quits School Reform Talk on Trail
OPINION
Mar 12, 2008 6:29 PM CDT

Obama Quits School Reform Talk on Trail

Senator may be caving to old guard where he'd been breath of fresh air

(Newser) - Barack Obama has been backing off post-partisan rhetoric on education, looking more like a stick-in-the-mud Democratic regular on schools and less like the reformer who supported test-based accountability and performance pay for teachers. The Chicagoan had bucked teachers' unions and other stodgy liberals, supporting charter schools in Illinois and mentorship...

Bush's Wins Now Could Be Trouble Later

Victories over Dems may hurt his own initiatives, raise debt

(Newser) - Christmas came early for President Bush, who’s scored a slew of recent victories over the Democratic Congress. But the wins could threaten both the federal debt and some of his own pet projects, the Washington Post speculates. Bush’s steadfast opposition to tax-increasing spending measures from Democrats could push...

4th Grade Math Scores Add Up
4th Grade Math Scores Add Up
Sep 26, 2007 11:35 AM CDT

4th Grade Math Scores Add Up

20% more students proficient in math than in 1990

(Newser) - American elementary school students have improved their math skills considerably, with 20% more fourth graders scoring "proficient" on standardized math tests than in 1990, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Reading skills show more modest gains. The number of students scoring proficient in reading has increased only...

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