Education Reform – Embrace the Absurd

Frankenstein’s Graduate

In releasing the interim report outlining its new graduation Framework, Massachusetts boasts, “no other state will have implemented such a comprehensive approach to setting such high standards in education…”

My response, as the kids say, Sick brag, bro.

I’m not exactly sure where having “such high standards” compared to other states fits in the validity argument. I would be much more impressed by claims and evidence of having carefully identified the right graduation standards for the future and having a solid implementation plan for achieving those standards.

Regression To The Mean

Growth seemed to be a hot topic this month, so I set out to write a blog post about student growth and how it should be (and shouldn’t be) used in school accountability systems. Then I read the Senate HELP committee’s RFI. When my blood pressure returned close to normal, my topic had changed. I had expected and can even accept the “school choice” vibes that ran through the RFI. What I cannot stomach, however, is the return to misplaced blame and outright meanness that helped derail the last 25 years of Education Reform.

Dancing With Stars

Starbucks seems really focused on selling me coffee, iced tea, cake pops, etc.; that is, the Starbucks experience. Can we commit to being that same level of focused, creative, and yes, relentless in figuring out ways to sell the school experience to students.

Looking In The Wrong Place

The world and the daily experiences of students have changed immeasurably since the CCSS were adopted in the early 2010s. Yet, our state tests continue for the most part to measure the same things in the same way. Incremental improvements focused primarily on increasing efficiency. We have to acknowledge that perhaps priorities have changed, and that we might be looking for answers in the wrong place.

Without The Will There Is No Way

Celebrating the anniversary of Apollo 11, I wondered why JFK’s “we choose to go to the moon” speech is still widely quoted after 60 years while the 2010 “Beyond The Bubble Tests” call to arms was already described as Arne Duncan’s “now-forgotten speech” as early as 2017 and attempts to access it today yield the dreaded “Page Not Found – 404” message. What are we missing?

Everything Looks Worse in Black and White

There’s a lot to reflect on as we reach the midpoint of 2025, but one story that’s stuck in my craw is the performance of Black and White students on the 2024 NAEP tests. Not the achievement gap per se, we are all too well aware of that, but rather the lack of overlap between the two groups. I’m not sure what to make of that.

Innovative or In Over Our Heads

Why is innovating in educational assessment so difficult? Is there an invisible string, a common thread, connecting the chain of so-called innovations that have either never produced fruit, died on the vine, or failed to even sprout?

What Do We Want From AI?

In this week’s behind the scenes look at how Charlie’s mind works, we consider the question what is it that we want from the use of AI technology to support educational assessment and accountability, and to improve education, in general.

It’s Socioeconomic Status, Stupid

I thought that I was done writing about the 2024 NAEP results. I had nothing to add to all of the thoughtful recommendations for improving student achievement. But then after spending an afternoon playing with the Watershed Advisors NAEP analysis tool, it hit me that there was still one more thing to say. The problem, as we all know, is bigger than us and the solution must be as well.

What Is The State’s Role In High School Graduation?

With its MCAS graduation requirement repealed, Massachusetts faces the task of determining the proper balance between the state and local districts in setting graduation requirements and certifying that students have met those requirements. The question is not new. In this post Jeff Nellhaus and I discuss how it has been addressed since the state’s Education Reform law established the test-based requirement in 1993. We also caution the state to not conflate this question with other graduation-related questions it is attempting to answer.