Contributor
Alexander Russo, Writer, This Week In Education
Related Link:
http://www.thisweekineducation.com
Biography provided by participant
Former teacher, Senate education aide and education researcher, Alexander Russo has been writing about education for the last 10 years.
Recent Responses
October 15, 2009 04:23 PM
I can certainly understand why critics and opponents of AYP (Monty, Diane) would want AYP removed from the i3 eligibility process. Ditto for the pro-innovation crowd (Tom, Nelson). And of course no one wants the money wasted. But there are practical, political, and legislative concerns to consider beyond the ideal and the ideological. Once you lift or modify AYP for districts getting federal money you've created yet another tier. We already have NAEP ratings, and state by state AYP, and waivers and pilots. We've got the common core stuff coming down the road, and Race to the Top, too, all of…
Read moreOctober 13, 2009 11:23 AM
Great topic, Eliza. Thanks for bringing it up. Alas, I'm not as enthusiastic about this as those who've already commented. Not that I'm opposed to revamping AYP. This just seems like an overly convenient, ad hoc way to do it. The NCLB waivers and pilots we've had in the past were widely discussed before they went into effect. And, even done carefully, a carveout for i3 districts risks setting a precedent for making a (further) mess of AYP. Pretty soon, you're rewriting NCLB via appropriations language. Not good. For more of my thoughts on this, click here. Thanks again. / Alexander…
Read moreJuly 20, 2009 06:32 AM
Updated at 8:50 a.m. on July 20. For years, states have been lowering standards and districts have been passing along "juiced" test score increases. It happened during the NCLB era. It happened before NCLB came along. It'll probably still happen under whatever law comes next. The only thing that's going to limit the practice is if lawmakers and bureaucrats are at least occasionally held accountable. And that's why the Civic Committee report presents such an important opportunity. During his stint heading the Chicago public schools, Arne Duncan touted some pretty hard-to-believe test score increases. These scores were passed along without…
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