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How many urban areas have had an economic boom since 9/11 as much as DC and NYC? DC had "more money than god" and then they got more money. Schools like Shaw not only get to recruit nationwide in an environment where money has been no object, but they get funding for socio-emotional supports beyond the dreams of most Bolder Broader advocates. In NYC the INCREASES in per student funding under Klein are greater are greater than the total per capita spending on my students.

Let's see how they do in an economic downturn before proclaiming victory.

I'd like to challenge Kristof the way I challenge my students and ask him to "self-assess." How much time did he spend reading, listening, and evaluating before he reached his conclusion that the union's proposals were inadequate. I wonder how many footnotes from the New Yorkers source, the TNTP, did he check. By my count, the Widget Effect had ONE footnote backing its claims on VAMs and they actually contradicted the report's claims.

I've been reading Kristof for years. Does that qualify me to pontificate in the NYT on Sudan? Would he just accept the words of his one or two favorites sources when writing on foreign affairs? Would editors allow such shoddy research on presidential politics, covering the Suprme Court, or on the economy.

This is just another example where education is a second class topic. Outsiders can ignore generationals of social science in our field, repeat the soundbites of their friends, and editor don't ask for evidence.

Thanks for your comment, John.

My biggest beef has been with the media's take on performance evaluation based on measures of student growth. People like Kristof, Brooks, Alter and countless others fail to address the strong methodological concerns associated with many approaches at this time. They write as if teachers squeamish about pay for performance based on value-added measures wanted to avoid accountability. As Tom Toch noted in a recent article, there are many legitimate reasons for being squeamish. So why not admit the difficulties and pour our energies into working with educators, researchers and other stakeholders to get it right? That will take time we feel we can ill afford, but the alternative is to do the reforms long-term damage by killing their credibility.

And here's another thought. Perhaps we can pay newspaper pundits for their performance. Pay them only for what they get right--for predictions that pan out, for example, or for judgments based on strong evidence. I suspect the incomes of many would drop dramatically.

"pay newspaper pundits for their performance."

i've got to steal that. Thanks

Did you know I used to be a hard-news reporter for a daily? I'm sure you've noticed my extreme liberal bias on several occasions. :]

The more I read about the NAEP, the more it gets me nervous. Imagine, a national test that could track progress and compare apples to apples. "Child as widget" thinking is bad enough now.

I am saddened to hear about my nephew's struggles in an Ohio Title I school. They're deemed in need of improvement so they're cracking the whip on these kids all the time. I keep telling the grandma who has custody to advise the child and his friends to fail. If they keep failing, the school will have to provide school choice and tutoring. It's what's best for the children! Don't let the school people bully you! Failure is your ticket out of there!!

Sigh.

But they're old folks. They think doing well on a test is a matter of pride. The children lose and are hounded to perform, perform, perform. The entire school day is structured around the test. Grandma doesn't understand how our "special needs" kid could be going into fifth grade math at age 8 when we only work a few hours a day. I'm trying to tell her it's BECAUSE we work only a few hours a day that my children don't dread the work.

Such a hard system for teachers and children alike!

Hi, Mrs. C.

As you know, you and I disagree about NAEP and its effects, so insert debate here. :)

As for hoping a school fails as a means of triggering choice and tutoring provisions....  Unfortunately, experience so far has demonstrated that the choice and tutoring provisions haven't been very successful. In many communities where parents would most need other choices, choices are limited. The quality of tutoring--when people actually demand it--has often been very low. So, be careful what you wish for!

LOL Claus... insert debate here about what constitutes "success" in education. :]

If I were a parent in the district, I'd do whatever is in the best interests of my child (statistics may show a general trend, but don't necessarily show me what is best for my particular child). You're probably right that their publicly-funded "choices" are going to range from horrible to poor.

I mean, that's why I'm homeschooling. I've made a choice. I had to choose between a public school that probably does a WAY better job in subjects like Spanish, but didn't treat my child with dignity and respect... and teaching him at home. Would the statistics show I am doing a poor job?

We'll never know because I like hanging up on people who ask survey questions and am not known for my honest responses anyway. I like to do things like mark my race down as "Displaced Edenic Peoples" or my occupation as "Do I need one?" for fun on official forms. :P