Is Your Child A Cusp Child? Cool Social Entrepreneurs! Homeric Feats From Spellings? And, Wild Eugene Hickok?

Yesterday’s LA Times writes up the alleged rise of “cusp” or “bubble” students – students at or near proficiency on states tests that schools focus on at the expense of students further behind because they’re more likely to pass tests and help schools make “adequate yearly progress” under No Child. It’s catchy (any panic needs a catchy name) and this could be the next three-ring circus about the horrors of NCLB. Unfortunately though, it’s a problem that preceded the law. In fact, could addressing this problem be why the bar for making “adequate yearly progress” goes up over time and why sub-groups of students must make progress, too? Of course, many of the same folks now raising this as one more reason to jettison NCLB don’t like those provisions either.



Elsewhere, NY Daily News’ Williams looks at some up and coming social entrepreneurs. This is a must-read. Joel Klein’s interest in these folks is the peg but there are national implications.

In Education Next, PA journo Brad Bumsted examines NCLB lawsuit fizzle there (and, with a seriously buried lede, he also outs Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok as kin to “Wild Bill”, a minor fact which still explains so much…).

He may have bigger problems, but he does have strong feelings about teaching methods.

Signaling even more angst among the Kool-Aid drinkers, NY Post worries about incoming Ed Secretary Margaret Spellings’ chops on school choice and proposes a Trojan Horse strategy… Let’s see, a pick for Secretary that George Miller and Ted Kennedy like and that Bill Bennett and conservative ed boards don’t. Hmmm….

Interesting article on risk and fear and schoolchildren from the U.K. Incidentally, it was a Brit who created Outward Bound. Via Jacobs.

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