Resources from the people I follow on Twitter, professional emails, and my own surfingThese two heavyweights are both trying to improve education by throwing money at the problem. The Obama administration’s $4 billion “Race to the Top” fund will go to the states that can convince government raters that they have the best reform agendas. The feds are also spending $350 million to help create common assessments for […]
Read entire post...Obama vs. Bill Gates – Place Your Bet
November 27th, 2009Freakonomics – Levitt & Dubner
November 17th, 2009In their groundbreaking book, Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner take an out-of-the-box look at data interpretation. In a time where educators look to data analysis to help improve instruction, this book and its sequel, SuperFreakonomics, give examples of how to take a unique look at available data. Here I have included an excerpt of a summary […]
Read entire post...Some States Will be Left Behind (SSWLB?)
November 14th, 2009Education Week reports that Hawaii’s teacher furlough might affect the state’s chances of wining part of the federal government’s Race to the top grant money. The article notes that fewer than half of the states are likely to win money. The grant process, just released, will funnel $4 billion to the winning states. Information that […]
Read entire post...Nobody interviews for a living.
October 15th, 2009Interviews are less predictive of job performance than work samples, job-knowledge tests, and peer ratings of past job performance. Even a simple intelligence test is dramatically more useful. This is according to Dan and Chip Heath, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. The article can be found in the […]
Read entire post...Hard times at Harvard
October 10th, 2009If you have tightened your belt due to the economy lately, you are not alone. According to the October 9, 2009 New York Times, a decrease in its endowment has caused Harvard to make the following cuts. No more hot breakfasts in most dorms. No more pastries at the Widener Library. Varsity athletes no longer […]
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