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In an article in this week's New York Times Magazine, author Paul Tough notifies supporters of market-based reform that they cannot simply dismiss the "no excuses" maxim when it is convenient. He cites two recent examples of charter schools (the Bruce Randolph School in Denver, CO, and the Urban Prep Academy in Chicago) that were criticized for their low overall performance. Both schools have been defended publicly by "pro-reform" types (the former by Jonathan Alter; the latter by the school's founder, Tim King), arguing that comparisons of school performance must be valid - that is, the schools' test scores must be compared with those of similar neighborhood schools.

In a post last week over at Flypaper, the Fordham Institute's Terry Ryan took a "frank look" at the ratings of the handful of Ohio charter schools that Fordham's Ohio branch manages. He noted that the Fordham schools didn't make a particularly strong showing, ranking 24th among the state's 47 charter authorizers in terms of the aggregate "performance index" among the schools it authorizes. Mr. Ryan takes the opportunity to offer a few valid explanations as to why Fordham ranked in the middle of the charter authorizer pack, such as the fact that the state's "dropout recovery schools," which accept especially hard-to-serve students who left public schools, aren't included (which would likely bump up Fordham's relative ranking).

"Much is being sacrificed to meet both this expensive mandate and the newly enacted tax cap, all while serious challenges to the program's validity and the research upon which it is based remain."

For the second time, the Los Angeles Times published results of statistical testing examining the variation in teacher and school performance in the LA Unified School District. The resulting ranking system was found to be inaccurate due to the unreliable methodology.