Education Next最新文献

{"title":"Tilting at Windmills: School Reform, San Diego, and America's Race to Renew Public Education","authors":"N. Glazer","doi":"10.5860/choice.51-2205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.51-2205","url":null,"abstract":"Harvard Education Press, 2013, $29.95; 296 pages. By Richard Colvin Reading this account of Alan Bersin's successful, by the test scores, but highly contentious time as school superintendent in San Diego, 1998-2005, I could not help but think back to an account of another successful superintendency, that of Pat Forgione in the Austin, Texas, public schools, related in Larry Cuban's book As Good As it Gets (see \"Lessons from a Reformer,\" book reviews, Fall 2010). The challenges were similar: substantial gaps between black and Latino and white and Asian schoolchildren, school systems in disarray, and school boards looking for strong leadership. The remedies that the new leaders proposed and implemented were also similar: bringing in the best consultants, introducing new curricula, removing and replacing the principals of poorly performing schools, adding math and reading coaches, requiring summer staff training, bringing in charter school organizers to manage the worst-performing schools. Yet San Diego became notorious for the fierce resistance of its teachers union, abetted by school board members, to any and all efforts at change, whereas there is hardly any reference to the role of the unions in Cuban's account of Austin. Cuban, writing in 2010 of Forgione's success there, notes, \"his performance matched that of big-city superintendents ... such as Carl Cohn of Long Beach, California, Beverly Hall in Atlanta, and Tom Payzant in Boston.\" Bersin is striking for his absence from this list: Carl Cohn, who succeeded him in San Diego, did not last two years, apparently driven out by the atmosphere of incessant and poisonous conflict that prevailed even after Bersin left. Bersin was one of that group of reforming superintendents who were being brought in at the time from outside the world of education to manage big-city systems, the most prominent being Joel Klein in New York City. School boards and mayors thought these leaders could do what those professionalized in the world of education could not. Bersin, Colvin tells us, the son of \"Russian immigrants\" (better described as Eastern European Jews) in Brooklyn, had \"benefited from a rigorous public school education\" (though there is no mention of his attending one of New York City's examination high schools); gone on to Harvard, Oxford (as a Rhodes Scholar, in the same class as Bill Clinton), and Yale Law School; and enjoyed a successful legal career culminating in service as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. Clearly, only his desire for further challenging and serious public service could have led him to consider the superintendency of the troubled San Diego public schools, the eighth-largest school district in the United States. Two members of the five-member school board, strong supporters of the teachers union, were doubtful about him, though Bersin was a Democrat and should have been considered sympathetic to unions. Bersin jumped into the job with remarkable vigor. Month","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74833274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice: Change without Reform in American Education","authors":"M. Bauerlein","doi":"10.5860/choice.51-2206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.51-2206","url":null,"abstract":"Harvard Education Press, 2013, $29.95; 243 pages. By Larry Cuban Reviewed by Mark Bauerlein One of the abiding features of education reform in the United States, including the continuing saga of Common Core, is an unfortunate reality Larry Cuban addresses in his latest book (his sixth since 2009). It is the vast, multilayered distance from one end of a reform effort to the other. At the beginning, we find governors and mayors, foundations and advocacy groups that propose changes in funding, governance, and curriculum. At the end lies what actually transpires in classrooms: the things students study, the assignments they complete, where they sit and the teacher stands, and other factors that make up on-the-ground instruction. In between, a complex and unreliable process of policy formulation, adoption, and implementation unfolds. An idea arises, say, digital learning, that attracts researchers and educators, then thrills a politician and a donor, which then yields a 1:1 laptop program, which calls for the purchase of hardware, software, and curricular materials, which requires training for teachers and a support team of tech experts ... before the crucial engagement of teacher, student, and laptop happens in class. Cuban monitored one such initiative in a Bay Area high school during 1998-99 and 2008-10. Charting the history of the school, conducting interviews, and observing classes, Cuban found that * in both periods, student and faculty populations changed significantly, drawing energy away from technology matters * test scores fell below state and national averages, pressuring staff to orient instruction to test-taking skills (California put the school on Probation in 2004.) * the 1990s principal spearheading the initiative left just as it was blossoming (The school had four different principals from 1998 to 2010.) * teachers themselves varied in their commitment, some using technology all the time, others sparingly * every year, costs of maintaining equipment went up, while funding was inconsistent. The fits and starts explain one conclusion Cuban submitted to the school: \"Connections between student achievement and teacher and student use of laptops are, at best, indirect and, at worst, nonexistent.\" The idea was sound (digital technology can enhance learning), initial funding was generous (federal and state grants, Silicon Valley donors), and school leaders were enthusiastic. But when the technology finally made it to the classroom, integration was an inconsistent activity. Even when teachers adopted the tools, they largely maintained customary pedagogical styles. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The case illustrates Cuban's subtitle, \"Change Without Reform.\" Big ideas and well-backed programs end up affecting instruction barely at all, particularly the teacher-centered approach, which Cuban singles out as especially hard to dislodge (though he holds back from insisting on child-centered tactics as clearly superior). Reforms are debated in public and ","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83339981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In the Wake of the Storm.","authors":"Michael Henderson","doi":"10.2307/j.ctt2005wk6.44","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt2005wk6.44","url":null,"abstract":"Voucher programs and their supporters have had a tough last few years. The Florida Supreme Court declared vouchers in that state unconstitutional in 2006. Three years later, the Arizona Supreme Court did the same. In 2007, voters in Utah handed a resounding defeat to a voucher program there. In 2009, the U.S. Congress refused to continue funding the federal voucher program in Washington, D.C., effectively killing the program in the nation's capital. The Louisiana legislature stood apart from this trend and in the summer of 2008 passed Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence, the state's first voucher program, specifically for New Orleans, In the fall, 870 students in kindergarten through 3rd grade whose families earned less than two and a half times the federal poverty level and who would otherwise attend some of the worst schools in the city received vouchers worth up to $6,000 to attend private schools of their choice. In the second year, 2009-10, the maximum voucher amount rose to more than $7,000. The number of students receiving vouchers increased to 1,324. Thirty-one private schools, most of How vouchers came to the Big Easy them parochial, in Orleans Parish and neighboring Jefferson Parish serve these students. As was the case before Hurricane Katrina (see \"Hope after Katrina,\" feature, Fall 2006), private schools educate about one-third of the students in Orleans Parish (see Figure 1). How did the Louisiana legislature pass this proposal when so many other states were rejecting similar programs? At first glance the question may not seem particularly interesting. After all, Louisiana is seen as the perennial exception to the general rule of American political culture. The state's most famous political personality and a uniquely Louisianan character, Huey P. Long, once described himself as sui generis, one of a kind. The moniker is as fitting to the land of Long as to the man himself. On top of that, Hurricane Katrina brought unprecedented physical destruction, demographic shifts, and economic impacts that reshaped state and local politics as well. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In fact, passage of House Bill 1347, which established the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program, depended on many factors, only some of which can be traced to Hurricane Katrina. The legislative success of the program was more a political story than a fluke of geography or history. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] \"In a way we've never done before\" Policy innovation comes slowly along (he muddy banks of the Mississippi River. Frequently, it seems only an external catalyst (federal civil-rights enforcement, international fluctuations in the price of oil, or floodwaters) can spur new approaches to the social and economic challenges that have long faced New Orleans. The city's Old World persona has frustrated the reformer at least as much as it has intrigued the tourist. School governance is no exception. Prior to Hurricane Katrina. The Orleans Parish School Bo","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76786221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High Stakes in Chicago","authors":"B. Jacob","doi":"10.1057/9781403981875_16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981875_16","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90967692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Human Capital Century.","authors":"C. Goldin","doi":"10.2307/j.ctvjf9x5x.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjf9x5x.4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72666871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Philadelphia Experiment.","authors":"J. Mathews","doi":"10.1063/pt.5.010005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/pt.5.010005","url":null,"abstract":"This morning I visited Wikipedia, typed the date, 12 August, into the search box, and looked for events that I could write about for Physics Today's Facebook page. Today happens to be Erwin Schrodinger's birthday, so I picked him.","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83093025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Business Model.","authors":"Jay P. Greene","doi":"10.4135/9781452229805.n83","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452229805.n83","url":null,"abstract":"LIKE THE MAKERS OF HOT DOGS, PSYCHOMETRICIANS, economists, and other testing experts know too well what goes into the creation of achievement tests. Their intimate knowledge of the technical difficulties involved in measuring student achievement makes a number of these testing experts some of the most vocal (and persuasive) opponents of testing. But the flaws in techniques like value-added assessment do not automatically lead to the conclusion that those techniques shouldn't be used to hold educators accountable. Testing may be imperfect, but the alternative--the old system, which allowed us to know very little about the performance of educators--is far, far worse. To be sure, many of the technical criticisms of value-added testing are correct. It's true that there is more random error in measuring gains in test scores than in measuring the level of test scores. It's true that there is some uncertainty as to whether gains in one area of the test scale are equal to gains at another point in the test scale. And it's true that factors besides the quality of the schools can influence the gains that students achieve. But, on balance, these downsides hardly outweigh the benefits to be reaped from being able to measure and reward productivity in education. Consider what is likely to continue to happen in education without high-stakes value-added assessment. Unless productivity is measured, however imperfectly, it is not possible to reward teachers, administrators, and schools that contribute most to student learning. If we do nor reward productivity, we are unlikely to encourage it. If we do not encourage it, we should not expect more of it. In fact, this is precisely what has been happening in U.S. education during the past few decades. Between 1961 and 2000, spending on education tripled after adjusting for inflation, from $2,360 to $7,086 per pupil. During that time, student performance, as measured by scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and high-school graduation rates, has remained basically unchanged. Whenever spending triples without any significant improvement in outcomes, there is a serious productivity crisis. Yet U.S. public schools just keep chugging along, resisting serious attempts at reform. Meanwhile, private firms in the United States have been able to achieve steady gains in productivity because the discipline of competition has forced them to adopt systems for measuring and rewarding productivity. Firms that fail to measure and reward productivity lose out to their competitors who do. Moreover, the systems that private companies use to measure and reward productivity are far from flawless. In fact, the challenge of measuring productivity in the private sector is often as great as or greater than in education. Imagine a soft-drink company that wishes to measure and reward the productivity of its sales force. The company might determine bonuses (and even decisions on layoffs) based on its salespeople's succe","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76168503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Break the link","authors":"Frederick M. Hess","doi":"10.4324/9780203938690.CH7.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203938690.CH7.9","url":null,"abstract":"Picture Gerard, a 28-year-old business consultant who majored in economics at Williams College and graduated with a 3.7 GPA. Gerard has been working for a consulting firm in Stamford, Connecticut, but is looking for a new, more fulfilling position. He has demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and work habits. In addition, though he didn't major in math, he aced several calculus courses in college. Yet if Gerard were to apply through normal channels to teach math at a junior high school in the Hartford public school system, his application wouldn't even be considered. Why? Because he isn't a certified teacher. Why shouldn't principal or a faculty hiring committee in the Hartford schools even be allowed to look at Gerard's application, to judge his qualifications against those of other candidates? The assumption undergirding the contemporary approach to teacher certification is that public school hiring personnel are either unable or unwilling to gauge the quality of applicants. Our response has been to embrace a bureaucratic solution that handcuffs the capable and incapable alike and supposedly keeps weak teachers out of the classroom. As a result, having discouraged or turned away Gerard and hundreds like him, many large school systems resort to last-minute fill-ins who reach on emergency certificates. This is not to suggest, even for a moment, that candidates with \"real world\" experience or high GPAs are necessarily qualified or equipped to become teachers or that professional preparation for teachers is unimportant. It is only to say that some potential applicants might be more effective teachers than the alternatives that are currently available to public schools. The central premise underlying teacher certification is that--no matter what their qualifications are--anyone who has not completed the specified training is unsuited to enter a classroom and must be prohibited from applying for a job. Presumably, the danger is that; in a moment of weakness, a school official otherwise will mistakenly hire such an applicant rather than an appropriately trained teacher. It is essential to remember what we often seem to forget, which is that allowing someone to apply for a job is not the same as guaranteeing him employment. Making applicants eligible for a position simply permits an employer to hire them in the event that they are deemed superior to the existing alternatives. The argument against certification is not that unconventional applicants will be good teachers; it is only that they might be. If one believes this, case-by-case judgments are clearly more appropriate than an inflexible bureaucratic rule. Imagine if colleges and universities refused to hire anyone who lacked a Ph.D. They would lose the talents and insights of \"lay practitioners\" like poet Maya Angelou, journalist William Raspberry, or former public officials such as Alan Simpson, Julian Bond, and Al Gore. The artists and writers in residence\" at dozens of public universities wo","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88587402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Teaching the Teachers.","authors":"June Kronholz","doi":"10.5040/9780755626236.ch-009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755626236.ch-009","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":38945,"journal":{"name":"Education Next","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85512997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}