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WAMU - NPR Investigation Uncovers Cooked Data In Ballou High Graduation Rates

Ballou teacher Monica Brokenborough In November 2017 an investigative reporter at the NPR affiliate WAMU, Kate McGee, started listening to teachers. What she discovered (here) was systematic granting of credit to students who didn't show up much, and graduating students who didn't meet the requirements for graduation at Ballou High School. But the reported scandal soon led to the realization
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Education Reform Hasn't Hit A Wall; It Is The Wall

Award winning former NY principal, Carol Burris analyzes the whopping 14 point nationwide drop in SAT scores for 2015 in this Washington Post column.
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Are Charter Schools the Answer?

Furman University in South Carolina professor Paul Thomas nicely summed up the unimpressive track record of over a decade of promoting "choice" in US Education Policy in a post this week,  and Valarie Strauss reprinted it here. Its worth remembering and circulating these stark realities as the uninformed myths about charter schools continue. Thomas reflects national data and his closely
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Love of Reading and Writing Beats A "Reform" Focus

Valarie Strauss posted an eloquent post by Nancie Atwell, the renowned founder of the Center for Teaching and Learning and an award-winning Middle School educator from Maine, describing her approach to teaching a love of reading and writing as more useful than the current strategies aimed at Common Core. It's worth a read to remind us what is really important. What else is there to say?
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Another Charter Scandal -- The Lack of Accountability Is Like the Wild West

Emma Brown revealed in the Washington Post in December that Jeremy Williams, the former DC Public Charter School Board CFO, helped Options Public Charter School and other charters funnel millions to privately owned contracting companies they owned and avoid oversight. Williams received $150,000 from the Options Board for his favors. The Washington Post only obtained the information by filing a
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Stepping Back to Consider What's Wrong With Existing Reform Emphasis

The NY Times published an interesting op-ed yesterday by University of California Professor David Kirp. This is just one of many critiques that have started to emerge now that the 8 years of reform in DC have proven not to move the needle for the students who need improvement most. It is time to consider whether the wrong reforms have been chosen in Washington DC and to consider what the
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Charters Re-segregate Public Schools -- New Study Tells How

GW professor Iris Rotberg penned an article in the Kappan Magazine a version of which was re-printed in Valerie Strauss' column today describing the various ways that charter schools are re-segregating education. The research is clear, Rotberg argues, but policy makers are just ignoring it and are subverting the intention of Brown v Board.
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