The editorial page in today's New York Times takes a bizarre pot shot at teachers. In discussing a teacher evaluation system under development in New Haven, Connecticut, the Times overtly dismisses on-the-ground educators:

School reformers were excited to hear that New Haven planned to take student performance into account...

High-stakes testing has become so prevalent in American public schools that the terms "student achievement" and "test scores" are used interchangeably by pretty much everybody.

Much muck has been raked about how the high-pressure exams don't assess students' abilities and learning fairly or accurately. The extreme emphasis on test...

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced last week that a reduction in force (RIF) of public school teachers had become unavoidable given sudden budget cuts made by the City Council. Veteran teachers are about to be kicked out the door, "exited" by September 30. School...

The power plays over D.C. public schools just went into gonzo territory. This week, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced a reduction in force (RIF) was imminent -- despite having just hired 900 new teachers in a system of just 3,800 teachers. Layoffs begin September 30; fear and...

"Excuse me, Mr. Brown... I just want you to know... I've read all your books, and Angels and Demons is my favorite!" The wide-eyed woman shifted her weight anxiously. We were in the Upper East Side's Corner Bookstore, minutes before my nerve-addled, first-ever book reading. "I was wondering, how did...

Today is the first day of class for New York City public schools. Below is an excerpt from The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle about my rocky first day as a fourth grade teacher in the Bronx.

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At 7:58, I...

Deep into the presidential campaign last year, I was stunned to learn that a significant number of my high school students had never heard Barack Obama speak. They'd heard of him, but had no clue about anything he stood for. This was shocking to me; I listened to the guy...

I and millions of others on the Obama listserv just got an email from David Plouffe announcing:

President Obama is holding a live strategy meeting on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time for all Organizing for America supporters.

The event page allows anyone to submit questions to the...

In what other profession besides pro sports would a person convicted of running a massive dogfighting ring for six years be welcomed back to their old employer almost immediately upon release from federal prison? Would a community rally around such a disgraced teacher? Or doctor? Or college student? Or soldier?

As a lifetime Philadelphia sports fan, I'm reeling from the Eagles' signing of Michael Vick, justifiably the most hated man in sports.

I mean, the guy electrocuted, hung, and drowned dogs. He only confessed to doing it after all of his buddies blew the whistle on him. He...

Frank McCourt, a career teacher, changed an uncountable number of lives, and so many came after his retirement from teaching.

What really goes on in classrooms--the rhythms of the school year, the cutting disappointments, the tiny, redemptive victories-- too often lives and dies in that unique classroom space. In June,...

Would you re-write a fire-fighting handbook with no input from fire-fighters? Hire a committee of 60 academics and only one doctor to re-draft medical protocols? Madness!

Yet the National Governors Association (NGA) and its educational arm, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), are following just that disingenuous path...

It is convenient to blame teachers for America's education woes because it lets everyone else off the hook. Tragically, this has become the vogue opinion in the mainstream media, and I'm calling bullshit. Jonathan Alter's latest column in Newsweek pushed me over the edge. Here's the implicit argument:

Why...

Newsweek just released their much-hyped, bizarrely calibrated top U.S. high schools list . The formula, devised by Washington Post writer Jay Mathews, is a simple division of the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Cambridge exams taken by students at the school by the number of graduating seniors....

Rethink your assumptions!

Ronald Wolk, founder and longtime editor of Education Week, has published the single best, most indispensable essay on reforming education that I have read.

On the 25th anniversary of the five-alarm "Nation At Risk" report, Wolk weighs in that America has not addressed...

Teach For America (TFA) is an innovative program that draws thousands of talented individuals into public service.

In short, the program offers top-tier college graduates the opportunity to teach in high-needs schools for two years while earning a subsidized master's degree in education. Many corps members remain in the...

Today, President Obama made a major step to expand funding and opportunities for public service by signing the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act -- and he did it at my school, The SEED Public Charter School of Washington, DC!

When...

Nicholas Kristof's effusive essay on DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee left me with a sour taste. Here are a few snippets from Kristof's piece, in which he touts Rhee as gutsy and clear-eyed, and deserving of President Obama's firm support. (Marks of emphasis are mine.)

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I have to dissent from the love-fest for The Class. Considering the raves from around the world, I may be alone.

The French film's "tomatometer" score on movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is an astounding 97%, a higher rating than Oscar darling Slumdog Millionaire or any Best Picture...

Today, Barack Obama outlined his vision for reforming education in America. Speaking a the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and flanked by his Secretaries of Education and Labor, the president offered five pillars of importance and discussed his plans for strengthening each of them. They are:

1. expanding early...