Suspending Belief
This piece was originally published as part of Fordham’s forum on discipline practices in America’s charter schools. Magicians rely almost exclusively on the technique of misdirection. In order for us to believe that the dove emerged from the handkerchief, the magician must “misdirect” our attention away from what would otherwise be the obvious sleight of […]
Tradeoffs, not absolutes, on suspension and expulsion
This piece was originally published as part of Fordham’s forum on discipline practices in America’s charter schools. The ongoing exchange about suspensions and expulsions in charter schools needs to be seen from the school’s perspective. As a school of choice, a charter has two obligations: to maintain a climate conducive to learning, as it promises the […]
There Is More Than One Way to Grow Great Schools
People who believe in a portfolio strategy believe great schools can prosper in many circumstances. The role of portfolio leaders is to create opportunities for innovation and improvement and to ensure all schools are getting results across all of a city’s public schools. For that reason, we have begun an effort to track and report […]
The Politics of the Common Core Assessments
CRPE research analyst Ashley Jochim and Drew University associate professor Patrick McGuinn explore why states are abandoning the assessments aligned with Common Core State Standards.
The State Role in K–12 Education: From Issuing Mandates to Experimentation
Betheny Gross and Paul Hill discuss the challenges and opportunities for state-level experimentation created by the Every Student Succeeds Act, in the Harvard Law and Policy Review.
Rising to John King’s Challenge
Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. has called on charter schools to take the lead on rethinking school discipline. Speaking at the National Charter School Conference in Nashville on Tuesday, he said, “Don’t get caught up in battles about whether charters are a little better or a little worse than average on discipline. Instead, focus on […]
The State of Florida Takes a Leadership Role in District-Charter Collaboration: An Interview with Adam Emerson
The Florida Department of Education has provided two competitive grants to Duval County and Miami-Dade County to foster district-charter collaboration. CRPE research analyst Sean Gill spoke with Adam Emerson, the Florida Department of Education’s charter schools director, about his thoughts on how the collaboration work is progressing. Gill: For readers not familiar, how would you […]
How DC and New Orleans Are Addressing Excessive Discipline While Respecting School Autonomy
No one doubts that suspension and expulsion rates in too many public schools are far too high. This is true in both charter and district-run schools. No school should treat a child, much less a troubled one, as a problem to be rid of. Yet nor can schools allow a small group of students to […]
What’s at Stake in the Ongoing Fight About School Spending Comparability?
On the surface, the current dispute about Title I comparability (the requirement that schools within a district must receive comparable resources from state and local sources for education of disadvantaged children before federal funds are added on) is all about money. On one side, Secretary of Education John King is pressing for regulations that would […]
Incomplete Reform in Baltimore
Betheny Gross and Ashley Jochim look at why Baltimore’s promising education reforms stalled out and how it can regain momentum.