Innocents in Blogland

Mathews: The contributor identifies himself only as TMAO. He says he was in Teach For America and now teaches language arts and also coaches at a middle school somewhere in what I assume is the 408 area code, San Jose, Calif., and environs. The writing about his coaching experiences is particularly good, and honest.

15. This Week in Education

Gardner: True to its title, provides a succinct roundup of what's transpired in the field.

Mathews: The contributors are Alexander Russo, Amanda Millner-Fairbanks and Margaret Paynich, who keep up with the news and not only do their own thinking, but their own reporting. They put educational poobahs on what they call the hot-seat, and the results are often illuminating.

16. TLN Teacher Voices

Gardner: Opens a window into the hearts and minds of practitioners.

Gardner said that "choosing the 10 best blogs out of the 74 I received was far tougher than I anticipated. I selected those that I thought were successful in achieving their stated mission. Because blogs are still in their infancy, it's impossible to know how they will evolve. If they move in the direction of persuasion, rather than pronouncement, they have the potential to advance taxpayer understanding of issues in public education. My hope is that they take advantage of the opportunity to stimulate rational debate through the use of evidence, and shun ad hominem arguments."

Gardner told me before we started that he had concerns about blogs, but afterward said his review "opened my eyes to the huge potential for allowing citizens to interact on educational issues." As usual, he said it better, and in fewer words, than I could.