Tag Archives: big city districts,
A Learning Lab in a Hybrid School (John Fensterwald)
Journalist John Fensterwald visited a Rocketship charter school where “blended learning,” a combination of 1:1 online learning and classroom teaching, took place. This article appeared in the Spring 2012 issue of Administrator. I wrote about a regular classroom at the … Continue reading
Filed under Reforming schools, technology use
The Inadvertent Bigotry of Inappropriate Expectations (Chris Myers Asch)
Chris Myers Asch teaches history at the University of the District of Columbia and coordinates UDC’s National Center for Urban Education. This commentary appeared in Education Week, June 16, 2010. Several years ago, I took a group of low-income … Continue reading
Filed under Reforming schools
Successful Policies for Low-income Children Yet High Cost and Low Resolve Trump Evidence
Preschool programs for low-income children help build solid adults, the evidence says. Wraparound programs offering poor children and youth rigorous academic content and social services help build solid adults, the evidence says. Now there is even more evidence. Offering college … Continue reading
Filed under Reforming schools, school reform policies
Assigning Blame for Poor School Performance: A Look Backwards
In an article that Sarah Deschenes, David Tyack and I wrote a decade ago we examined the historical mismatch between schools and the students who attended them. In one section, we laid out how reformers over the past century have framed … Continue reading
Filed under Reforming schools, school reform policies
The Status Quo Is Always Changing
Sorting out the hype of reform rhetoric from the substance is a fulltime job. No one has yet applied for the post. In the current dogfight between reformers vs. anti-reformers (labels that Stephen Brill bestows on these hardly monolithic groups … Continue reading
Filed under Reforming schools
The Upside and Downside of Urban School Reform
Based on my school and district experiences and research into urban reform strategies over the past quarter-century to improve schools, I have concluded the following: *Most urban districts, either with or without mayoral control, have centralized control of schools through … Continue reading
Filed under leadership, school reform policies
How To Explain the Michelle Rhee Syndrome: The Big Picture
Last week, I got a request from a producer of a radio interview show in which a Hollywood celebrity talks to leaders, in this case, Michelle Rhee. He didn’t want to know my opinion of her brief tenure in Washington, … Continue reading
Filed under leadership, Reforming schools
The Tsunami of Distrust for Government Spills over to Educators
New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s appointment of Cathie Black encountered fierce blowback from parent groups, unions, and others who were outraged by her lack of public school experience. The New York State Commissioner of Education said that he would approve … Continue reading
Filed under leadership, Reforming schools
CEOs, Ex-military, and Lawyers Heading School Districts, Part 2
Many questions accompany the current reform effort for mayors and urban districts to hire non-educators. Here are a few. 1. Where do non-educator superintendents serve? Lawyers Harold Levy and Joel Klein served as Chancellors in New York City. Publishing executive … Continue reading
Filed under leadership, Reforming schools
Mayors Appointing Non-Educator Managers as Superintendents, Part 1
Many readers probably never heard of Benjamin Demps, Jr. He is the son of a laborer who grew up in Manhattan and joined the Air Force after high school in 1951. He eventually worked as an air traffic controller becoming … Continue reading
Filed under leadership, Reforming schools
