by Collin Hitt The Age of Reform has begun in education, writes Jay Greene. Let’s review. It is now commonly accepted among mainstream elites — from Oprah to Matt Lauer to Arne Duncan — that simply pouring more money into the public school system will not produce the results we want. It is now commonly accepted...
by Collin Hitt Advances in learning technology combined with increasing affordability of computers will allow for a revolution in classroom learning. However, most teachers a certified through education departments on campus that are unenthusiastic about the use of new technology. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation recently conducted a national survey of professors of education. Only 29 percent...
by Collin Hitt Last Monday, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget sent a letter to Illinois school districts urging them to frantically spend newly available federal stimulus funds totaling more than $400 million, before the end of November. Highly unusual, however, was that the letter and the governor’s instructions were apparently written and circulated...
by Collin Hitt The new education documentary Waiting for Superman paints many public schools in Harlem in a terrible light. So you might think that the head of NYC schools would be unhappy with the film. Not so. Schools chancellor Joel Klein: If you do one thing this weekend, go see Davis Guggenheim’s latest documentary, Waiting for Superman,...
by Collin Hitt News recently broke that charter schools make up 6 of the top 10 scoring open enrollment high schools in Chicago. Similar news from LA, viaEduwonk: “Looks like seven of the top ten high schools in the city are charters as are the two top middle schools.” This concentration at the top is vastly disproportional...
by Collin Hitt Ohio created a school voucher program nearly a decade ago. It gives choice to students attending failing schools, not unlike a policy proposed for Chicago by state Sen. James Meeks. Research has shown that, while still in its infancy, the program was already causing improvement in public schools faced with newfound competition for students. In time,...
by Collin Hitt This week’s NYT Magazine has nearly a dozen stories on technology and education. Much of it focuses on online learning technology. But one piece told the story of a classroom teacher who has equipped every one of his students with a computerized ink pen, manufactured by LiveScribe. The pen electronically records every...
by Collin Hitt Charter schools in Chicago turned in 6 of the top 10 scores on the ACT last year, according to the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. This is the second year in a row, at least, where charter schools have dominated the top ten for non-selective high schools in the city. The press...
by Collin Hitt Central Illinois’s newest charter school held an open house last night. I drove up from Springfield to check it out. Called Quest Charter Academy, the school will grow to enroll children in grades 6 through 12. It’ll focus on math and science, and will mirror the international compass of local businesses like...
by Collin Hitt In more serious news, the federal government announced the final $350M in awards that it’ll be handing out for Race to the Top. This time, the Department of Education is funding multi-state initiatives to develop better standardized testing models. Illinois belongs to one of the winning groups, which features Florida as the lead state. If things...
by Collin Hitt An intriguing new study comes from a team of researchers led by Jonah Rockoff. It looks at middle schools in New York City, and compares them to elementary schools with a K through 8 grade span. Students in the middle schools do worse than their peers who stay in the same school...
by Collin Hitt Illinois lost a very-high-stakes federal grant competition. The “Race To The Top” program has gathered headlines across the country for the better part of a year. It wrapped up earlier this week, with 12 states and the District of Columbia splitting $4B in stimulus largesse to fund public education. Ostensibly, the grant...
by Collin Hitt Chicago Public Schools has announced that it is moving forward with a new plan to extend the school day at select elementary schools by using online learning technology. The Trib carried the story: In an effort to extend what is one of the nation’s shortest school days, Chicago Public Schools plans to add...
by Collin Hitt That, according to a new survey of thirty American cities by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. Overall, the study attempted to rank major cities based on their attractiveness for school reform – the charter school element was only one piece. Chicago got a C and was ranked 11th out of 26 states offered an...