"Least influential of education's most influential information sources."
-- Education Week Research Center
"full of very lively short items and is always on top of the news...He gets extra points for skewering my high school rating system"
-- Jay Mathews, The Washington Post
"a daily dose of information from the education policy world, blended with a shot of attitude and a dash of humor"
-- Education Week
"unexpectedly entertaining"..."tackle[s] a potentially mindfogging subject with cutting clarity... they're reading those mushy, brain-numbing education stories so you don't have to!"
-- Mickey Kaus
"a very smart blog... this is the site to read"
-- Ryan Lizza
"everyone who's anyone reads Eduwonk"
-- Richard Colvin
"designed to cut through the fog and direct specialists and non-specialists alike to the center of the liveliest and most politically relevant debates on the future of our schools"
-- The New Dem Daily
"peppered with smart and witty comments on the education news of the day"
-- Education Gadfly
"don't hate Eduwonk cuz it's so good"
-- Alexander Russo, This Week In Education
"the morning's first stop for education bomb-throwers everywhere"
-- Mike Antonucci, Intercepts
"…the big dog on the ed policy blog-ck…"
-- Michele McLaughlin
"I check Eduwonk several times a day, especially since I cut back on caffeine"
-- Joe Williams
"...one of the few bloggers who isn't completely nuts"
-- Mike Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
"I have just three 'go to' websites: The Texas Legislature, Texas Longhorn sports, and Eduwonk"
-- Sandy Kress
"penetrating analysis in a lively style on a wide range of issues"
-- Walt Gardner
"Fabulous"
-- Education Week's Alyson Klein
"thugs"
-- Susan Ohanian
Smart List: 60 People Shaping the Future of K-12 Education
Well said, Andrew. It’s unfortunate that our nation’s leaders are so short-sighted – and I’m left wondering why?
Do you think it’s because they’re just not well-informed or do they choose to hopefully solve these huge problems with a one-size-fits-all band-aid?
Darren–
Must one choose? It’s clearly both.
Actually, it’s probably neither. They are well informed about which buzzwords the think tanks are pushing and they don’t want to solve any problems–they want to get elected.
Cynical, I know, but do *any* candidates on either side have *any* record of ever before doing anything to improve education?
If ‘performance pay’ is the new vouchers, it’s because even people who like their local schools can probably identify one or two (or more) teachers whom they’d like to see fired–performance pay sounds like a way you could drive them out of the profession (or at least exact a little revenge).
Not only is performance pay only one piece of the puzzle, but there are right and wrong ways to implement performance pay plans. Unfortunately, far too many politicians at all levels simply want to use some form of value-added measures based on standardized assessments as the entire performance pay plan. Even if basing such performance pay decisions on one measure was advisable (which it is not), far too many assessments were not designed in such a way that value-added measures are accurate. As often is the case, I think the political rhetoric will make performance pay plans seem like a simple silver bullet and when it turns out that they are not, performance pay will be another quickly abandoned fad that “didn’t” work.
It’s interesting that for unions like mine, “performance pay” is a good thing, while “merit pay” is a downright abomination. Perhaps I, as a lowly school teacher, am simply incapable of making such fine distinctions.
But the politicians are sharp indeed, quickly embracing the politically correct term. In fact, I’d have sworn Hillary Clinton’s statement, had I not seen her make it, came straight from the mouth of UFT President Randi Weingarten.
NYC, the Eduwonk wrote
I’m completely confused about the merit pay/performance-pay differentiations that are a hot issue in teachers’ union circles. Here AFTie One-L* pushes back on Tapped’s Dana Goldstein writing that, “[The AFT] objected to the federal mandate that student test scores must be used to determine whether teachers get the incentive” in the Miller-McKeon No Child Left Behind draft proposal. But in New York City test scores are part of the bonus plan that was just put in place, the rewards can go to the whole school or just some teachers depending on what they decide at the school. Yet that’s not merit pay, says UFT Pres Randi Weingarten: “Unlike merit-pay plans that provide financial incentives to individual educators, the schoolwide bonus plan will reward the entire staff of any participating school that shows a significant gain in academic achievement.” I’d love for someone to sort this all out.
I read that, and I’m afraid I can’t sort it out. My prescription for good schools is simpler:
1. Good teachers
2. Reasonable class sizes
3. decent facilities
and they go in that order. It works well in the nearby suburb where I live. Personally, I think those without merit should not be teaching children at all.
My question is this: how is “performance” to be judged? If by test scores, then do teachers of English Language Learners, socio-economically disadvantaged students, students who need Special Education, behaviorally challenging students or students living through a crisis such as divorce or death of a family member get differential points? I am not looking for a hand-out or making excuses, but wondering just whose performance the politicians plan to pay for?
Amy-
Proposed performance pay plans aren’t based on raw test scores. “Value-added” measures (the progress made/points gained) make sure that groups like those you mentioned are not put at a disadvantage just because their raw scores are lower.
It may be worth having a look at Debatepedia’s extensive pro/con article on merit pay for teachers. Helps put this article in the context of the larger debate:
http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Debate:_Merit_pay_for_teachers#Con
http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Welcome_to_Debatepedia!
My developer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.
But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on various websites for about
a year and am concerned about switching to another platform.
I have heard great things about blogengine.net.
Is there a way I can import all my wordpress content into it?
Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
You made some fine points there. I did a search on the matter and found
mainly people will go along with with your blog.
Do you have any video off that? I’d love to find out more details.
But all blogs will have something inn accordance,
regardless if you are blogging for ricjes in order to
get attention. Without much effort whatsoever you could be thjat much more
educated for the subject. No matter how big or small the business
enterprise is, it has become the most efgficient tool forr them.
Wonderful article! We are linking to this great content on our website.
Keep up the great writing.