The Answer Sheet - School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else).

Posted at 01:08 PM ET, 05/24/2013

Text: Obama's speech at U.S. Naval Academy graduation

By Valerie Strauss

The president talks about honor and courage -- and addresses a sexual assault scandal in the military.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:08 PM ET, 05/24/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: 'We Need Your Honor', President Obama

Posted at 06:02 AM ET, 05/21/2013

Has anybody told Obama about the problems his education policies have caused?

By Valerie Strauss

How much has the president been told by his aides about the serious problems his education reform policies have been causing public schools across the country?

By Valerie Strauss | 06:02 AM ET, 05/21/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: It's Hard To Know, President Obama

Posted at 11:52 PM ET, 05/19/2013

Obama's commencement speech at Morehouse College -- text

By Valerie Strauss

"I will say it betrays a poverty of ambition if all you think about is what goods you can buy instead of what good you can do."

By Valerie Strauss | 11:52 PM ET, 05/19/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: 'We Have Individual Responsibilities', President Obama

Posted at 12:37 AM ET, 05/17/2013

Obama tweet gets Australian researcher big attention

By Valerie Strauss

One tweet from President Obama is a gift to an Australian researcher on climate change.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:37 AM ET, 05/17/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: 'Out of Our Expectations', President Obama

Posted at 04:12 PM ET, 05/05/2013

'I dare you to do better' -- Obama's Ohio State commencement speech

By Valerie Strauss

President Obama tells Ohio State grads that even though key American institutions failed them, they should stay optimistic and work to improve the country's democratic experiment.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:12 PM ET, 05/05/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Commencement Address, President Obama, Reject 'Creeping Cynicism', Text of Address

Posted at 11:44 AM ET, 04/30/2013

Not a word from Obama (or White House press corps) on education

By Valerie Strauss

What President Obama didn't talk about in his Tuesday news conference.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:44 AM ET, 04/30/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Education Policy, Nada On Education, On Education, President Obama

Posted at 12:50 PM ET, 04/28/2013

Obama's big second-term education problem

By Valerie Strauss

President Obama has something of a problem in his second term in terms of education policy: His first term.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:50 PM ET, 04/28/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Education Policy, Education Reform, It's Duncan's Problem Too, President Obama

Posted at 02:16 PM ET, 04/10/2013

Obama's 2014 budget proposal on education

By Valerie Strauss

Obama pushes to expand preschool and do a college-version of Race to the Top: Here are details of the Obama 2014 budget proposal in regard to education.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:16 PM ET, 04/10/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Obama budget, Push For Preschool

Posted at 11:39 AM ET, 01/26/2013

Teacher boycott of standardized test in Seattle spreads

By Valerie Strauss

A boycott of Washington state's mandated standardized test by teachers at a Seattle school is spreading to other schools and winning support across the country, including from the two largest teachers' unions, parents, researchers and education activists.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:39 AM ET, 01/26/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Does President Obama Know?, Garifled Teachers, Standardized Test Revolt, Standardized Tests

Posted at 02:14 PM ET, 01/16/2013

Obama's proposals on school safety

By Valerie Strauss

Here's what President Obama proposed today to make schools safer as part of his expansive new initiative to reduce gun violence.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:14 PM ET, 01/16/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: President Obama, School Safety, Targeting Gun Violence

Posted at 04:51 PM ET, 12/21/2012

Michelle Obama's advice on talking to young people about Newtown

By Valerie Strauss

Here is an open letter released today from First Lady Michelle Obama with ideas for discussing the tragedy in Newtown with children and young people.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:51 PM ET, 12/21/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: 'Looking for Answers', Advice on Talking to Children, Michelle Obama, Newtown Shootings, Open Letter

Posted at 02:22 PM ET, 11/28/2012

Arne Duncan's second term?

By Valerie Strauss

Why would Education Secretary Arne Duncan not directly address questions put to hima bout his second-term agenda at Jeb Bush's school reform summit in Washington D.C. today?

By Valerie Strauss | 02:22 PM ET, 11/28/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Arne Duncan, Education Secretary, Exotic Dancer?, Obama administration

Posted at 11:38 AM ET, 10/25/2012

Will teachers help decide presidential election?

By Valerie Strauss

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are about 3.3 million working public school teachers, more than 75 percent of them women. That's a lot of votes and a lot of campaign and get-out-the-vote supporters -- and that's why it is fair to wonder whether the education policies of President Obama and Mitt Romney could have an impact on the November election.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:38 AM ET, 10/25/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Obama vs. Romney, Presidential Election, Teachers

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 10/22/2012

How Lynn University snagged the presidential debate

By Valerie Strauss

How does a small, unknown university introduce its brand to 65 million people at the same time? If it is Lynn University in Florida, it snags the last presidential debate in the 2012 election campaign, and spends a year getting ready for its big moment.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 10/22/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Obama vs. Romney, Presidential Debate

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 03/03/2011

The Diane Ravitch myth

By Valerie Strauss

Anybody reading much of the commentary written on education policy could be forgiven for thinking that education historian Diane Ravitch is somehow the Wizardess of Ed, the woman behind the curtain secretly pulling the strings.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 03/03/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Diane Ravitch | Tags: arne duncan, bill gates, charter schools, colbert report, diane ravitch, jon stewart, president obama, school reform, whitney tilson

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 03/02/2011

Obama's mistimed Miami school visit -- with Jeb Bush

By Valerie Strauss

What a tag team. At a time when Wisconsin teachers are protesting to keep their collective bargaining rights, President Obama is traveling to Florida to share a stage with the anti-union Jeb Bush, the former governor who led corporate-driven, standardized test-obsessed school reform and tried to reduce teachers union influence.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 03/02/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: School turnarounds/reform, Standardized Tests | Tags: arne duncan, president obama, president obama and teachers, rick scott, scott walker, wisconsin protests, wisconsin teachers

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 03/01/2011

Ravitch: 'A moment of national insanity'

By Valerie Strauss

Education historian Diane Ravitch writes: "The reality on the ground suggests that the corporate reform movement ... will set American education back, by how many years or decades is anyone's guess."

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 03/01/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Diane Ravitch, Education Secretary Duncan, Guest Bloggers | Tags: arne duncan, diane ravitch, gates foundation, president obama, president obama and school reform, race to the top, school reform, teachers

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 02/02/2011

The Bartleby Project

By Valerie Strauss

A veteran educator writes about the country's obsession with standardized testing and what might be done about it.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:30 AM ET, 02/02/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: education reform, president obama, school reform, standardized test industry, standardized tests, test industry, the bartleby project

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 02/02/2011

Should Obama be commencement contest prize?

By Valerie Strauss

Again President Obama is offering himself as a commencement speaker to the high school that wins a new contest. So what's the problem?

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 AM ET, 02/02/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags: commencement contest, commencement speaker, commencement speech, obama commencement, obama commencement speaker, president obama and commencement, race to the top contest, stephen colbert

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 02/01/2011

'It makes no sense:' A dissection of Obama's education view

By Valerie Strauss

Here is a dissection of what President Obama said about education in his State of the Union speech, plus more.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 02/01/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: china and india and education, china education, chinese schools, education, education policy, education reform, indian schools, international competitiveness, obama speech, president obama, president obama school reform, public schools, race to the top, school reform, schools, state of the union, u.s. education

Posted at 05:28 PM ET, 01/31/2011

Letter to President Obama: Who is a 'highly qualified' teacher?

By Valerie Strauss

More than 50 organizations sign a letter to President Obama about legislation that would codify a Bush-era regulation that allows states to label teachers as “highly qualified” when they are still in training – and, in many cases, just beginning training – in alternative route programs. alternative route programs.Bamajoin in

By Valerie Strauss | 05:28 PM ET, 01/31/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Teachers | Tags: continuing resolution, definition of highly qualified, education groups, h.r. 3082, highly qualified, highly qualified teacher, letter to obama, president obama, public school teachers

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/26/2011

Things I’m sick of hearing

By Valerie Strauss

It’s time for school reformers to find new ways to attack their critics. It’s getting tiring hearing the same old refrains, which go something like this.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 01/26/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Achievement gap, Achievement gap, Achievement gap, Achievement gap, Achievement gap | Tags: charter schools, data-driven reform, michelle rhee, president obama, school reform, standardized tests, teachers unions

Posted at 10:15 PM ET, 01/25/2011

Obama’s faulty education logic: What he said and failed to say

By Valerie Strauss

Someone should have told President Obama that there were important contradictions in the education portion of his State of the Union address before he delivered it to Congress.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:15 PM ET, 01/25/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Poverty, Poverty, Poverty | Tags: education reform, no child left behind, obama, obama education initiative, obama education reform, obama race to the top, obama speech, obama state of the union, president obama, public school reform, public schools, race to the top, state of the union, state of the union speech

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/19/2011

The case against NCLB reauthorization

By Valerie Strauss

Here's an argument by someone other than Margaret Spellings against reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 01/19/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: edujobs, elementary and secondary education act, nclb, nclb reauthorization, no child left behind, obama and school reform, president obama, race to the top, reauthorization esea, school reforms

Posted at 11:00 PM ET, 01/10/2011

Has American education peaked?

By Valerie Strauss

Educator Marion Brady argues that our current reform road will do nothing to fix our school system, and he offers a way to imagine real alternatives.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:00 PM ET, 01/10/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: 21st century skills, arne duncan, marion brady, obama school reform, president obama and school reform, school curriculum, school reform

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 01/09/2011

How to be taken seriously as a reformer (don't be an educator)

By Valerie Strauss

In the current upside-down world of education policy, there's one foolproof strategy for being taken seriously as a reformer: Make sure you're not an educator. Here, an educator writes about what counts -- and what SHOULD count -- in the school reform debate.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:30 AM ET, 01/09/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: Illiinois schools, Performance Counts, bill gates, eli broad, jeb bush, mark zuckerberg, obama and schools, obama daughters and school, oprah, performance counts, president obama and daughters, school reform, sidwell and obama, standardized tests, teacher assessment, teachers

Posted at 12:30 PM ET, 01/05/2011

Resolutions someone should make for 2011

By Valerie Strauss

An educator offers some resolutions for the new year: That President Obama et al stop saying, "We are going to educate ourselves toward a 21st Century economy;" that people who really know about education appear on Oprah; that policy makers stop making standardized testing the gold standard of student achievement and teacher effectiveness; that we stop using corporate speak (game changer, incentivize) to talk about education. And more.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:30 PM ET, 01/05/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: 2011 resolutions, ian hacking, mike rose, new year's resolutions, obama and education policy, oprah, oprah winfrey, president obama, standardized tests, stephen jay gould, student achievement, teacher effectiveness

Posted at 10:10 AM ET, 01/04/2011

Obama girls miss two days of school; when is it okay to keep a kid out of school?

By Valerie Strauss

Malia and Sasha Obama are missing two days of school to stay on vacation with their parents, the president and the first lady. When is it okay to keep a child out of school?

By Valerie Strauss | 10:10 AM ET, 01/04/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Student Life | Tags: malia, malia and sasha, malia and sasha obama, malia obama, michelle obama, obama and hawaii, obama and sidwell, obama daughters, obama daughters miss school, obama trip, obama vacation, president obama, sasha, sasha obama, sidwell friends

Posted at 09:30 AM ET, 12/12/2010

What international test scores really tell us: Lessons buried in PISA report

By Valerie Strauss

Buried in the data report about the latest international results of PISA are lessons that show how U.S. education policy is failing.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:30 AM ET, 12/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: PISA, PISA scores, U.S. PISA scores, arne duncan, education policy, how u.s. fares in international rankings, international rankings, international test scores, obama education policy, pisa, the american dream

Posted at 11:39 AM ET, 12/07/2010

Ravitch to Gates: Let's talk

By Valerie Strauss

Education historian Diane Ravitch invites Bill Gates to a public discussion on education reform, and explains why public schools must remain public.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:39 AM ET, 12/07/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: bill gates, checker finn, diane ravitch, education policy, federal control of schools, local control of schools, obama and school reform, republicans in congress, school reform, school reform policies, wall street journal

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 11/23/2010

A new mess at Central Falls High in Rhode Island

By Valerie Strauss

Things aren’t going well at Central Falls High, the Rhode Island school that became famous last spring when all of the teachers were fired and President Obama praised the “accountability” move.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 11/23/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: School turnarounds/reform | Tags: arne duncan, central falls, central falls high school, president obama, school reform, school transformation, school turnaround, teachers

Posted at 09:04 AM ET, 11/17/2010

What Ravitch told KIPP and Teach for America

By Valerie Strauss

Education historian Diane Ravitch gave a speech at Rice University about school reform in which she directly challenged officials from Teach for America and the Knowledge Is Power Program who were present -- the very people who had invited her.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:04 AM ET, 11/17/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags: arne duncan, charter schools, diane ravitch, finland, finland education, kipp, knowledge is power program, nclb, no child left behind, obama school reform, president obama, rice university, secretary duncan, teach for america, teachers, tfa

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 11/12/2010

Palin: Parents should decide what kids eat in school

By Valerie Strauss

An effort by the Pennsylvania Board of Education to encourage public schools to limit sweets and introduce more healthy foods has attracted an unlikely critic: Sarah Palin.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 11/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Health | Tags: banning sweets, child nutrition act, cookies, michelle obama, nutrition, nutrition guidelines, obesity, obesity epidemic, palin cookies, pennsylvania board of education, sarah palin, school breakfast, school lunch

Posted at 08:13 AM ET, 11/11/2010

Yes, you can teach kids to eat broccoli

By Valerie Strauss

I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it, but at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in Washington D.C., chef Lisa Dobbs runs a food program that has young students relishing broccoli, tilapia encrused with panko, boureks with beef or vegetables, and other foods not commonly embraced by kids.

By Valerie Strauss | 08:13 AM ET, 11/11/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Health | Tags: bill shore, charter schools, child nutrition act, elsie whitlow stokes, first lady michelle obama, jeff bridges, lisa dobbs, michelle obama, nutrition education, obesity, school lunch, share our strength, stokes charter school, whole foods

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 11/09/2010

Harvard’s strange ‘Strange Bedfellows’ education event

By Valerie Strauss

You might think, or at least I would, that a ticketed discussion at the Harvard University Institute of Politics on education would include people with different views. But with Michelle Rhee, Jeb Bush and John Podesta as the panel, the "discussion" will sound more like an echo chamber.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 11/09/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: School turnarounds/reform, School turnarounds/reform, School turnarounds/reform, School turnarounds/reform, School turnarounds/reform | Tags: arne duncan, charter schools, education department, harvard, harvard university, institute of politics, iop, jeb bush, john podesta, margaret spellings, michelle rhee, no child left behind, obama education reform, president obama, race to the top, school reform

Posted at 09:13 AM ET, 11/05/2010

Who’s NOT on Forbes powerful people list -- but should be

By Valerie Strauss

On the Forbes list of the 68 most powerful people in the world you will find government leaders, bankers, religious figures, a drug trafficker and Oprah Winfrey. But you won't find an educator, and there's one who should have been on the list.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:13 AM ET, 11/05/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: arne duncan, china president, dalai lama, forbes, forbes magazine, hu jintao, jintao, mark zuckerberg, oprah, oprah winfrey, pope benedict, powerful people list, president obama

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 11/04/2010

Where Kline stands on education policy

By Valerie Strauss

The man expected to be the new chairman of the House's education committee has some strong opinions about policy: He immensely dislikes No Child Left Behindy, but wants the Disabilities Education Act fully funded.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 11/04/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Congress | Tags: 112th congress, IDEA, arne duncan, charter schools, congress, education committee, education policy, gop takeover, gop victory, house education and labor committee, john kline, midterm elections, nclb, no child left behind, president obama, race to the top, rep. john kline, republican victory, special ed, special education

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 11/03/2010

Education policy: What will happen now

By Valerie Strauss

If you think things have been unexpectedly bad in the world of education under President Obama, the Republican takeover of the House could just make things even worse.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 11/03/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Congress | Tags: boehner, boehner speaker of the house, congress, democrats, education department, education policy, gops takes house, john boehner, nclb, no child left behind, obama, obama democrats, president obama, rand paul, republican takeover, republicans, speaker of the house

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 11/02/2010

Is Duncan out of bounds?

By Valerie Strauss

I have one question about this poster promoting Education Secretary Arne Duncan's speech on school reform at UNESCO headquarters in Paris this week: Who thought showing Duncan playing basketball with President Obama was a good idea?

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 11/02/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: arne duncan, education department, president obama, school reform, secretary arne duncan, secretary duncan, unesco

Posted at 11:49 AM ET, 10/26/2010

In STEM era, humanities get new attention

By Valerie Strauss

Given all the attention STEM-related subjects get, you could be forgiven for thinking that math, science, technology and engineering are the only things college students can take. In this STEM era, the humanities are getting new attention at colleges and universities.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:49 AM ET, 10/26/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Curriculum, Curriculum | Tags: STEM, brandeis university, engineering degrees, humanities, iran, mandel center, math education, new york times editorial, president obama, science fair, social sciences, south korea, stem education, the humanities, university of connecticut, university of pittsburgh, white house

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 10/22/2010

Kohn: The pretend reformers

By Valerie Strauss

Alfie Kohn writes: " Real education reform would require us to consider the elimination of many features that we’ve come to associate with school, so perhaps the reluctance to take such suggestions seriously is just a specific instance of the 'whatever is, is right' bias that psychologists keep documenting."

By Valerie Strauss | 09:00 AM ET, 10/22/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags: alfie kohn, davis guggenheim, duncan, george bush, george w. bush, joel k lein, obama, school reform, seymour papert, waiting for superman

Posted at 01:24 PM ET, 10/21/2010

Afterschool programs in funding jeopardy

By Valerie Strauss

Thousands of afterschool programs are in danger of losing their funding because of a proposal that would allow federal money now used to support these programs to instead pay for longer school days. That may sound like it makes sense, but it doesn't.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:24 PM ET, 10/21/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Learning, Learning | Tags: afterschool alliance, afterschool funds, afterschool programs, arne duncan, extending school day, lights on afterschool, longer school day, president obama, quality afterschool, school reform, student achievement

Posted at 10:41 AM ET, 10/21/2010

Kudos for D.C. school meal program but hold applause for Congress

By Valerie Strauss

D.C. public schools officials deserve an ovation for a new program to feed dinner to about 10,000 students in an effort to help improve childhood nutrition and ensure that kids don’t go hungry. But let's hold the applause for Congress.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:41 AM ET, 10/21/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags: d.c. schools, dinners at school, food stamps, healthy meals, hunger, michelle rhee, nutrition, obama administration, school breakfast, school dinners, school lunch, school meals, school nutrition act

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/12/2010

'Manifesto' should be resignation letter

By Valerie Strauss

Educator and researcher Kevin G. Welner writes that none of the reforms discussed in a "manifesto" for school reform by Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee and 14 other schools chiefs are grounded in research and are nothing more than fads and gimmicks.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 10/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: charter schools, fixing schools, joel klein, klein manifesto, klein rhee, manifesto, merit pay, michelle rhee, obama and school reform, obama and schools, president obama, reform manifest, rhee manifesto, school reform

Posted at 12:48 PM ET, 10/11/2010

Obama, the 'Superman' movie flack?

By Valerie Strauss

President Obama is welcoming to the White House the five young students who star in "Waiting for Superman." Thank you, Mr. President, for drawing more attention to the tendentious movie. The $2 million given by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote the movie apparently wasn't enough.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:48 PM ET, 10/11/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Charter schools, Charter schools | Tags: davis guggenheim, kids and obama, matt lauer, obama, obama and sidwell, obama daughters, president obama, sidwell friends school, students go to white house, superman film, superman kids, superman kids at white house, superman movie, waiting for superman, white house

Posted at 08:45 AM ET, 10/05/2010

Jill Biden, Obama host summit on community colleges

By Valerie Strauss

Jill Biden, a longtime community college instructor who happens to be the country's Second Lady, hosts the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges today.

By Valerie Strauss | 08:45 AM ET, 10/05/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Community Colleges | Tags: community college summit, community colleges, dropout rates, graduation rates, jill biden, obama, president obama, white house summit

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/04/2010

Book blasts research base for Obama reform plan

By Valerie Strauss

A new book analyzes the research base for President Obama's blueprint for education reform and finds that it is, at best, very weak.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 10/04/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research | Tags: diane ravitch, education research, esea, no child left behind, obama blueprint, obama schools, reform blueprint, research, research summary, school reform, welner

Posted at 11:49 AM ET, 10/01/2010

The poverty gap: There are always exceptions, but they make bad education policy

By Valerie Strauss

Part 2 of the elephant that President Obama and Matt Lauer failed to acknowledge in this week's interview: Of course there are some teachers and schools in impoverished areas that are successful. But they are exceptions that don't prove the rule.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:49 AM ET, 10/01/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: School turnarounds/reform, School turnarounds/reform | Tags: harlem children's zone, hcz, obama, obama and eform, promise neighborhoods, race to the top, school reform

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 09/28/2010

A kid reporter learns the ropes covering Obama

By Valerie Strauss

Here's a charming report by a Scholastic kid reporter on covering his first presidential press conference at the White House. Kids interested in journalism deserve attention!

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 09/28/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Student Life | Tags: kids press corps, obama and schools, obama press conference, scholastic

Posted at 02:41 PM ET, 09/27/2010

The elephant that Obama and Lauer ignored: Poverty and student achievement

By Valerie Strauss

When President Obama sat down for an interview about school reform with NBC's Matt Lauer, they walked right up to the link between poverty and student achievement, but wound up ignoring the elephant in the room. And that tells you what you need to know about the Obama administration's school reform policy.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:41 PM ET, 09/27/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top, Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags: arne duncan, education nation, obama, obama nbc, obama school reform, obama schools, president obama, president obama; obama interview; obama lauer interview; obama education interview; student achievement poverty; poverty and schools, race to the top

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 09/20/2010

What Americans really think about public schools

By Valerie Strauss

In an era of unrelenting bashing of public education by “experts,” a new poll shows that most Americans actually like their neighborhood public schools -- though they don’t seem to like public schools in general -- and they have trust in teachers. And the Obama administration’s education agenda gets mixed reviews in the 2010 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:00 AM ET, 09/20/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Research, Research, Research | Tags: content standards, failing schools, gallup poll, kappan magazine, obama and education, obama and school reform, pdk poll, phi delta kappa, public schools, school funding, standardized tests, teacher quality, teachers and pay, teachers and respect, what americans think about education

Posted at 04:00 PM ET, 09/16/2010

Why 'Waiting for Superman' premiere was chilling

By Valerie Strauss

Something chilling happened at the Washington D.C. premiere of "Waiting for Superman" that involved Michelle Rhee and the A-list audience.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:00 PM ET, 09/16/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: D.C. Schools | Tags: adrian fenty, al franken, arne duncan, charter schools, d.c. schools, david axelrod, fenty and gray, george miller, melody barnes, michelle rhee, movie premiere, obama and refoms, obama reform, president obama and school reform, research and education, research on charter schools, rhee and gray, superman film, superman premiere, teachers and unions, vincent gray, waiting for superman, what will rhee do?, when will rhee leave?, who will replace rhee

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 09/14/2010

Obama picked wrong school to give speech

By Valerie Strauss

The Philadelphia school chosen for President Obama’s second annual “back to school” speech to students around the country is consistently ranked as a great public college-preparatory institution. That’s why he should have picked a different school to visit.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 09/14/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: School turnarounds/reform | Tags: central falls high school, elliott school, obama and back to school, obama and back to school speech, obama and masterman school, obama and school reform, obama and speech, obama and speech and students, obama speech, president obama and back to school, president obama and school reform, restructured schools, t.c. williams, t.c. williams high school, urgent need of reform list

Posted at 03:00 PM ET, 09/13/2010

Obama ed policy lacks scientific support -- Willingham

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham calls into question President Obama's judgment on the administration's education policy, saying that it has no scientific support.

By Valerie Strauss | 03:00 PM ET, 09/13/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham | Tags: common core standards, daniel willingham, duncan and policy, duncan and reforms, naep, national assessment of educational progress, obama and education policy, obama and inaugural address, obama and school reform, president obama and education, race to the top, race to the top requirements, science and obama administration, teacher assessment

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 09/08/2010

Ravitch: Welcome back to school "reform"

By Valerie Strauss

Diane Ravitch predicts that the 2010-11 school year will be another year in which "teachers and principals will be blamed and punished" unless their students' test scores go "up and up," more principals will be fired and more schools will be closed. And more.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 09/08/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags: diane ravitch, education secretary duncan, guest bloggers, no child left behind, obama and blueprint, obama and school reform, race to the top, race to the top winners, rttt winners, the death and life of the great american school system, top ooool reboamael

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 08/16/2010

The problem with favoring high schools in turnaround grant program

By Valerie Strauss

The Obama administration has doled out a disproportionate amount of school turnaround funds to high schools, even though no one knows exactly how to improve them.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 08/16/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: Tier 1, Tier 2, obama and education policies, obama and school reform, school improvement grants, school turnaround grants, school turnarounds

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 08/11/2010

The problem with ‘Race to the Top’ is the race

By Valerie Strauss

Diana Senechal writes that President Obama is correct when he says we need to shake things up to improve the schools. The problem is that we are shaking up the wrong things.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 08/11/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: common core standards, diana senechal, obama and race to the top, obama and school reform, race to the top

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 08/09/2010

Education Reformers vs. “New Reformers”

By Valerie Strauss

A high school teacher looks at the trouble ahead this year for schools amid the budget crisis and education reforms he doesn't believe will help.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 08/09/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers | Tags: esea, obama and blueprint, obama's reform blueprint, race to the top

Posted at 11:13 AM ET, 08/07/2010

Why you should be skeptical about standardized test scores

By Valerie Strauss

A Columbia University teacher writes about the problems with our faith our standardized test scores: "Yes, we 'just' need better tests. But creating better tests is very hard and very expensive. And in a system as vast and complex as ours, it’ll be tempting to continue using tests that can be graded quickly and that don’t look very different from the ones we now use. But without a radically different approach to standardized testing in this country, we are unlikely to get different results."

By Valerie Strauss | 11:13 AM ET, 08/07/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: in, obama and education, obama's education policies, rhe, rhee fires teachers, standardized test scores, using standardized tests for high stakes decisions

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 07/30/2010

Obama, education, Snooki, civil rights and Bryan Bass

By Valerie Strauss

It's hard to make sense out of what happened in the world of education this week. But let's try.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 07/30/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags: al sharpton, arne duncan and urban league, civil rights leaders and obama, obama and snooki, obama and urban league, obama mentions snooki, obama's education speech, obama's speech to urban league, snooki, snooki and jersey shore, urban league convention

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/28/2010

New analysis blasts Obama’s school turnaround policy -- and tells how to fix it

By Valerie Strauss

The Obama administration’s approach to improving the country's most troubled schools are nothing more than a toughened version of largely unsuccessful strategies concocted under president Bush and should be replaced with a flexible system that involves parents and communities, according to a new report that includes a list of more than 2,000 targeted schools and a demographic analysis.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 07/28/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: civil rights leaders and education, duncan and urban league, education framework, how to turnaround schools, no child left behind, no child left behind and school turnaround models, obama and urban league, report on school turnaround, school transformation models, school turnaround models

Posted at 03:00 PM ET, 07/26/2010

Civil rights groups skewer Obama education policy (updated)

By Valerie Strauss

It is most politely written, but a 17-page framework for education reform being released today by a coalition of civil rights groups amounts to a thrashing of President Obama’s education policies and it offers a prescription for how to set things right.

By Valerie Strauss | 03:00 PM ET, 07/26/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: civil rights and duncan, civil rights leaders and education, duncan and urban league, framework for education and civil rights groups, framework for providing all students an opportunity to learn, obama and urban league, obama speaks to urban league, the urban league, urban league convention

Posted at 10:24 AM ET, 07/12/2010

Questions for Michelle Obama's live Web chat on obesity

By Valerie Strauss

First Lady Michelle Obama is hosting her first live web chat on Tuesday about her national campaign to end the country's obesity epidemic. Here are a few questions for her.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:24 AM ET, 07/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Health, Health | Tags: first lady and web chat, first lady michelle obama and let's move, let's move and michelle obama, michelle obama, michelle obama and first web chat, michelle obama and obesity, michelle obama and web chat, nclb and physical education, physical education and obesity, web chat and let's move

Posted at 07:12 AM ET, 07/03/2010

Top 5 Independence Day myths

By Valerie Strauss

Did you know that American independence wasn't really declared on the Fourth of July? Or that most delegates to the Constitutional Convention didn't sign the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July? Read on.

By Valerie Strauss | 07:12 AM ET, 07/03/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: History | Tags: adams and jefferson, declaration of independence signed, facts about independence day, facts about july 4, history, independence day, john adams and thomas jefferson, july 2nd and independence, july 4th, malia obama and birthday, the crack in the liberty bell, the liberty bell, when did adams and jefferson die, when was independence declared

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/02/2010

Reality check on school accountability movement

By Valerie Strauss

A teacher writes about how off-base today's accountability movement has become.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 07/02/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers | Tags: obama and school reform, school reform

Posted at 11:42 AM ET, 06/27/2010

Obama policy blamed for popular principal's reassignment

By Valerie Strauss

A popular principal is being reassigned in Lincoln, Neb., and district officials say that the U.S. Education Department is to blame.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:42 AM ET, 06/27/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: de ann currin, duncan and obama and school reform, elliott elementary school, lincoln public schools, obama administration and education policy, obama's education policy, replacing the principal, restructuring and school, restructuring models, schools and federal intervention, stimulus money for education, title 1 money, title 1 schools

Posted at 11:30 PM ET, 06/24/2010

Principal: How to REALLY turn around a school

By Valerie Strauss

A principal talks about how he and his staff successfully improved a school--but not in the way advocated by today's school reformers.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:30 PM ET, 06/24/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Teachers, Teachers, Teachers | Tags: obama and school reform, race to the top, school reform, school restructuring, teachers, turning around schools

Posted at 05:30 AM ET, 06/22/2010

Ravitch to Obama: 'Change course before it is too late"

By Valerie Strauss

Education historian Diane Ravitch talks about meeting thousands of teachers and parents who are "unhappy, frustrated and demoralized" at the Obama administration's education policies. And she explains what she would tell President Obama if he gave her the chance.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:30 AM ET, 06/22/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags: arne duncan, death and life of the great american school system, diane ravitch, diane ravitch's book, no child left behind, obama blueprint for reform, race to the top, teachers, teachers unions and reform

Posted at 11:51 AM ET, 06/21/2010

Preventing summer learning loss

By Valerie Strauss

Summer learning loss is real, but there are ways to prevent it.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:51 AM ET, 06/21/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Learning | Tags: how to prevent summer learning loss, michelle obama, preventing summer learning loss, summer learning, summer reading

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/21/2010

Christian churches oppose Race to the Top, Obama blueprint

By Valerie Strauss

An extraordinary letter sent to President Obama and U.S. lawmakers by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA -- which represents churches that have a combined membership of 45 million people -- should erase any doubt that the opposition to the Obama administration's education policies is wide and deep.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 06/21/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: No Child Left Behind, No Child Left Behind, No Child Left Behind | Tags: arne duncan and school reform, charter schools and pastoral letter, churches of christ, education reform, elementary and secondary school act and reauthorization, esea reauthorization, national council of the churches of christ, national council of the churches of christ in the usa, obama and blueprint and education reform, obama and school reform, pastoral letter, pastoral letter and obama and education, president obama's blueprint for education reform, race to the top, reauthorization of no child left behind

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 06/16/2010

Ravitch: 'Are we in an era of National Stupidity?'

By Valerie Strauss

Education historian Diane Ravitch looks at the accumulating evidence revealing how our "accountability policies are a great fraud," and asks: "Are we in an era of National Stupidity or National Insanity?"

By Valerie Strauss | 09:00 AM ET, 06/16/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags: Arne Duncan, Diane Ravitch, accountability and nclb, accountability movement, accountability policies, bridging differences, diane ravitch and deborah meier, holding teachers accountability, how to hold teachers accountable, narrowing the curriculum, president obama and education bluerpint, president obama and school reform, teachers and merit pay

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/12/2010

New controversy at Rhode Island school

By Valerie Strauss

One of the two newly named principals at the Rhode Island school were all the teachers were fired and then rehired had on his resumé a serious exaggeration of student achievement in math at his former school.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 06/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Teachers | Tags: central falls high school, central falls school, obama and central falls, rhode island school, teachers fired, teachers rehired at rhode island school

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/04/2010

Florida’s Race to Top application: Not what it seems

By Valerie Strauss

No sooner had the deadline passed for the second round of applications from participating states in the Obama administration’s $4 billion Race to the Top contest than we learn that at least one bid isn’t quite what it seems.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 06/04/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top | Tags: arne duncan and race to the top, florida and race to the top, florida's rttt application, obama and race to the top, race to the top, school reform and obama, second round and race to the top

Posted at 02:31 PM ET, 06/03/2010

College awareness: How much is too much?

By Valerie Strauss

How old should children be before they are asked to start worrying about going to college? Eight years old? Ten? Thirteen? Fifteen? How about 5?

By Valerie Strauss | 02:31 PM ET, 06/03/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Higher Education, Higher Education | Tags: college readiness, college readiness week, kalamazoo and obama, kalamazoo school, kalamazoo school district, newsom and savings account, obama's 2020 goal and college, san francisco and kindergarten savings account

Posted at 05:00 PM ET, 06/02/2010

Must we link P.E. (and everything else) to test scores?

By Valerie Strauss

Is there nothing in education today that we do not feel the need to justify through improved standardized test scores? A new report is out about physical education in public schools. The news is not good.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 PM ET, 06/02/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Health, Health, Health | Tags: american heart association, let's move, michelle obama, michelle obama's anti-obesity campaign, obama and get Fit, obesity, obesity epidemic, physical activity and health, physical education, physical education and test scores, recommended physical education guidelines, standardized test scores

Posted at 10:45 AM ET, 05/31/2010

Kids spend Memorial Day in school

By Valerie Strauss

Memorial Day is a holiday to honor Americans who have died while serving in the U.S. military, and, at least unofficially, makes the beginning of summer. But today, in school districts across the country, a lot of kids who usually have the day off are instead in class.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:45 AM ET, 05/31/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: biden and arlington, memorial day and president, memorial day and school, memorial day classes, memorial day events, memorial day observances, obama and arlington, obama and memorial day, president obama and memorial day

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 05/27/2010

Postcards to Mrs. Obama: End high-stakes testing

By Valerie Strauss

Organizations opposed to high-stakes standardized tests are starting a postcard-writing campaign aimed at persuading First Lady Michelle Obama to "encourage" President Obama to end the use of high stakes tests. Lisa Guisbond of FairTest writes about the effort.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:00 PM ET, 05/27/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests | Tags: FairTest, fairtest, high-stakes standardized tests, michelle obama and tests, mrs. obama and standardized tests, no child left behind, obama and nclb, obama and race to the top, postcard campaign, postcard campaign to mrs. obama, postcards to first lady, postcards to michelle obama, postcards to mrs. obama, race to the top, standardized tests, standardized tests and results, the problem with race to the top, time out for testing

Posted at 11:59 AM ET, 05/27/2010

What’s wrong with standardized tests?

By Valerie Strauss

Standardized tests are used for so many purposes in schools today that it can be easy to forget why they shouldn’t be used as an exclusive measure to determine anything of importance. Let's review why

By Valerie Strauss | 11:59 AM ET, 05/27/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Standardized Tests | Tags: dangers of high-stakes standardized tests, high-stakes standardized tests, obama administration and school reform, obama and standardized tests, obama and tests, standardized tests

Posted at 11:15 AM ET, 05/20/2010

Obama’s mistake with technology in ed reform

By Valerie Strauss

The Obama administration's plan for rewriting No Child Left Behind makes the mistake of relegating technology – a catalyst for all educational reform efforts for the 21st century – to just an “additional, cross-cutting priority.”

By Valerie Strauss | 11:15 AM ET, 05/20/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Technology, Technology | Tags: blueprint for reform, obama and blueprint for reform, obama and mistake, obama and nclb, obamas, teachers college, teachers college at columbia university, technology in education, technology in schools

Posted at 02:52 PM ET, 05/16/2010

Tentative agreement reached on Rhode Island teachers

By Washington Post Editors

The teachers at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island who were all recently fired may get to keep their jobs after all. A tentative agreement has been reached between the teachers union and school district officials and will be voted on tomorrow.

By Washington Post Editors | 02:52 PM ET, 05/16/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Teachers | Tags: central falls high school, deal in central falls, president obama and central falls, teachers and central falls

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 05/09/2010

The funniest commencement speeches

By Valerie Strauss

Most graduation speeches are boring; who really remembers theirs? But some classes get lucky, and are graced with a speaker who says something memorable because it is profound rather than sappy, or because it is really funny, or because it is profound and funny at the same time. I like the funny ones, so here are excerpts of some of the funny ones.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:00 AM ET, 05/09/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Higher Education | Tags: commencement speeches, degeneres speech, ellen degeneres and tulane, funny commencement speeches, funny graduation speeches, graduation ceremonies, graduation speeches, hilarious commencement speeches, jon stewart and commencement address, jon stewart and william and mary, lady gaga and commencement address, lady gaga and new york university, obama and commencement, obama and graduation, obama at hampton, will ferrell and harvard

Posted at 02:46 PM ET, 05/06/2010

How Obama should set literacy goals

By Valerie Strauss

A literacy expert writes that the Obama administration's proposal for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, A Blueprint for Reform, is on the right track in its literacy goals in its Blueprint for Reform. However, the goals as currently stated are very general and could lead to literacy approaches that might not be effective.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:46 PM ET, 05/06/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: No Child Left Behind, No Child Left Behind, No Child Left Behind | Tags: literacy goals, obama and blueprint for reform, obama and literacy, reauthorizing ESEA, rewriting nclb, rewriting no child left behind

Posted at 02:00 AM ET, 05/06/2010

How U.S. school reform is linked to UK vote

By Valerie Strauss

A British writer explains the connection between U.S. charter schools and the general election today in the United Kingdom--and an interest on both sides of the Atlantic in the KIPP charter schools.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:00 AM ET, 05/06/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Charter schools, Charter schools | Tags: British election, British schools, Gordon brown, Gove and KIPP, KIPP, KIPP schools, Knowledge Is Power, UK election, charter schools, education in britain, obama and KIPP, schools in England

Posted at 09:04 PM ET, 05/04/2010

Michigan high school wins Obama; five others get consolation prize

By Valerie Strauss

Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan is the big winner in a contest that offered as its prize a commencement speech by President Obama, and five other finalists won't walk away empty-handed.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:04 PM ET, 05/04/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: High School, High School | Tags: Kalamazoo Central High School, Kalamazoo school wins contest, President Obama, Race to the Top, commencement speech and Obama, high school

Posted at 09:45 AM ET, 05/04/2010

Deborah Meier's education advice to Obama

By Valerie Strauss

Renowned educator Deborah Meier has some unsolicited advice for President Obama about how to shape education policy and meet the needs of students, teachers, parents and the public.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:45 AM ET, 05/04/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Deborah Meier, Deborah Meier, Deborah Meier | Tags: Deborah Meier, No Child Left Behind, Obama and blueprint, President Obama and blueprint, guest bloggers, performance assessment, school reform and Obama

Posted at 04:14 PM ET, 04/29/2010

Obama awards Teacher of the Year

By Valerie Strauss

President Obama presented Sarah Brown Wessling from Iowa with the 2010 National Teacher of the Year award today at a ceremony in the Rose Garden. He also supported legislative efforts to provide funding to states to keep hundreds of thousands of teachers from being laid at the end of the school year.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:14 PM ET, 04/29/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Teachers | Tags: president obama, sara brown wessling, teacher of the year, teacher of the year winner, teachers, wessling and teacher of the year

Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 04/29/2010

What does being “college and career ready” mean?

By Valerie Strauss

It is one of President Obama’s key education reform goals: Ensuring that all students who graduate high school are “college and career ready” by 2020 is one of President Obama's key education reform goals. But what does that mean?

By Valerie Strauss | 08:00 AM ET, 04/29/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: No Child Left Behind | Tags: ESEA reauthorization, NCLB, Obama and education reform, college and career ready and obama, college and career ready,, what does "college and career ready mean"

Posted at 06:20 AM ET, 04/26/2010

Vote on Obama's commencement speech contest

By Valerie Strauss

Starting today the public can rate the six public schools named as finalists in a White House competition that offers up President Obama as the prize. Obama will give the commencement speech at the winning school.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:20 AM ET, 04/26/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top | Tags: Blue Valley Northwest High School, Clark Montessori, Denver School of Science and Technology, Environmental Charter high School, High School Commencement Challenge, Kalamazoo Central High school, MAST Academy, Obama and high schools, Obama gives commencement, Race to the Top, Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 04/22/2010

Obama should call an education summit

By Valerie Strauss

By Mark Phillips. President Obama should call an education summit meeting if he wants to have credibility as a leader of school reform. It should include our most eminent educational leaders as well as teacher organization heads. It is not too late to reshape his policies but this must happen in a hurry.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:00 AM ET, 04/22/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top, Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags: Arne Duncan and schools, President Obama and schools, Race to the Top, school reform

Posted at 08:30 AM ET, 04/21/2010

Race to Top winners chosen arbitrarily -- new report

By Valerie Strauss

A new report by an independent institute says that the first winners in President Obama's "Race to the Top" education funding competition were chosen through “arbitrary criteria," rather than through an objective process.

By Valerie Strauss | 08:30 AM ET, 04/21/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top, Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags: RTTT criteria, Race to the Top, Race to the Top criteria, criteria for race to the top, education blueprint and obama, race to the top point system, report on race to the top, rttt point system, the blueprint, winners of Race to the Top

Posted at 12:49 PM ET, 04/20/2010

Obama repeals Bush-era Title IX policy

By Valerie Strauss

The Obama administration is throwing out a Bush-era policy under the Title IX gender equity law that critics said made it easy for schools and colleges to avoid offering equal opportunities for women in athletics. Critics say the change is unwarranted.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:49 PM ET, 04/20/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Sports | Tags: Obama administration, Obama and Title IX, Title IX, athletics in schools, discrimination against women

Posted at 10:30 PM ET, 04/19/2010

Maryland’s big education mistake

By Valerie Strauss

Education officials in state after state are moving to contort their elementary and secondary school systems to align with the priorities of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to win some of the $3 billion being dangled by the Obama administration in its Race to the Top competition. It is especially unfortunate to Maryland, a state with a well-regarded education system, promote reforms that include some that have no basis in research--or in common sense.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:30 PM ET, 04/19/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags: Duncan and Race to the Top, Maryland Race to the Top proposal, Maryland schools, Obama and Race to the Top, Obama and schools, Race to the Top, performance pay and teachers, teacher pay, teacher pay for performance, teachers, value added models

Posted at 01:08 PM ET, 04/13/2010

Why Obama’s schools funding approach is upsetting educators

By Valerie Strauss

School superintendents across the country are becoming increasingly worried about the Obama administration's plans to turn new education funding into competitive grants, including for the government's main program for helping schools in high-poverty areas.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:08 PM ET, 04/13/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: No Child Left Behind, Obama and education, Obama and school reform, Obama's blueprint, President Obama, Race to the Top, education funding, funding for schools, school reform

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 04/12/2010

Willingham: Obama should stop coercing teachers and start persuading

By Valerie Strauss

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham writes about how President Obama seems to trying to coerce teachers to do what he wants rather than use his formidable powers of persuasion. Experients in psychology, he says, show that coercion gets compliance, while persuasion breeds enthusiasm and innovation.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:30 AM ET, 04/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham | Tags: Daniel Willingham, Obama and teachers, Obama education policy, President Obama and teachers, guest bloggers

Posted at 11:29 AM ET, 04/08/2010

Teaching the Civil War: Debate still alive

By Valerie Strauss

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s apology for leaving slavery out of a proclamation declaring April as Confederate History Month cannot gloss over the fact that the issue is still alive. While there is little disagreement among professional historians that slavery was the central reason for the secession of 11 Southern states from the union and the eruption of the war, it is still taught as only one of the issues in many Southern schools.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:29 AM ET, 04/08/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: History | Tags: causes of civil war, mcpherson and civil war, obama, obama and civil war, obama and history, slavery as cause of civil war, teaching the civil war, virginia gov. civil war, virginia politics

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/08/2010

Obama ed "blueprint" will widen achievement gaps

By Valerie Strauss

By Lisa Guisbond and Monty Neill. Trapping the poorest children in NCLB’s negative cycle and somewhat freeing the rest, will only add to what Jonathan Kozol called "The Shame of the Nation," widening gaps in educational opportunity and quality.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 04/08/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: Duncan and blueprint, Duncan and school reform, FairTest, Fairtest, No Child Left Behind, Obama and blueprint, Obama and school reform, Obama's blueprint, Race to the Top

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 03/24/2010

Disaster for Florida teachers: Senate Bill 6

By Valerie Strauss

A bill in the Florida Senate would go a long way to destroying the teaching profession in the state: It would eliminate job security, and link most of a teacher's pay to how well students perform on standardized tests. The bill takes to extremes the notion, supported by President Obama, of linking teacher evaluation to test scores.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 03/24/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: Arne Duncan, Florida legislature, President Obama, standardized tests, teacher pay, teachers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 03/23/2010

Ravitch's NCLB book an unexpected best seller

By Valerie Strauss

Education policy books aren't usually best sellers, but Diane Ravitch's new "The Death and Life of the Great American School System," has become so popular that many bookstores are sold out.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 03/23/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: Arne Duncan, Diane Ravitch, President Obama

Posted at 11:19 PM ET, 03/18/2010

School restructuring and AYP

By Valerie Strauss

It’s a good thing that President Obama wants to eliminate the requirement in No Child Left Behind that required schools to prove that students were making “adequate yearly progress.” A new report shows one-third of the nation’s public schools failed to meet AYP targets in the 2008-09 school year. But Obama's faith in restructuring of schools that don't meet AYP is misplaced. An article by Alexander Russo explains some unexpected consequences of restructuring.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:19 PM ET, 03/18/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: No Child Left Behind | Tags: NCLB, No Child Left Behind, President Obama, restructuring schools; education reform

Posted at 05:25 PM ET, 03/18/2010

Teacher who hung Obama in effigy should go

By Valerie Strauss

The teacher at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island who hung President OBama in effigy--apparently in reaction to Obama’s support of the firings--should go.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:25 PM ET, 03/18/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: No Child Left Behind, No Child Left Behind, No Child Left Behind | Tags: President Obama, central falls, rhode island school, teachers fired

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 03/15/2010

On Obama (and Jay Mathews) and teacher accountability

By Valerie Strauss

Let's get real about "teacher accountability." Using student standardized test scores to judge the effectiveness of teachers is wrong--and saying so doesn't make anyone an opponent of holding teachers accountable.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 03/15/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Teachers, Teachers, Teachers | Tags: No Child Left Behind, President Obama

Posted at 01:45 PM ET, 03/13/2010

Obama and NCLB: The good--and very bad--news

By Valerie Strauss

Today we learned the vision that President Obama has for the American public education system in the post-No Child Left Behind era. Unfortunately, it doesn't look different enough. George Bush probably never realized how much of a friend Obama would be to NCLB.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:45 PM ET, 03/13/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: Arne Duncan, No Child Left Behind, President Obama, school reform

Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 03/13/2010

Obama’s contradictions on education

By Valerie Strauss

President Obama has said repeatedly that his education goal is to make sure that every child has a quality education and the opportunity to graduate from college -- and he displayed his commitment to that by donating some of his Nobel Prize money to organizations that help underserved children get ready for college. But his education policies are guaranteed not to reach that goal.

By Valerie Strauss | 08:00 AM ET, 03/13/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: No Child Left Behind, No Child Left Behind | Tags: Arne Duncan, No Child Left Behind, President Obama, Race to the Top

Posted at 09:33 AM ET, 03/12/2010

Why Obama should invest in teachers

By Valerie Strauss

How a professional learning community works--and why the most important investment the Obama administration can make in education is in teachers and teaching.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:33 AM ET, 03/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: George Wood, Obama, guest bloggers, teachers, teaching

Posted at 03:51 PM ET, 03/01/2010

Obama's unfortunate comments on teacher firings

By Valerie Strauss

President Obama unfortunately waded today into a debate about the firings last week of all of the educators in a high school in Rhode Island. Someone apparently has never told the president that these kinds of restructuring efforts rarely work well.

By Valerie Strauss | 03:51 PM ET, 03/01/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: arne duncan, president obama, school reform

Posted at 08:56 PM ET, 01/26/2010

Mr. Obama: Say this on education

By Valerie Strauss

Note to the White House: You haven’t yet called to ask me what President Obama should say about education in the State of the Union speech so I’ll save you the time. Here it is. This comes from Sam Chaltain, national director of the non-profit Forum for Education & Democracy, an oganization committed to advancing the democratic role of public education. Chaltain has been involved for years in educating young people to become engaged and democratic citizens. If Obama is planning to extol the virtues of his "Race to the Top" program, please reconsider. Chaltain has a better idea.

By Valerie Strauss | 08:56 PM ET, 01/26/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags: president obama, race to the top

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 01/26/2010

Obama's teleprompter

By Valerie Strauss

In the category of “some folks will find any and every stupid little thing with which to bash President Obama:” The commander in chief is being ridiculed by bloggers on the Internet over his use last week of a teleprompter when he went to an elementary school in Virginia to give a speech about his education program. Obama went to Graham Road Elementary School last week to talk about “Race to the Top,” and while he was there, to have a talk with sixth graders. The bloggers are accusing him of using the teleprompter to talk to the kids. Of course, any sixth grader who wasn’t there could figure out that that wasn’t what he did.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 01/26/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Race to the Top, Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags: President Obama, Race to the Top

Posted at 12:42 PM ET, 01/19/2010

A question for President Obama

By Valerie Strauss

I wonder if President Obama realizes the very huge gap between his pre-election talk about education and the program that his administration is advancing now. Today Obama went to a Virginia school to announce $1.35 billion new funding for his “Race to the Top” initiative for improving the country’s public education system. The total price tag is expected to be $4.35 billion. This effort is the successor to president Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” program in ways more than just timing; the emphasis on standardized test scores that marked NCLB has been carried over into Race to the Top, and even, as some critics, made even more prominent. This is not at all the message that Obama as presidential candidate made repeatedly.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:42 PM ET, 01/19/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: president obama, race to the top, standardized tests

Posted at 02:44 PM ET, 10/19/2009

Obama and sensible school lunch schedules

By Valerie Strauss

hen President Obama made a surprise visit today to Viers Mill Elementary School in Silver Spring to share a meal with third- and fifth-graders, he picked a school that has reasonable lunch schedule for its kids. The school says that its students have 30 minutes to eat their lunch every day. But there are plenty of other schools where kids have 15 or 20 minutes to eat. And some students are forced to eat lunch before 11 a.m. How much time for lunch should students get?

By Valerie Strauss | 02:44 PM ET, 10/19/2009 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Health | Tags: President Obama, Viers Mill Elementary School, school lunch

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 09/23/2009

Dr. Jill Biden Guest Blogs on Community Colleges

By Valerie Strauss

By Jill Biden I wanted to share some thoughts about a very exciting day I had Monday. In the morning I traveled with President Obama to Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. As I told the students and teachers I met there, I felt right at home. I’ve been an English teacher for almost 30 years, and I’ve spent much of my career in the community college system. In fact, yesterday I was right back in my own college classroom teaching English. People often ask me why I choose to teach at a community college. Well—the answer is simple: It’s my students.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:00 AM ET, 09/23/2009 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Community Colleges | Tags: community colleges, jill biden, president obama

Posted at 11:55 AM ET, 09/11/2009

P.S.: Who Watched Obama's Back-to-School Speech

By Valerie Strauss

My colleague Nick Anderson on the national schools beat offers a postscript to the flap over President Obama's back-to-school speech: There was much buzz beforehand about whether it was appropriate to show students the speech that Obama gave Tuesday at...

By Valerie Strauss | 11:55 AM ET, 09/11/2009 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Civics Education, Civics Education, Civics Education | Tags: Arlington Public Schools, Calvert County Schools, D.C. schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Howard County schools, Montgomery County Schools, P.G. Schools, President Obama, back-to-school, education speech

Posted at 01:35 PM ET, 09/09/2009

Obama, McCartney, Springsteen: Let Them Talk to Kids in School!

By Valerie Strauss

The Answer Sheet loves the Beatles and is delighted that the group is the No. 1 band in the world right now, even though the boys haven’t played together in 40 years and two are dead. It seems unfair, though,...

By Valerie Strauss | 01:35 PM ET, 09/09/2009 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, President Obama, music education, the Beatles

Posted at 09:25 AM ET, 09/04/2009

Kids Should Listen to the U.S. President

By Valerie Strauss

Children should listen to the U.S. president. Period. Notice I didn’t say “agree with” or “blindly follow.” But the furor over a speech that President Obama plans to give Tuesday, live online at noon urging kids to take their education...

By Valerie Strauss | 09:25 AM ET, 09/04/2009 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Civics Education | Tags: civics education, obama, speech

The Answer Sheet: Obama