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Apparently, this is the first time in 15years that the Feds have "reformed" school lunch rules. All the special interest groups are have their hands in the school lunch kitchens. Our district has made changes in the caf. selections, already. Honestly, I like being able to choose hummus, salads, and soy beans over "deep-fried everything" and pizza. However, I'm not sure if the students agree.

Gerard Robinson (the Secretary of Education in Virginia) joined Chiefs for Change... along with a number of other governors from the south. Oh, yes and Chris Christy.

For me, the most interesting aspect of this article is the continuing segregation of students in our schools by income. It also have a brief summary of what has happened in the Wake County Schools

Not entirely opposed, we might need to try it to see if it works...I recall reading how Justice Clarence Thomas chose to support public funding to private relgious schools (some might say unconstitutional) in order to create a way for African Americans to leave poorly performing urban public schools. Sometimes, you have to make a choice between a rock and a hard place.

Many of us said that we found writing in the blog difficult because it took a lot of time to craft the "perfect" text. This article explains how many are shifting from blogging to social networks as a more convenient way to quickly share updates.

This article both highlights some of the flaws in the KIPP model as well as goes into a discussion about methodology in evaluating programs.

In New York, students are deemed "college ready" when they score at or above a certain level on the high school Regents Exams (their version of the SOL's). I took a quick look at the high school biology exam from 2001(I admit-not a scientific analysis at all), and apparently fact memorization is what you need to be successful in college.

GOP proposes numerous cuts in federal education spending. Significantly reduces or eliminates programs that the President proposed in his recent State of the Union speech.

Wonder if VCU is hosting this new documentary?

As a parent of two children who participated in highly competitive programs, I am eager to see this movie. While I am impressed with the support and passion that some of their teachers provided, I (actually both my husband and I) at times wondered if the children were being pushed too much with an unintended consequence that there was less time to focus on the other parts of "growing up." We convinced our daughter to cut down to "only" 5 IB/AP classes in her senior year. She initially resisted but eventually found that the extra time was valuable. And, she was no worse off when getting to college. While she came into college with 36 IB/AP hours, only 12 were applied to her degree. I'm interested in feedback from educators too. It would seem that if they are tasked with moving the children through such aggressive programs they may find they lose sight of each child as an individual.

Yes...I get it...I am an IB teacher myself. But, I have learned that no everyone wants to be an overachiever in that academic sort of way...and we should all be okay with that...thanks for your comment!

For a fourth consecutive year, Virginia students rank third in the nation in achievement on Advanced Placement (AP) tests. Go Virginia!!

What we can learn from England - Findings of a longitudinal study that explored the impact of recent educational reforms in England on the nature of the relationship between headteachers and lay school governors. Recent legislation has increased governors' and consumers' power and reduced the power of the "producers" of education. Governors are members of school governing bodies who have volunteered to work with headteachers in school administration. Findings indicate that the governor/headteacher relationship is not a consensual one. Factors inhibiting the development of a partnership include the micropolitical nature of school governance; the emerging organizational cultures of governing bodies; the loose coupling of governing bodies to schools; the differences between heads and governors about power; the complex and ambiguous nature of reform legislation; and cultural factors, such as race, gender, and ethnicity. The question is raised whether community involvement should extend to nonprofessionals taking a key role in educational decision making and policy formation.

KIPP is threatening to close schools in Baltimore unless they are able to resolve a dispute with the teachers' union regarding teacher pay for extended school days.

"For beyond the shrinkage of school curriculums to fit the narrow boundaries of annual tests, along with the disappearance of recess and play, research in poorer schools has uncovered another most tragic outcome to high stakes testing: the effective elimination of care as the ethos that has bound together teacher and child for longer than there have been schools in America."

"Judge Maryann Sumi delayed the implementation of the anti-union law in Wisconsin that would strip most collective bargaining rights from public employees. Sumi is ruling on whether the conference committee for the bill violated state open meetings requirements. In addition, Madison-area unions have filed suit over whether or not the bill passed had fiscal elements, meaning it would require a quorum of state Senators to consider it, which it did not receive. And a third lawsuit, filed late last week, alleges that the legislation is unconstitutional, "infringing on employees' equal protection rights and their rights to freedom of speech and association."

So the school boards and their constituents know that consolidation would reduce costs and the people don't want to pay higher taxes... yet there is reluctance to consolidate small districts (those with approx 500 students) because of unique needs (hmmm is this "code" for something?) and because the constituencies don't like the idea of a state mandate. So, let's see... whose interests are they protecting?

Hahnel is considered a radical in economic thought, but his ideas are founded in economic justice and liberation.

I just wanted to see what would pop up when I Googled role of federal government in education. At the top of search list was link for ed.gov

The punishment does not fit the crime, but if there is such a strong correlation between zip code and achievement, who can blame a Mom for trying?

I disagree with two of the comments in the article... The first was made by the City Council President: ""The young lady was wrong, she should not have tried to take her kids to another school system,..." I do not think she should have falsified the records; however, I do not think that it was wrong to try to find a way to get equal access to a quality education for her children. I also disagree with Don Domenech's interpretation of SES data. While research has found a correlation/relationship between SES and student achievement, I think his statement that "the correlation between student achievement and zip code is 100 percent," is misleading. The average student achievement may be higher in more affluent zip codes but that does not mean 100% of the students perform better. There are still students who struggle or drop out. I think the data speaks more to the family SES. It is true that better facilities and access to more materials and technology provide a higher likelihood of academic success, but I think that some of the student's personal/home factors have a bigger influence. If you send a child who is hungry, has to take care of siblings and/or work to help support the family to an affluent suburban school, that student will not automatically perform better. There are no absolutes and I feel his statement that "The quality of education you receive is entirely predictable based on where you live," is misleading. The "quality" of some of the "inputs and processes" may be better but because success in education is complex and dependent on more than simply the school, the outcomes are not guaranteed based on zip code.

Link to issues of "Review of Research in Education" produced by AERA