As the Chicago teachers strike continues for at least a couple more days, I’m struck by how the event, and the associated commentary, is forcing a rethink about the measures we use in the popular mythology for student achievement and teacher assessment. Because the education space has become so dominated by corporate-led interests of the [...]

I think Race to the Top is a pretty bad policy. It uses an education funding crisis in the states as a lever to force untested and uncertain theories about education reform on school districts who need the cash. Competitive grant programs are completely within bounds, to be sure, but in a time of austerity, [...]

I’ve been critical of the President’s education strategies, particularly Race to the Top, the effort to use a competitive grant in a time when local schools are starved for money to push strategies of dubious and unclear value like merit pay and charter schools into the states. Race to the Top has been quite successful [...]

Today, Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the winners of the second round of Race to the Top grants, 18 months after the program was initiated through the Recovery Act. The ten winning applications come from: the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island. These states will [...]