The Answer Sheet: new york times


Posted at 02:45 PM ET, 01/28/2011

Do tests really help students learn -- or was a new study misreported? -- Kohn
By Valerie Strauss
A new study that received attention was said to have concluded that kids should "take a test to really learn." Except, as Alfie Kohn explains, the study doesn't support that conclusion.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:45 PM ET, 01/28/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags:  alfie kohn, high-stakes testing, new york times, rote learning, standardized testing, student on testing, testing, testing study

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 11/29/2010

What Tom Friedman got wrong about schools and why it matters
By Valerie Strauss
The great New York Times columnist Tom Friedman wrote in a recent piece that if he were a cub reporter today, he’d want to be “covering the epicenter of national security -- but that would be the Education Department.” If Friedman the cub reporter had turned in this piece, a veteran education editor would have sent it back, asking him to back up his contentions with research. He’d have a hard time.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 11/29/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  arne duncan, education secretary arne duncan, performance pay, public schools, school reform, schools, standardized tests, teacher evaluation, the new york times, tom friedman

Posted at 09:40 AM ET, 11/12/2010

What’s wrong with releasing names and scores?
By Valerie Strauss
A teacher writing about plans by the NYC Department of Education to release teachers’ names and value-added ratings to the press, says: "Is this sheer stubbornness on the part of school leaders, or do they not understand the harm this would cause?"

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:40 AM ET, 11/12/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  diana senechal, la times, la times teachers, new york city schools, new york times, new york times teachers, nyc doe, school reform, schools and teachers, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation, teachers, the los angeles times, value added, value added assessment

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 02:58 PM ET, 05/23/2010

Charters vs. public schools: Behind the numbers
By Valerie Strauss
In a New York Times magazine article today, writer Steven Brill compares a charter school in Harlem with a traditional public school which is housed in the same building. He says the student populations are the same. They aren't.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:58 PM ET, 05/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Charter schools | Tags:  brill and story about unions, brill's story and charter schools, charter schools, steven brill story, the new york times and brill story, the teachers unions last stand

Posted at 05:02 PM ET, 05/09/2010

Charter schools: Is this the way it was supposed to work?

By Valerie Strauss
With Education Secretary Arne Duncan promoting the expansion of publicly funded charter schools as if they had been proven to be the silver bullet for school reform (they haven’t), it seems reasonable to look at what can happen when schools are opened without enough regulation.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:02 PM ET, 05/09/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Charter schools, Charter schools | Tags:  Arne Duncan, Central Avenue School, Duncan and charter schools, Education Secretary Duncan, Florida and charter schools, Imagine Schools, New York Times and charter schools, St. Petersburg Times and charter schools, charter schools