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Reviews of Eduwonk.com

2007 Winner, Editor's Choice Best Education Blog
-- Performancing.com

2006 Winner, Best K-12 Administration Blog -- "Best of the Education Blog Awards"
-- eSchool News and Discovery Education

2006 Finalist, Best Education Blog
-- Weblog Awards

Least influential of education's most influential information sources.
-- Education Week Research Center

"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!"
-- Slate's Mickey Kaus

"a very smart blog... [if] you're trying to separate the demagogic attacks on NCLB from the serious criticism, this is the site to read"
-- The New Republic's Ryan Lizza

"everyone who's anyone reads Eduwonk"
-- Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media's Richard Colvin

"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

"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, AFT Blog

"I check Eduwonk several times a day, especially since I cut back on caffeine"
-- Joe Williams, fallen journalist, Executive Director, Democrats for Education Reform

"...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, former education advisor to President Bush and former chairman, Dallas Board of Education

"penetrating analysis in a lively style on a wide range of issues"
-- Walt Gardner, champion letter-to-the-editor writer and retired teacher

"thugs"
-- Susan Ohanian

Education News and Analysis

American Educator
Chronicle of Higher Education
EducationNews.org
Education Next
Education Week
eSchool News
Inside Higher Ed
Jay Mathews' Class Struggle
Phi Delta Kappan
New York Times Education
School Wise Press
Stateline.org
Teacher Magazine

Policy and Political Blogs

The American Scene
Andrew Sullivan.com
Bloggingheads
Booker Rising
The Corner
Daniel Drezner
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Post Global
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Scotusblog
Taking Note
Talkingpointsmemo.com
Tank'd
Tapped
Think Tank Town
Volokh Conspiracy
WSJ's Blog Federation
Washington Whispers

EduReading


Collective Bargaining in Education: Negotiating Change in Today's Schools

Edited by Jane Hannaway and Andrew J. Rotherham


Why Newsweek's List of America's 100 Best High Schools Doesn't Make the Grade

By Andrew J. Rotherham
and Sara Mead

A Qualified Teacher
in Every Classroom

Edited by Frederick M. Hess, Andrew J. Rotherham,
and Kate Walsh

America's Teaching Crisis

By Jason Kamras and Andrew J. Rotherham

Rethinking Special Education For A New Century

Edited by Chester E. Finn, Jr., Andrew J. Rotherham
& Charles R. Hokanson, Jr.

Making The Cut: How States Set Passing Scores on Standardized Tests

By Andrew J. Rotherham

Education Blogs

A Constrained Vision
Andrew Pass
a schoolyard blog
ASCD
Assorted Stuff
Mr. B-G's English Blog
Barnett Berry
Bill Jackson's Education Blog
Bridging Differences (Meier and Ravitch)
Bulletin Board (NASBE)
Campaign K-12 (Ed Week)
Chaos Theory
Charter Blog (NAPCS)
Charter School Policy Inst. Blog
Chez Dormont
Chris Correa
Class Context
The College Puzzle
College Ready Blog (Athens Learning Group)
The Common School
Conversation Starters
Core Knowledge Blog
Critical Mass
Dangerously Irrelevant
Daryl Cobranchi
Dave Shearon
Dave Saba (ABCTE)
DC Education Blog
D-EDreckoning
Dems for Education Reform
The Deputy Head
Early Ed Watch
Early Stories
edbizbuzz
EdPol
Edspresso
Educated Nation
Educating One Mind
The Education Network
The Education Wonks
EduFlack
Eduoptimists
EdWahoo
Eduwonkette
Edwize (UFT)
Eponymous Educator
Essential Blog
Extra Credit
Flypaper (Fordham)
Fordham Fellows
From The Trenches
The Gadfly
Get On The Bus (Dayton Daily News)
Get Schooled (AJC)
The Gradebook (St. Pete Times)
Grumpy Professor
The Hall Monitor
Higher Ed Watch
Hip Teacher
I Thought A Think
IALA
In Other News (Ed Week)
Inside Pre-K
Instructivist
Intercepts
IvyGate
Jay Greene
Jenny D.
Joannejacobs.com
John Merrow
K-12 Hotlinks
Kindling Flames
Kitchen Table Math
Learning Now (PBS)
The Life That Chose Me
Mathew K. Tabor
Media Infusion
Ms. Frizzle
Moving At The Speed Of Creativity
NCLB Act II (Ed Week)
NCLBlog (AFT)
Newoldschoolteacher
NSBA's BoardBuzz
NYC Educator
Paper Trail (USN)
ParaNews (NCP)
Parentalcation
Paul Baker
Pedablogue
The Portable Princess
The PrincipalsPage
Principal's Policy Blog (NASSP)
Quasi Dictum
Roy Romer
Running on Empty
School of Blog
School Zone (MJS)
Schools for Tomorrow
Science After School
SF Schools
Sherman Dorn
SITE Mentor
Small Talk
Special Education Law Blog
Starting Over (Ed Week)
Swift & Change Able
Teach and Learn
Teacher Voices
Teachers At Risk
Teachers' Lounge
Teaching in the 408
Teaching Rookie
Think Lab
This is how I Swim
This Week In Education
Tim Fredrick
Up The Down Staircase
Urban Angle
VARC
What up, Mz. Smlph?
Whitney Tilson
Why Boys Fail
Why Homeschool

Educational Resources and Organizations

AALE Charter School Accreditation
Achieve
Alliance for Excellent Education
American Association of School Administrators
American Educational Research Association
American Federation of Teachers
American Institutes For Research
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Aspen Institute
Asia Society
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The Broad Foundation
The Brookings Institution
Building Excellent Schools
Center for American Progress
Center for Education Reform
Center for School Change
Center on Education Policy
Center on Reinventing Public Education
Citizens Commission On Civil Rights
Coalition of Essential Schools
Community College Research Center
Community Training and Assistance Center
Council of Chief State School Officers
Council of Great City Schools
Core Knowledge Foundation
Data Quality Campaign
Democratic Leadership Council
eSchool News
EducationBug
Education Commission of the States
Education Evolving
Education Sector
EdSource
The Education Trust
George Lucas Educational Foundation
Greatschools.net
Haberman Foundation
Hechinger Institute On Education and the Media
IssueLab
Joyce Foundation
Just for the Kids
Knowledge Alliance
Learning Point Associates
Local School Directory
Michael and Susan Dell Foundation
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning
The Mind Trust
Montessori
National Academies Center for Education
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
National Association of Charter School Authorizers
National Association of Secondary School Principals
NCLBWorks
National Center for Postsecondary Research
National Center on Education and the Economy
National Charter School Research Project
NCTAF
National Council on Teacher Quality
National Education Association
National Education Writers Association
National Governors Association
National Institute for Excellence in Teaching
National School Boards Association
New Leaders for New Schools
New Schools Venture Fund
The New Teacher Project
New Vision
Pre-K Now
Harvard's Program On Education Policy and Governance
Progressive Policy Institute
PPI's 21st Century Schools Project
Public Agenda
Public Impact
Reading Reform Foundation
Rick Hess' World HQ
The Savvy Source for Parents
Scholastic Administrator
School Data Direct
Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services
Standards Work
Teach for America
The Teaching Commission
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
Trust for Early Education
Uncommon Schools
United States Department of Education
The Urban Institute
WestEd

Opinions on Eduwonk reflect the views of the author, Education Sector does not take institutional positions. Outgoing links do not constitute an endorsement.

Friday, January 05, 2007

New Logo, New Law? And, Eduwonk Buries The Lede*



That there, friends, is the new No Child Left Behind logo, seen here in public for the first time and to be publicly released on Monday. It was leaked on exclusive to Eduwonk by a high ranking administration official...But, don't be fooled, the logo is not the only change coming on NCLB. The Administration is dead serious about trying to get to an NCLB reauthorization deal. Do the odds look better? A lot of issues, but stay tuned.

But what's interesting about the reauthorization timetable question is that while former Bushie Mike Petrilli says he's sort of given up on NCLB, his solutions are surely not very appetizing for most of the hate-NCLB coalition*...national standards and more choice is where he's driving...that's worth noting because while the NCLB-foes approach this situation as a choice between NCLB or the pre-NCLB status quo, all the foot-dragging means they might look back before long on NCLB with some nostalgia from their place in a Petrillian dystopia...

Meanwhile, the Department of Education has also finished a year-long redesign of their Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) website. It's a variety of materials for teachers and the most popular federal K-12 resource on the web. It's relevant to NCLB because while the federal government can't get into curriculum, the feds can offer some help to teachers through strategies like this. And, it's a Clinton-era education initiative that hasn't gotten the axe!

*And yes, in case you live in an educave and haven’t heard, the NEA is embracing national standards via this new Dodd bill (pdf). But, don’t forget, Dodd also has an eviscerate NCLB’s accountability provisions bill floating around and there are a lot of folks who suddenly see national standards as a good way to kick the accountability can down the road a bit more… “sure, we’re for tough accountability, just as soon as we got some world class national standards in place…” Anyway, methinks that the standards bill Senator Kennedy is introducing is a more likely play and makes more sense right now, too...and unless this comes from the bottom up (pdf), it's going to bottom out.

Update: As I was saying, the public school establishment should think twice about the wisdom of the tear down NCLB strategy...
Posted at 6:04 PM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Off-Message

AFTie One-L apparently didn't get the talking points about the new NCTQ database. She's Not supposed to say nice things about it! But she does minimize the utility of it, not only do you not have to dig for contracts that may be online somewhere but are hard to find, but they're all coded and searchable, too. Try it yourself.
Posted at 6:33 PM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

More NCLB Odds
This story and this one are sort of at odds with one another...to the extent money is key to a No Child deal, going to be tough to get to big numbers especially if, as Bruce Reed points out, Bush refuses to change course. And, to the extent that Bush wants a No Child reauth as a legacy item (the list of possible items is short...) that certainly will do little to whet Democratic appetites...
Posted at 6:23 PM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

A Potty In Every Pot
Dateline: Washington, D.C. The school system is chronically underperforming, the new mayor wants to take it over to get leverage to address the problems and the new head of the school board says...drum roll...fix the bathrooms*...Not an auspicious opening salvo in this battle...

*And in fairness some other stuff, but the flagship potty program hardly inspires confidence that the big structural issues are going to be tackled...
Posted at 6:06 PM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

This Week's New Home...Trouble Starts At Home?
After casting about for a host for his blog for some time, This Week's Russo has apparently finally landed at Education Week and is one step closer to being a serious education journalist. It's good for him, over time organizationally affiliated blogs seem to have more traction and a nice recognition of the hard work he puts into his blog.

But, apparently (they're calling me for 411, sorry don't have any! Call him!) most EdWeekers are completely in the dark on this new development having just learned about it last night and this A.M. through the rumor mill (guess they're not regular This Week readers since it's been up there for a couple of days...meet your new colleague!) and some are more than a little pissed off...they’ve wanted a blog for a while, but this wasn’t what they had in mind at all…And, seems someone made a decision and Russo went public without looping in the actual worker bees who are wondering when the powers that be are going to clue them in...so they're pissed on content and form...stay tuned...

PS--Job seekers, apparently competence with Ed Week's search engine is not a predicate for employment...no word on basic fact checking...so get those resumes in fast!

Update: A helpful reader writes to note that counting is not a required skill either, count the insiders...9?
Posted at 12:30 PM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

New Database, New Age?
USA Today's Toppo writes up the new NCTQ database of teacher collective bargaining contracts. You can check it out here. The teachers' unions aren't enamored of the transparency, all this information could be misinterpreted! People might think there is, like, some problem with some of the provisions in these contracts...relevant disc here.
Posted at 9:25 AM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

What's Going To Happen On NCLB?
Fordham assembled a mob (including me) to gauge views on the likelihood of NCLB reauthorization (pdf)...basically tracks the morning eduodds. Worth checking out though, clever idea, and though some of the questions are reductionist, they surface the right issues.
Posted at 9:13 AM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Hot NY Charter Action...And Who Lost Spitzer?

In his impressive speech (pdf) laying out his agenda, new NY governor Elliot Spitzer lays out the contours of a charter school cap raising deal (but no card check?!) as well as a reasonably solid education agenda. Dems returning to their roots as ed reformers? That’s good news. And, party unity to boot? The Kossacks love it, too...Stay tuned…it's too good to be true!
Posted at 9:36 PM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New EduBlog

Mike Kirst, college professor, policy actor, policymaker, former state board of education member, and all around eduguru has started a blog: The College Puzzle. It's all about college completion, college success, and college prep. Well worth checking out. He's a go-to guy for advice and now you can go to his blog.
Posted at 9:03 PM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

More Edublog Lists...
Haven't had enough yet? Here's a list of 10 from Jay Mathews and noted letter to the editor writer Walt Gardner on WaPo.
Posted at 8:47 PM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

NYT And NCLB...And, Holster That Thing!
New York Times ed board weighed in on No Child twice over the holiday break...they diss the AFTies here and dump on everyone here. The second piece is must-read stuff. I'm not much on the NAEP option for moving toward national standards*, but the piece lays out the policy evolution and makes the point that No Child isn't just a George Bush thing, something Democrats will do well to remember...

*In fact, I think the national standards crowd is well on their way to shooting themselves in the foot. The states are quietly starting to work together and discuss collaboration and some heavy-handed push from Washington could squelch some promising bottom-up innovation...
Posted at 10:20 AM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

NCLB And Special Ed
A quick glimpse at one reason why many in the disability community like No Child Left Behind...For more, check out Madeleine Will's testimony at the Aspen Commission's DC hearing. File this under interesting and counterintuitive story not really written about in the big papers...
Posted at 10:01 AM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post

Alternative Charter School Lifestyles
New PPI paper on alternative authorizing arrangements (meaning non-traditional authorizers). Good overview and primer on what's happening there and good background for state policymakers. Disc: I'm a senior fellow at PPI and helped with this paper.
Posted at 9:17 AM | Comments: 0 | Link to this item | Email this post