Blogs about: Andrew Rotherham
Featured Blog
No Jack Jennings Is Not on Fire
(Guest post by Greg Forster) Stop the press! How did I miss this on Eduwonk last week? At this point if Jack Jennings doused himself in gasoline and set himself ablaze in front of the NEA, would anyon… more →
Jay P. Greene's Blog
Those Who Can, Teach. Those Who Can't, Wonk.
— 19 comments
wrote 4 months ago: No, I’m not going to argue that education policy wonks must all spend time in the classroom. B … more →
Andrew Rotherham's Advice for Obama II
— 1 comment
wrote 8 months ago: The Devil always knocks on your door with a smile. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece wher … more →
My Take on the Pineapple Passage (More Pineapplegate)
— 2 comments
wrote 1 year ago: Personal life has prevented me from chiming in on Pearson’s pineapple passage debacle, otherwise kno … more →
The Second American Revolution
wrote 1 year ago: If education reformers stick to principle and don’t back down, all other obstacles to victory can be … more →
The Age of the Wonk
— 3 comments
wrote 1 year ago: That's right, wonk is the opposite of know. David Brooks at the New York Times is not that bright. L … more →
3 Main Obstacles in the Way of Education Reform, according to Andrew Rotherham:
1. We buy reform…
Hard decisions are taken off the table because the political math is about addition. In other words, more money means policy changes tend to be additive and not transformative. Zero-based budgets, meaningful fiscal and performance audits, and other tools to address duplicative spending are still rare in education.
2. Schools lack for an adequate way to measure teacher performance…
The problem is that, for the most part, agreed-upon, high-quality tools to differentiate teacher performance don’t exist.
3. Education policy is by its nature political, conservative and change-averse
At the very time we need our schools to become more effective and more agile for the job we need them to do tomorrow they are still saddled with yesterday’s constraints.
I tend to agree with Rotherham. I think his best point is his first, about the default for reforms to be additive rather than transformative. Another way to say this is that the incumbent never loses. By virtue of the slow and conservative nature of the change process in education, rarely is a program completely scrapped because by the time anyone gets around to discussing said scrapping, the now old program is too entrenched to amputate without causing further harm.
wrote 1 year ago: The 3 Main Obstacles in the Way of Education Reform (Click on Me) … more →
Just in TIME. Magazine, that is.
— 1 comment
wrote 1 year ago: Last night after Nick did some soccer training at Ukrop Park in Richmond, we went in the Martin … more →
Seattle Teachers Union Seeks to Ban Teach For America
wrote 1 year ago: Teachers unions, known for fighting to keep pedophiles in the classroom, try to get rid of good teac … more →
A Few Notes on NCLB
wrote 1 year ago: So, I made the mistake of reading of this series of love letters masquerading as an interview about … more →
You're Not a Mean One Mr. Gingrich
wrote 1 year ago: When I read the headline in last Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch concerning the statements made by … more →
Improving the Teaching Profession
wrote 1 year ago: There has been much to talk about in the past few months regarding the teaching profession, whether … more →
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan Lies About Texas Schools
— 1 comment
wrote 1 year ago: by Christopher Paslay Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was recently caught telling politically mot … more →
Update: The Changing Face of Teaching
wrote 1 year ago: In my piece, The Changing Face of Teaching, I commented on the change in demographics of teachers hi … more →
What's The Goal Of Public Education?
— 10 comments
wrote 2 years ago: I’ll have to save my “price of gas” rant for another day. And this rant actually t … more →
No Jack Jennings Is Not on Fire
— 3 comments
wrote 3 years ago: (Guest post by Greg Forster) Stop the press! How did I miss this on Eduwonk last week? At this point … more →
Ed Sector's K-12 Incoherence Week
— 3 comments
wrote 4 years ago: (Guest Post by Matthew Ladner) I’ve been out and about this week, but our pals over at Educati … more →
Andy's Just Plain Wrong
— 10 comments
wrote 4 years ago: Andy Rotherham is a great guy. And he’s often right. But I’m afraid that on vouchers h … more →
Beltway Confusion
— 2 comments
wrote 4 years ago: (Beltway edu-analysts discuss the world over brandy and cigars. Note where they are headed.) I feel … more →
Educating Journalists about Education Science
wrote 4 years ago: (Guest post by Greg Forster) Don’t worry, this post is definitely not a continuation of the re … more →
