Education

When C-SPAN hit the cable airwaves -- “cable airwaves” is an oxymoron, but you know what I mean -- it was greeted as a breakthrough for democracy. Finally, the public would be able to watch its elected representatives unfiltered, in their natural habitat! Surely such unfettered access would lead to a better informed public, a more vigilant eye on the government, and a golden age of the common weal.Well, no. As it turned out, the government was far more interested in watching us than we were in watching it. Who knew?The flaw in the theory that C-SPAN would save us all was that it assumed that public indifference to politics was a sort of sour grapes born of lack of access. If only we could expand access, the theory went, interest would follow. Stream it and they will view. But they don’t, mostly. As it happened, indifference was the independent variable. I’m increasingly convinced that the same idea applies to workshops.I’m referring here to on-campus workshops that are designed to engage faculty and staff. Typically, someone who wants to encourage adoption of some new technology or practice -- whether it be Respondus or outcomes assessment -- hosts a series of workshops open to all, ideally hitting different class periods to minimize schedule conflicts. One or two people show up, the presenter gets frustrated, and the cycle repeats in a few weeks.Asking about workshop non-attendance is sort of like asking about non-voting. The excuses are thin, ritualistic, and post-hoc. (I don’t think it’s a matter of conscious lying, exactly; it’s closer to rationalizing.) Rebutting the rationalizations doesn’t really help, either; people who want to skip -- which is to say, most people -- will skip. Shaming certainly doesn’t work, and bribery raises issues of its own.Instead, I’m thinking that we should drop the “cable tv” model and move to the internet model. Instead of a single channel or meeting hoping to attract as many people as possible to a relatively passive experience, the way to go is to engage some early adopters, and then encourage viral transmission. Dave sees what the program can do, and he tells Steve and Jen. Steve and Jen get on board, and each tell a few friends of their own. In other words, the key is to define indifference, rather than non-attendance, as the problem. Attack the indifference -- preferably by having trusted colleagues show or discuss the cool new thing they’ve found -- and the non-attendance will take care of itself.That’s not because the content or delivery of workshops is poor. As with anything, they range from outstanding to awful. The problem is that workshops tend to presume a context of awareness in which the usefulness of what’s being offered is already clear. And most of the time, it isn’t.The occasional raging success -- okay, I should say workshops usually don’t work, but that’s a boring headline -- suggests that interest is the key. We recently had a well-attended and very well received workshop on Open Educational Resources. Part of what made that as successful as it was, I think, was that people understood the appeal. OER could reduce textbook costs for students, which isn’t just an economic issue. In a community college context, many students don’t buy books in order to keep costs down; over time, they struggle to keep up academically. If students had access to free OER, we could take costs out of the picture, and give the student of limited means a fighting chance. That message resonated with a gratifyingly large group, and I suspect there are more to come.In that case, the cause was appealing enough that the workshop format wasn’t a deal-breaker. But in the absence of something as obvious as OER, the viral model strikes me as far more promising. As long as the early adopters are supported and feel valued rather than used, it seems likelier to work and far less likely to result in mostly-empty rooms. Watching the occasional Representative orate to an empty Hou

The Obama administration's Race to the Top would be history, there would be no federal role in school improvement, and the number of education programs would be significantly curtailed under a bill reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act slated for consideration by the House education committee this week. But for some conservatives that may go far enough. They want the federal government out of the accountability business, period. That means no more mandated standardized testing in grades 3-8 and once in high school, and no breaking out student achievement by subgroup, unless states and local communities think it's the right move. To that end, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, will re-introduce the "A-plus" Act, likely later this month, along with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. The legislation, which has been around for several sessions of Congress, would allow states to opt-out of the current federal testing and accountability system entirely and submit another plan to the Secretary of Education. Read a summary of the bill from the last Congress here. The A-Plus Act is largely the brainchild of the conservative Heritage Foundation, which published a blog post today criticizing key pieces of the House education committee bill written by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the panel's chairman. You can check it out here. The Heritage folks are also not huge cheerleaders for legislation introduced by Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate education committee. Compare the Kline and Alexander bills with Senate Democrats' vision here. (Important to note: Tea party superhero and former Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina heads up Heritage.) Some folks are wondering whether conservative pushback could mean tough sledding for the Kline bill when the measure moves to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, likely in July. After all, the Workforce Investment Act legislation squeaked through the House earlier this year, thanks to Democratic and conservative opposition, and despite the strong support from Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the House Majority Leader. Cantor is expected to take a starring role once ESEA moves to the floor. For his part though, Kline isn't concerned about the bill's odds on the House floor. "I'm not worried," he told me in an interview. He noted that every GOP lawmaker on his committee supports the bill, which is very similar to one that passed out of committee last year. And he thinks his measure is actually more conservative than the A-plus approach, because previous versions of the A-plus Act would have required states to send their alternative accountability systems to the Secretary of Education for approval. And on WIA? He notes that the important thing is that the bill did ultimately pass the House. But others aren't so sure of smooth sailing. "I don't think there's an appetite out there among conservatives for big comprehensive bills," said Lindsey Burke, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation and the author of the blog posts on the Kline and Alexander bills. She noted that Kline's legislation is over 500 pages, while the A-plus Act is just about 13. "There's a level of prescription that shouldn't be there," especially when it comes to language that would call for districts to evaluate teachers based on student outcomes and use the evaluations in making personnel decisions. That's not in the Alexander bill. It would help, Burke said, if the Kline legislation included a provision that would allow Title I dollars to follow students to the schools of their choice. That something that Cantor may introduce during floor consideration. Bishop, whose home state was one of the first to challenge the NCLB law, didn't comment on the Kline bill's chances, saying he hasn't reviewed the legislation thoroughly. But he did say Kline had to craft a bill that would pass out of a committee that includes some lawmakers who are "good solid conservatives who still have this

A judge in New Hampshire ruled Monday that a tuition tax-credit program that allows public money to be used for religious school education violates the state constitution. Three groups — Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the New Hampshire … Continue reading →

Some of these will frighten you, some will make your boo very uncomfortable.

Want to enhance the creativity and sophistication of your thinking? A study by researchers at the University of Toronto suggests that reading fiction increases a person’s comfort with ambiguity. Fiction readers tend also to be more open-minded, and less restricted in their thinking. (Pacific Standard) Reinventing public schools. Combatting high dropout rates and violence, 87 schools in Oakland have reinvented themselves as “full-service community schools.” While other places have experimented with offering emotional and health services along with academics, this will be the first time the community school model has been embraced throughout an entire district. (The Hechinger Report) Standards and curriculum are not the same thing. While this distinction should not be news to anyone who has been following the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, a refresher might be helpful for some. (Education Next) The road less traveled. Against all odds, Dunbar High School valedictorian Johnathon Carrington is heading to Georgetown in the fall. He deserves to be there, but is he truly prepared for college work? (Washington Post) Anne Mishkind, ES policy intern, contributed to this report.

When Gates-funded teacher advocacy group Educators 4 Excellence (E4E) announced they were releasing a new report about how to revamp teacher recruitment and retention in LA -- including pay bonuses based on student test scores -- they might have been pleasantly surprised at the appearance of School Board member-elect Monica Ratliff (pictured) along with reform champions Superintendent John Deasy and Villaraigosa ally Monica Garcia.   Ratliff won election to the Board as an underdog, beating Villaraigosa favorite Antonio Sanchez, and is being championed by many as one of a growing number of reform skeptics on the LAUSD School Board.  But of course Ratliff's presence at the event seemed to suggest that she was supportive of the E4E report recommendations, which the teachers union and others either refrained from supporting or came out against.  And so she took to Diane Ravitch's blog over the weekend to clarify that she supports revamping teacher recruitment, retention, and evaluation but is opposed to linking things to student test scores.

This was originally posted on the HealthCare.gov blog. To the Class of 2013: Congratulations on a well-earned graduation. I know how much hard work it took to get here today. This is a time when you’re making big decisions about the future. You might be embarking on a new career, transitioning to a different city, and thinking about the start of this next exciting stage in life. I’m sure the last thing you’re thinking about is health insurance. But unfortunately, the unexpected can happen. The good news is that now the Affordable Care Act provides protections and benefits that give you greater control of your health care.  The law helps you by: Making it possible to stay on your parent’s health plan until you turn 26, giving you the flexibility to make choices about your future without worrying about where you’re going to get health insurance. Requiring most insurance plans to cover proven preventive services—like birth control and certain cancer screenings—without you paying a penny. Barring insurers, beginning in 2014, from denying you coverage because of a pre-existing condition, like cancer, asthma, or acne, or making you pay more just because you are a woman. Creating an online Health Insurance Marketplace, where you can find coverage that meets your needs and budget. You can also find out if you qualify for financial assistance.Sign up now at HealthCare.gov for updates; enrollment begins October 1, 2013. Bottom line: Because of the Affordable Care Act, you’ll be able to begin this next chapter of your life with the peace of mind and security health insurance provides. Congratulations on your achievement! Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services

I would not urge you simply to get off the PlayStation. I would urge you to understand who made the game. I would not urge you to take down your King James poster. I would urge you to think about the business that makes him possible. - Ta-Nehisi Coats

Here's National Journal's updated education experts site, now dubbed Education Insiders, which features a weekly blog post by reporter Fawn Johnson and responses from various luminaries (well, sort of -- I'm on the list).  It's been around sicne June 2009 years now -- here's the old version -- and it's always been a little sleepy for me because of the restrictive format, predictable viewpoints, and the lack of real interactivity among respondendents.  But there's always hope, and I'm glad it's there.

We are pleased to announce that we’ve teamed up with one of our favorite astrologists (and talented yoga pro), Chani Nicholas, to bring you weekly horoscope readings. Check back each Monday to see what’s in the stars for your week!