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Data and thoughts on public and private school funding in the U.S.
Search Results for »deselection«
The Disturbing Inequities of the New Normal
I wrote a post a while back, providing an overview of the basics of state school finance formulas, reforms and why they matter. I revisit this post having how conducted more extensive analysis of the retreat from school funding equity over the period from 2005 through 2011 (most recent available federal school finance data). Let’s […]
Data, Data, Data? Dissecting & Debunking NJDOE’s State of the Schools Message
September 21, 2012
Time again for an NJ State of the Schools Address, as reported HERE in NJ Spotlight (with absolutely no critical question/reporting whatsoever! More or less spoon fed regurgitation). As I’ve written a number of times on this blog, state officials in New Jersey have decided on specific marketing/messaging plan in order to support current policy […]
Moneyball, Superman, Angry Royals Fans and Education Reform?
July 11, 2012
These past few days have been interesting, as I’ve followed more than usual, the festivities around the Major League Baseball All Star Game. I’ve followed the festivities in part because the game was in Kansas City this year and I lived in the Kansas City ‘burbs for 11 years up until 2008. I’m an east […]
Friday Finance 101: School Finance Formula & Money Matters Basics
July 6, 2012
Modern state school finance formulas – aid distribution formulas – typically strive (but fail) to achieve two simultaneous objectives: 1) accounting for differences in the costs of achieving equal educational opportunity across schools and districts, and 2) accounting for differences in the ability of local public school districts to cover those costs. Local district ability […]
Real Reform versus Fake Reformy Distractions: More Implications from NJ & MA for CT!
April 15, 2012
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Recently, I responded to an absurd and downright disturbing Op-Ed by a Connecticut education reform organization that claimed that Connecticut needed to move quickly to adopt teacher evaluation/tenure reforms and expand charter schooling because a) Connecticut has a larger achievement gap and lower outcomes for low income students than Massachusetts or New Jersey and b) […]
SB24 won’t solve CT’s real Teacher Equity Problems
March 26, 2012
Connecticut’s SB 24 appears to be little more than boilerplate reformy legislation which, like similar legislation in other states, creates a massive smokescreen concealing the very real problems facing Connecticut school districts. I addressed in a previous post my concern that SB24′s emphasis on charter expansion as a solution for high poverty districts is misguided, […]
About those Dice… Ready, Set, Roll! On the VAM-ification of Tenure
March 1, 2012
A while back I wrote a post (and here) in which I explained that the relatively high error rates in Value-added modeling might make it quite difficult for teachers to get tenure under some newly adopted and other proposed guidelines and much easier to lose it, even after waiting years to get lucky [& yes […]
Seeking Practical Uses of the NYC VAM Data???
February 29, 2012
A short while back, in a follow up post regarding the Chetty/Friedman/Rockoff study I wrote about how and when I might use VAM results, if I happened to be in a decision making role in a school or district: I would want to be able to generate a report of the VA estimates for teachers […]
Productivity Agenda Yes! But based on real research & rigorous analysis!
February 7, 2012
Pau Hill and Marguerite Roza’s response to my recent report – with Kevin Welner – and series of blog posts seems to offer as its central argument that we’re simply a curmudgeons, offering lots of complaints about the rigor of their arguments and their suggestions for improving schooling productivity and efficiency, but providing no creative […]
Follow up on Fire First, Ask Questions Later
January 19, 2012
Many of us have had extensive ongoing conversation about the Big Study (CFR) that caught media attention last week. That conversation has included much thoughtful feedback from the authors of the study. That’s how it should be. A good, ongoing discussion delving into technical details and considering alternative policy implications. I received the following kind […]
June 5, 2013
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