The Education Sector

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

In the EduBlogs

All About RTT

Eduwonk has the latest on RTT, fly fishing b-school students, what Rick Hess is up to, and the never-ending debate in D.C.

Q&E in a Battle of Ideas

Our bloggers have prompted debate on everything from the value of the SATs and saving teachers jobs to developing survey scandal in Oklahoma. Also, have you checked out QUICK Hits? That's right, our bloggers at Quick and the Ed now have a daily feature to help you keep up with the latest—and sometimes weirdest—education news!

This Week

Online Chat Today! Discuss Teachers' Work With Us!

Join us today and tomorrow for an online discussion of Education Sector's recent report Teachers at Work, which highlights several promising programs that aim to improve teacher quality through school design, including New York City's Generation Schools.

Chat with Education Sector's Elena Silva, Karen Hawley Miles of Education Resource Strategies, and Joel Rose of New York City DOE's Office of Human Capital, along with Generation Schools' principals and co-founders. The discussion will 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.

Also From Education Sector

Racing to the Top

Race to the Top regulations are out and everyone's talking about them, including our own analysts.

Senior Policy Analyst Rob Manwaring points out that with most legislatures out of session until January, the timeline is tight for many states to enact the difficult reforms Race to the Top lays out. He also argues that a lot will depend on four wildcard states: California, New York, Florida, and Texas. And while Florida seems almost a "shoo-in," the other three are not as strong in all areas.  The Big Four "will be the political testing points of how serious the department is at keeping a high bar, or whether these states are just too big and politically important to squeeze out of the funding," argues Manwaring.

He also issues an accountability warning: "Putting in place mechanisms to ensure that a state and its school districts live up to the plan that they have written does not seem to get much attention in this process. What is the governance and accountability process that states will use to ensure that the state plan is actually implemented with some integrity?"

All About Data & Accountability

New York's teacher "data firewall" has prompted debate in the state's eligibility for Race to the Top funding, bringing much-needed attention to the need for better assessment systems for students and teachers alike.

In a recent Education Sector op-ed, Managing Director Bill Tucker and Senior Policy Analyst Elena Silva make the case for an assessment system that not only measures student performance, but also supports and improves the daily instructional work of teachers.

Better Education for Virginia

In an opinion piece for the Richmond-Times Dispatch, Education Sector's Andrew Rotherham argues that among the many challenges Governor-elect Bob McDonnell will face in Virginia, education reform is a key place where McDonnell could make meaningful change happen, while also demonstrating a commitment to bi-partisanship. Rotherham argues there are four key places the governor-elect should focus his efforts: Make accreditation in Virginia a truly meaningful measure; collect better data on education outcomes; fix the schools in Petersburg; and make public charter schools a real option in Virginia.

The New ESEA Fight

ESEA is long-overdue for its scheduled five-year overhaul. In his latest column for U.S. News & World Report, Co-founder Andrew Rotherham argues that while "there's broad consensus on education reform, there are deep fault lines underneath." The absence of veteran Senators Ted Kennedy and Judd Gregg on the education committee will matter, as will the recent political shifts in Virginia and New Jersey.

But as Rotherham argues, although Secretary Duncan and President Obama have a strong commitment to reform, the president will need to expend some political capital: "Improving the No Child law and firmly embedding the Obama-Duncan stamp on federal education policy is the president's chance to see education reform through and claim a genuine policy accomplishment for 2012. Or, conversely, it's an opportunity to watch reform unravel as status-quo-challenging changes in American education too often do."

Announcements

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We always appreciate the feedback of Biweekly Digest readers to help us improve. So, we hope you will take part in a short survey on The Quick and the Ed—one of Education Sector's premier education policy blogs. The survey is straightforward, confidential, and should take less than 5 minutes to complete. And, to thank you for your time, we're offering a chance to win one of three $25 gift certificates to Amazon.com!

Our Next Digest Issue

We expect to be in a tryptophan-induced turkey coma by the time our next Biweekly Digest would normally hit your inbox, so you'll receive our next digest on December 8. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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