21st Century Scholar

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is having a difficult summer. First, calling No Child Left Behind a “slow-motion train wreck,” Duncan announced he would circumvent the Bush administration’s law by issuing waivers to states that adopt high proficiency standards. Like Race to the Top, Duncan has used his executive authority to leverage reform. Politicians and [...]

by Bill Tierney Educational reformers, whether they are Bill and Melinda Gates or big-city mayors such as Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, frequently swing for the fences when they attempt educational reform. The Gates Foundation poured hundreds of millions of dollars into a “small schools” movement that ultimately went nowhere. “Our goal is to transform [...]

How does teacher quality matter? Findings from a recent study of twins.

by Randy Clemens The Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandated a study of educational opportunity among students. In 1966 James Coleman presented the Equality of Educational Opportunity Study. Known as the Coleman Report, the findings were and are striking. They led to a shift of focus from inputs to outputs, from money spent to scores attained. [...]

by Randy Clemens The Los Angeles Unified School District has a problem, a reported $640 million deficit problem. Rather than staff or permanent salary reductions, Supt. Cortines recently suggested cutting the school-year by six days, including five instructional. Of course, no one likes the idea (except for students, maybe). The suggestion, however, illustrates just how dire LAUSD’s fiscal crisis is. Cortines’ words also highlight [...]

By Randy Clemens Since last spring I have blogged about the Race to the Top Fund, the federal government’s $4.35 billion dollar competitive grant program (The Race Begins Today, With “Race to the Top,” We All Lose, Part I and Part II, and A History of Reform, a History of Failure). The fund supports four goals: Adopting internationally-benchmarked standards [...]

by Randy Clemens In the coming months and years, we will increasingly talk about innovation in education. Words like creativity, innovation, transformation, and entrepreneurship will become part of our daily vocabularies. All are catchwords for reform. Larry Cuban, an excellent  scholar, writes about the history of reform (see references). He reliably returns to the same [...]

It’s time to be honest: I am nonpartisan. I don’t affiliate with any political party. To my mother’s chagrin, I’m not a democrat. I grew up in a Catholic household; my grandmother lived with us. She had three pictures on the wall: Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and John Kennedy. If, during the next presidential [...]

“Race to the Top” advocates support well-intentioned educational reforms and the means to achieve them. What is often forgotten when we discuss reforms are the underlying ideologies and goals. David Labaree identifies three goals for education, which are rooted in our schizophrenic support of democracy and capitalism. Democratic equality as a goal supports educating citizenry; social efficiency [...]

Last week, the President and Secretary of Education announced a plan to accelerate reform and innovation. President Obama stated that “[t]his competition will not be based on politics or ideology or the preferences of a particular interest group. Instead, it will be based on a simple principle: whether a state is ready to do what [...]