insight and advocacy through reporting and media
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I explain how school data — especially early warning systems focused on stemming dropouts — can help keep kids on the path to college and career success. With so many new ways to identify children struggling with literacy and numeracy, there is no reason why schools and districts can’t get 1.2 million young men and women off the path to despair. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
The Republican nominee will likely mimic Dubya's school
reform policies. (Read
More)
The failure to realize that public education isn't based
on bureaucracies (Read
more)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I observe the politically craven behavior of politicians in Connecticut, Alabama, and Washington State, bending to the will of NEA and AFT affiliates -- and challenge reformers to fully embrace politics. It will take more than crafting policies to force politicians fearful of teachers' union influence to do what's best for our children. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Michelle Rhee and Paul Vallas have much in common with
Winston Churchill and Thomas Paine. (Read
more)
What Obama and Romney are both ignoring when it comes to
our young men. (Read
more)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I take a look at the progress of American history from 1890 to today, and explains why overhauling public education is critical to keeping it going. In an increasingly global and knowledge-based economy and society, high-quality education is critical to sustaining the nation’s place as the superpower and help all children emerge from poverty into the middle class. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I take a look at the nation's special education ghettos and explains how they exacerbate the nation's education crisis. Contrary to what House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline thinks, no more money is needed for programs that serves as way-stations for young men and minority children American public education considers unteachable. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I discuss the need for Beltway school reformers and education traditionalists to embrace a more-expansive view of school choice and Parent Power. Families need the power to transform schools in their own communities -- as well as the ability to escape failure mills -- in order to shape education for the children they love. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Reformers must count on each other because they can't
count on their traditional political counterparts. (Read
more)
Listen in on the conversation with the School Reform News editor on Parent Power. (Download)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I take a look at the Trayvon Martin murder and explains how each and every day, American public education destroys the futures and lives of young men just like him. Advancing systemic reform — including providing young men with strong college-preparatory education and addressing how young men are treated in schools — is key to saving the geniuses and potential of our young men of color and poor economic backgrounds. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Why we need more-comprehensive data on why kids are
dropping out. (Read
more)
Why we need more-comprehensive data on why kids are
dropping out. (Read
more). Also read my
response to Diane Ravitch and others.
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I remember the example of his grandfather and explains why we need all men to play a part in transforming American public education. It will take an army of iron men to help our children — especially young men of all backgrounds — get the high-quality education they need for success in the adult world. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Why we need more-comprehensive data on why kids are
dropping out. (Read
more)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I look at the success of the school reform in changing the conversation about transforming American public education -- and the numerous challenges that remain. As education scholar Jay P. Greene, reform advocate Howard Fuller, and director Kelly Amis point out, there remains plenty of work to replace Model T Ford systems with cultures of genius fit for children. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I examine the late James Q. Wilson's and George Kelling's theory on stemming crime and explains why reformers should embrace it in overhauling American public education. Addressing the issues that lead to schools becoming failure mills, dropout factories, and warehouses of mediocrity is one of the three key ways we give all children cultures of geniuses in which they can all succeed. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I observe the political stalemate over reform in Washington State -- along with the battle between reformer Nick Hanauer and the National Education Association's local there -- and explains why school reformers must be more aggressive in political advocacy. With NEA and AFT affiliates fighting harder against teacher quality overhauls, the expansion of school choice, and Parent Trigger laws, reformers must take reach across to politicians on the other side, and embrace traditional political tactics in order to beat back the opposition. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I take a a look at the College Board’s latest report on woeful levels of Advanced Placement course participation and explains how low expectations for children — especially for those from poor and minority households — are damaging their futures and our own. Embracing high expectations (including strong curriculum standards) would help stem achievement gaps — including those among white children discussed in Charles Murray’s latest book — and help all kids succeed. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I give a history lesson on one of the most-atrocious episodes in American history -- the federal government's effort to use boarding schools to assimilate and abuse Native American children -- and explains why we must build cultures of genius for all children. We must toss off the legacy of subjecting children to abysmal teaching, subpar curricula, and the soft bigotry of low expectations that has been at the core of American public education. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
A Rust Belt mayor finally offers a serious plan for
systemic reform. (Read
more)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I take a look at recent conversations about the traditional school district and why we need to abandon the old-school approach and embrace the Hollywood Model of Education. The very assumptions — including benefits of scale — at the heart of district bureaucracies hinders much-needed efforts to stem dropouts and help kids enjoy economically and socially prosperous futures. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Ending Zip Code Education policies will help all kids
get high-quality education. (Read
more)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, President Barack Obama's State of the Union address provides an opportunity to fully understand how high-quality education transforms lives and communities -- especially in an economic time in which every white- and blue-collar job is one dependent on strong reading, math, and science skills. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I analyze the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act one decade after it became law. Contrary to what education traditionalists and others may declare, the law has spur the first steps at systemic reform that have helped keep more children on the path to economic and social success. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Families can't exercise real choice without information
about teacher quality. (Read
more)
On this inaugural edition of On the Road with Dropout Nation, I speak at the Restoring Excellence in Education conference on the importance of expanding school choice, enacting Parent Trigger laws, and improving school data so that families can exercise their rightful roles as lead decision-makers in education. Now, more than ever, it will take armies of parents to help solve the nation’s education crisis and help all kids succeed. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
I chat with the WWTC-AM radio hosts about school reform, the importance of Parent Power and school choice, Minnesota's education woes, and the nation's education crisis. (Watch on YouTube or download. Also listen to the audio.)
From Minnesota to Connecticut, families are no longer
taking the failure that American public education is
giving. (Read
more)
As we commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King, listen to this Best of the Dropout Nation Podcast from November 2010 on what it means for education to be the leading civil rights issue of this era. School reformers and others make this statement every day, but it will be meaningless jargon unless several steps are taken to walk the proverbial talk. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Skryrocketing healthcare costs puts the long-term
squeeze on education traditionalists. (Read
More)
Why are kids more accurate than adults in rating teacher
performance. (Read
more)
On the New Year's first Dropout Nation Podcast, I take a look at two new studies on teacher quality and explain why we can no longer depend on classroom observations in evaluating and managing performance. More than ever,objective data -- especially value-added analysis of student performance -- is critical to helping good-to-great teachers and the children in their care. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, a day of service at a Little Rock, Ark., church offers a reminder of why congregations of faith are critical to spurring systemic reform of American public education and economically reviving hard-hit communities. The religious institutions at the heart of communities can help our kids get high-quality education from the schools at the center of their lives. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Connecticut and Virginia are among the states where
political battles will be fierce. (Read
more)
On this Christmas Eve edition of the Dropout Nation Podcast, I look at the battle in Chicago between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the American Federation of Teachers’ affiliate over extending the school day for the Second City’s high school — and explain why this squabble exemplifies why we need a revolution in American public education. We have made education a comfortable place for laggard adults in teaching and leadership at the expense of the futures of children. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this month’s Conversation, the former D.C. Public Schools chancellor and StudentsFirst founder explains why we need more Wayne Wheelers, Lee Atwaters, and James Carvilles for advancing reform, the need to build stronger ties with grassroots, and why reform-minded younger teachers will have to look outside of the NEA and AFT to overhaul American public education. She also talks about what she would have done differently during her tenure overhauling what was once the Superfund Site of traditional districts. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Why competitors in education shouldn't regulate each
other. (Read
more) And
read the update.(Photo courtesy of the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution.)
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I explain how school choice helps children escape failure factories, spurs families to demand Parent Power and spur reform, and helps attack the pernicious effects of Zip Code Education practices that have denied high-quality education to all children -- especially those from poor and minority backgrounds. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
One D.C. charter school's work shows the consequences of useless scale. (Read more)
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I explain why we can't simply "improve" American public education or count on one silver bullet to overhaul a failed system. We must replace our Model T and broken pocket watch system of educating children with one that will help all kids succeed. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Doing whatever it can to stem declining influence. (Read
More)
The pernicious consequences of Zip Code Education and
limiting choice. (Read
more) (Photo courtesy of Miller-McCune.)
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I discuss the importance of embracing the legendary James Brown's Black Power mantra in advancing school reform. It is critical to strongly challenge the thinking of education traditionalists such as Diane Ravitch and Randi Weingarten -- and do so without apology. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Dr. Steve Perry's Push Has Come to Shove is a
guide for parents to seize power. (Read
More)
The importance of central leadership in spurring
systemic reform of districts. (Read
more)
Al Sharpton, Leonie Haimson, ProgressNow, and Economic
Policy Institute are among the beneficiaries of the
teachers' union's largesse. (Read
more).
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, my look at the decision by the school district in Memphis-Shelby County, Tenn., to reject the launch of 17 new charter schools points to one of the biggest problems in helping all kids succeed. The concerns of adults who run traditional public schools overshadow the importance of expanding choice, equity, and opportunities for high-quality teaching and curricula for children, especially those from our poorest and minority households. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
What it takes to fight a failed, amoral vision. (Read
more)
On this month’s Conversation, the former New York City schools chancellor talks about the obstacles to launching and sustaining urban reform, expresses dismay with the conversation over reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act, and discusses the promise of blended and digital learning. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Some financial questions the nation's largest teachers'
union refuses to answer. (Read
More) Also, read Dropout Nation's
look at how teachers' unions are not doing well by
teachers.
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I challenge the view of the Los Angeles Unified School District, teachers' unions, and school reformers who oppose revealing the names -- and performance -- of high-quality and laggard teachers. Presenting good-to-great teachers (and poor-performing counterparts) to the public will provide information that helps families, the teaching profession, and, most importantly, all of our children. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
A lack of intellectual honesty from the education
historian. (Read
more)
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I take aim at dueling mythologies on the role of families in education and student academic failure offered up this month by Fordham's Mike Petrilli and Dana Goldstein of the Nation. Contrary to what they argue, neither values nor poverty are at the heart of the nation's education crisis and achievement gap. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Abhorrent treatment of our kids extends beyond Happy
Valley. (Read
more)
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, a Webinar I conducted for Students For Education Reform leads me to offer some important reasons why now, more than ever, we must focus on stemming achievement gaps. Contrary to what some may think, we must address the gaps of literacy, opportunity, teacher quality, and practices that has condemned 1.2 million sixth graders alone (and, according to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, millions more) to the educational, economic, and social abyss. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I explain why we need to foster good-to-great principals and superintendents capable of overhauling American public education. From the abysmal record (and recent statements) of Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White, to Los Angeles Unified School District's lousy handling of teacher performance management, we have far too many school leaders who aren't worth of their titles. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
They're in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, which actually should be camping out in front of their offices. (Read More)
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I begin mapping out a path for the school reform movement as the Obama Administration and congressional leaders begin eviscerating the No Child Left Behind Act and its powerful accountability provisions. The scale-back of federal education policy offers opportunities for reformers to use grassroots activism and political savvy -- especially learning from the Freedom Rides and 20th-century political mastermind Wayne Wheeler -- in sustaining a decade of gains in overhauling American public education. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
We're not just talking about a few kids. (Read
more)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I discuss the importance of keeping school reform focused on giving all children schools fit for their futures. Discussions over revamping the No Child Left Behind Act and achievement gaps have split the movement — and at the same time, taken away the ultimate focus of reform. It’s time to get back to business. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I consider a conversation with fellow vacationers about American public education’s global standing. While our traditional public schools are better than those in developing countries such as South Africa, they are falling behind rival economic powers such as China, India and Singapore. It’s time to live up to the ideals among those around the world who perceive American education as opening doors to liberty and economic success for all of its children. (Listen, Download or Subscribe) (Photo is of the SS Peter and Paul Catholic School in St. Thomas, USVI)
Lessons for today's reformers from a turning point in
the civil rights struggle. (Read
more)
On school reform and other issues, he may be more suit than substance. (Read More)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I glean some lessons from a sermon by Dallas pastor Frederick D. Haynes III and discuss the need for servant leaders for overhauling American public education. As important as education policy is to spurring systemic reform, it is even more important to embrace people such as Geoffrey Canada, Howard Fuller, and Parent Power activists who can serve our geniuses and lead them to brighter futures. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Decimating the No Child Left Behind Act doesn't help
kids or the president's re-election prospects. (Read
more)
What Michigan's effort to seize control of failed
local governments and school districts may mean for
other states with similar problems. (Read
More) Painting courtesy of Roger Bansemer.
Helping poor and minority children helps all kids succeed. (Read more)
Geoffrey Canada, Steve Perry and others move the NAACP
crowd aside. (Read
More)
On this month’s Conversation, Capital Prep principal, school reformer and CNN commentator Dr. Steve Perry discusses his new book, Push Has Come to Shove, explains the steps parents, policymakers, and think tankers must take in overhauling American public education, and takes aim at teachers’ unions, principals and education traditionalists such as Diane Ravitch who defend failure and the Poverty Myth of Education. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I discuss the two additional steps needed to help every child get the high-quality teachers they deserve. It isn't enough to just address traditional teacher compensation, overhaul evaluations, and improve support for teachers already in the classroom. Additional steps must be taken not only to help our kids, but even elevate the teaching profession itself and attract talented collegians into the ranks. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Concerns about school data points to deeper problems. (Wspan class="style4">atch on YouTube or Download)
Concerns about school data points to deeper problems. (Read more)
The
hidden and most-insidious aspect of the nation's
defined-benefit pension crisis. (Read
More)
Listen in on the conversation with the Top Story host about education and pensions. (Download)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I explain why school reformers should be strident and unapologetic in advocating for overhauling American public education. Contrary to what education traditionalists may say, strong arguments such as those brought by Whitney Tilson, Steven Brill and others is not "rank demagoguery", but the kind of passionate polemicism needed in order to help every child get the education they deserve. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
The
civil rights leader who disdained this country was like
mom and apple pie. (Read
More)
Anti-poverty programs aren't enough to help children
emerge from despair. (Read
more)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, a viewing of The Help leads me to think about how we must overhaul education to end the economic-based segregation that is leaving poor and minority communities — and America as a whole — behind. Low-quality teaching, abysmal curricula, the lack of choice, and cultures of mediocrity are perpetuating a class divide as pernicious as Jim Crow segregation. (Listen, Download or Subscribe)
Why
Republican presidential candidates will end up embracing
G.W. Bush's school reform mantra. (Read
More)
A once-and-future Oregon governor may show the way on
a school reform. (Read
more)
Listen in on the conversation with the KNRS-AM radio host about education and employment. (Download)
School reform is critical to reviving the economy. (Read More)
On this week's Dropout Nation Podcast, I take a look back at last week's revelation of the American Federation of Teachers' cynical strategizing against Parent Trigger laws and school reform, then explain how reformers and activists can turn that cynicism to their advantage. Becoming more-politically savvy can advance the systemic reforms our kids need to succeed in school and life. (Listen, Download or Subscribe) Also, read the stories, the coverage and the commentaries from The Wall Street Journal, Daily News, National Review and elsewhere. And here is the infamous presentation.
One-size-fits-all education isn't so bad. (Read
more)
On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I offer some steps parents and caregivers can take to get their kids a great education once school starts back up. From asking about math instruction to seeking out information on magnet schools, it is critical for parents to pose simple questions and use the answers to transform American public education. (Listen or Download)
What
the Save Our Schools rally really is (Read
More) (Photo courtesy of GothamSchools.org)
How a legendary auteur's entrepreneurial social change applies to today's challenges. (Read more)
Joining the HTML5 revolution, this site now offers a new, easy-to-use radio page from which you can access Dropout Nation Podcasts and radio appearances on such shows as Top Story with Chris Reed. New podcasts are made available in descending order with new podcasts and interviews on at the bottom of the list. Check it out. For the time-being, you can also access the old Flash-enabled radio page for last year's Dropout Nation Podcasts and RiShawn's other appearances.
