The Education Sector

Updates, Analysis, and Commentary on Today's Education Issues

In the EduBlogs

Nobody Likes the 'Rule of Threes'

Eduwonk's written too many obits lately. But he's also got the latest on New Haven, D.C., Rhode Island, and Wireless Generation. Plus teachers, time, and space, and your chance to win another naming contest!

Teachers: Show Us Your View!

The Quick and the Ed launches a new feature this week: "The View From Your Classroom." Based on Andrew Sullivan's wildly popular The View From Your Window, we'll showcase views from classrooms around the country. Help us tell the story about the diversity of schools and school environments across the country: If you know a teacher—or you are one—submit a photo of the view outside your classroom window to share with Q&E's readers!

This Week

Education on the Ballot

The governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey will get most of the attention today. But also on the ballot are several state initiatives that could have an impact on education:

• In Maine, voters are considering a referendum to overturn a school consolidation law passed in 2008, which mandates school district restructuring. A "Yes" vote repeals the law. This will get significantly less attention than another referendum on the ballot about same-sex marriages.
• Texas voters will consider a proposition to change the way the state funds its research universities. If passed, the amendment will eliminate the Texas higher education fund, but create an independent fund that will raise the profile of research universities in the state to "achieve national prominence."
• In Washington, voters are considering Initiative Measure No. 1033, which limits the growth of certain state, county, and city revenue to annual inflation and population growth. This measure may influence education, according to state teachers unions.
• An Ohio ballot measure (Issue 3) would authorize casino gambling in the state, with 34 percent of the revenue reserved for public school districts.

According to Education Sector Policy Analyst Chad Aldeman, "These measures may provide a preview of coming attractions: Most of the conversation in state legislatures next year is likely to be focused on finance, not on reform. So, even the most reform-minded legislatures are likely to view everything through the lens of their budgets."

Also From Education Sector

Hubbub over NCES

According to the new National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study out last week, some states have lowered student proficiency standards in order to meet the accountability requirements of NCLB.

In 2006, Education Sector created the "Pangloss Index," named for the character in Voltaire's Candide who insisted, against all evidence, that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Kevin Carey, author of that report, noted that many states "misuse their standard-setting flexibility under NCLB to define and report performance data that are contradicted by objective measures." In other words, many states are systematically overstating their performance and continue to undermine the NCLB law.

Education Sector's Rob Manwaring says of the NCES report, "The recent report suggests that the states' actions are speaking louder than words: State policymakers talk a lot about accountability. But so far all of that work has just been talk, and it is not yet clear whether states will step up to the plate and adopt those rigorous standards in their state."

Where Diploma Dreams Go to Die

In 1988, when then-U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett called Chicago's elementary and secondary schools the "worst in the nation," people noticed. And a wave of education reforms followed. Yet, at the same time, Chicago's university system received no such attention (and probably should have). Given the wave of recent news reports about Chicago State University's declining enrollment, corrupt finances, and risk of a revoked accreditation, Policy Director Kevin Carey asks in his latest column for The Chronicle of Higher Education, "Does Chicago have the worst public higher-education system in America?"

The Next Generation of Testing

In the November issue of ASCD's Educational Leadership, Education Sector Managing Director Bill Tucker describes how technology-enabled assessments can provide more information about student learning beyond what students "got right or wrong." These tests can help educators understand how students arrive at their answers, what those pathways reveal about students' grasp of underlying concepts, and provide new information on how students learn. Drawing from his 2008 report, Beyond the Bubble: Technology and the Future of Student Assessment, Tucker evaluates a number of new research projects that demonstrate how information technology can both deepen and broaden assessment practices in education, while also providing important information for how people learn. He also outlines deliberate steps policymakers can take to create change.

Remembering Ted Sizer

The late Ted Sizer was one of American education's most influential thinkers. As Co-founder Andrew Rotherham notes, "As both an educator and intellectual in education, he changed lives for the better. Not much more you can say for someone than that." In 2006, Rotherham got a chance to sit down with Sizer to discuss school reform, instruction and curriculum, the standards movement, No Child Left Behind, school choice, high school reform, higher education, and what Sizer considered to be his unfinished work. It is an interview not to be missed.

Smart Move in Michigan

Democratic State Senator Buzz Thomas of Detroit recently introduced a bill to eliminate the state's charter school cap for "schools of excellence," or those with a track record of success. The "smart cap" idea first appeared in an Education Sector "Idea at Work" that suggested that smart charter caps, which take into consideration both the growth and quality of charters, represent "a 'grand bargain' to move beyond today's stalemated political debate." Check out our full brief on smart caps.

Upcoming Events

Discussing Teachers' Work

Save the dates of November 17 and 18 for an upcoming online discussion of Education Sector's recent report Teachers at Work. The report highlights several promising programs that aim to improve teacher quality through school design, such as New York City's Generation Schools.

This online discussion will give educators and experts a chance to dig deeper into issues raised in the report including the link between school design and teacher quality, what districts and states need to address in order to implement a model like Generation Schools, and what other reforms might be more feasible if we approach the problem of teacher ineffectiveness through the lens of work design.

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