Education Reform – Page 6 – Embrace the Absurd

Why are Vertical Scales So Horizontal?

What images come to mind when you hear the word vertical? Is it the towering buildings that surround you when you attend a conference in New York City or Chicago? Is it your favorite ski run in Utah? Snowboarders soaring above the halfpipe a few months ago at the Olympics. Maybe that scene from TheContinue reading “Why are Vertical Scales So Horizontal?”

Toward What End

I owe the 1990s an apology. No, not for canceling performance events as a tool in large-scale testing; leaving us vulnerable to No Child Left Behind and the advocates of selected-response tests. I’m not quite over that yet. We can work through those issues in a later post. What I need to apologize for todayContinue reading “Toward What End”

Policymakers Dig the Long Ball

Opening Day! On Opening Day 2021, I attempted to embody the spirit, if not the skill, of A. Bartlett Giamatti and engage in the real pastime of the true baseball fan, to wax poetic about baseball as the perfect metaphor for life. In that post, I recounted the central position that baseball, in all of itsContinue reading “Policymakers Dig the Long Ball”

Throwing A Wrench Into State Testing

For more than two decades now it has sat here on the corner of my desk. A rusty, humbling reminder that some aspects of this thing that we call large-scale testing are simply beyond our ken. There are those times when we know we’ve done everything right, followed all the rules, operationalized best practices, andContinue reading “Throwing A Wrench Into State Testing”

DIY DEI

As I observe our field’s nascent do-it-yourself (DIY) attempts to embrace, understand, and enact the concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) what I have seen can best be described as akin to the enthusiasm and curiosity of a baby discovering its feet for the first time. And like the baby, I am sure thatContinue reading “DIY DEI”

Inventing State Assessment

Spoiler Alert: This post may reveal information about Inventing Anna that you don’t want to know yet. Content Warning: This post may reveal information about the Race to the Top Assessment Program that you have tried to forget. As I watched Inventing Anna, the Shonda Rhimes version of the Anna Delvey story, unfold before meContinue reading “Inventing State Assessment”

Throwing the Switch on High School Reform

The rhetoric surrounding high school reform has gone off the rails and it’s time to get it back on track. Michael Petrilli caused quite the little kerfuffle earlier this month when he dared to use the dreaded “t-word” in a favorable way with regard to high schools in the United States. Apparently, he first utteredContinue reading “Throwing the Switch on High School Reform”

Build Back Better: School Accountability

When it comes to talk of innovation and improvement, school accountability often takes a back seat to assessment. But as we begin to build back better after the pandemic, here are 13 thoughts on making school accountability great again.

Another Nice Mess You’ve Gotten Me Into

Things change. It’s inevitable. Sometimes the changes are big, sudden, and can’t be missed. Sometimes they are much more subtle, occurring gradually over a long period of time. Some changes are deliberately planned, years and “steps” in advance: first we’ll change A, then B, then C. Some changes are the unintended consequence of another change:Continue reading “Another Nice Mess You’ve Gotten Me Into”

The Coleman Continuum

Any serious conversation about school accountability must begin with clearly stating your beliefs about schools and schooling, particularly those related to public schools in the United States and what it is that you think that those schools can accomplish. I place beliefs about schools, schooling, and the role of public schools along what I haveContinue reading “The Coleman Continuum”