Volume 14, No.3

For-Profit Firm On the Ropes

Tesseract can't even afford postage.

By Barbara Miner

Tesseract, formerly known as EAI, can’t even afford postage.

Wisconsin Reports on Voucher Program

Program cannot document whether academic achievement is rising for participating students.

By Barbara Miner

Report notes it is impossible to determine if students are performing better in voucher schools.

Resisting Zero Tolerance

By William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn

A politically popular sound-bite has morphed into a Frankenstein’s monster, destroying children in its path. It doesn’t have to be that way.

First-Class Jails, Second-Class Schools

An interview with Jesse Jackson

By Bob Wing and Terry Keleher

Society’s misplaced priorities are moving too many youths from the educational system and into the penal system.

Zero Tolerance Unfair to Blacks

By Joanna Dupuis

African-American students are suspended or expelled from school at a rate disproportionate to their enrollment, according to a new study.

Remembering Russell

By Jehanne Helene Beaton

Russell was a troubled 12-year-old who needed guidance and support. His school treated him as a problem. Now he’s a 16-year-old criminal.

Bright’ Like Me?

What if we were to take seriously the idea that people can become smart?

By Kristen Olson Lanier

What if we take seriously the idea that people can become smart?

Standardized Minds

Book Review

By Alan Stoskop

A quick look at Peter Sacks’ riveting new book on America’s obsession with testing.

Behind the Testing Juggernaut

By Alan Stoskopf

An Interview with Peter Sacks, Author of “Standardized Minds”

High-Stakes Testing Slights Multiculturalism

Matthew Henson is out, Christopher Columbus is in.

By Makani Themba-Nixon

A vivid example of how high-stakes testing is narrowing the curricula in many schools.

Chicago’s ‘No Social Promotion’ Under Attack

By Julie Woestehoff

The much-touted policy is starting to draw fire from educators and civil rights activists.

Money Matters

By Ron Unz

For years, the Wisconsin tourism industry has pushed for a state law demanding that schools not begin until September. Backed by powerful lobbyists and a big bank account, it finally has its way.

CASE Revealed, Case Closed

Teacher George Schmidt is being sued for $1.4 million by the Chicago Public Schools, which is mad that he published questions from the city’s high-stakes CASE exams.

Standards

News items on the standards issue from around the country.

SAT + ETS = $$$

By Alan Stoskopf

A new book shows how the company behind the SAT has not only shaped American education but has turned a tidy profit.

The Charter Conundrum

By Leo Casey

The charter school movement provides both opportunities and dangers — which is precisely why progressives should not relinquish the movement to conservatives and venture capitalists.

A Policeman’s Duty?

By Jacqueline Battiste-Johnson

Why do schools increasingly call the police when students get into fights, even verbal confrontations? As a parent and teacher, I am enraged.

Bilingual and Spanish-Language Websites

By Cathy Amanti

As an educator, I am often concerned about whether students are gaining the technology skills they need. Because I have always taught in predominantly working-class schools, and because many of my students’ primary home language is Spanish, I have added concerns.

Merit

Teachers Grapple with Yet Another Marketplace Reform

By Bob Peterson

When each teacher at East Chapel Hill High School in North Carolina received a $1,500 “merit pay” check this year, the teachers did a rather odd thing. They gave some […]

Girls, Worms, And Body Image

By Kate Lyman

A teacher deals with gender stereotypes among her second- and third-graders

Neighborhood Schools

By Robert Lowe

A policy of returning to local schools threatens to increase racial inequality.

Teaching About the WTO

By Wayne Au

A Seattle teacher reflects on his unit on global issues and the lessons his students learned first-hand during ‘The Battle in Seattle”

Teachers as Leaders

A look at an alternative to 'pay for performance,' one that addresses teacher quality but doesn't rely on test scores.

By Monica Solomon

A look at an alternative to “pay-for-performance.”

Lessons from History

By Larry Cuban and David B. Tyack

Proposals for merit pay are not new. History suggests that this business-oriented reform will meet resistance and fail to achieve its stated goals.

Small Classes Versus Vouchers

Rethinking Schools Editorial

Editorial Wisconsin’s experiment with small classes can document academic success, especially for African Americans. Too bad the same can’t be said for vouchers.