From the convention: What would happen to education under Obama or Romney administrations?
The Obama campaign has recently begun highlighting the differences between his education agenda and that of Mitt Romney. Will these new talking points be a theme at the Republican and Democratic nominating conventions? The Hechinger Report will be on the ground in Tampa and Charlotte to find out. Up until last week, education was rarely […]
Study: African American voucher students more likely to go to college
African-American school children in New York City who received a voucher to attend a private school were more likely to enroll in college than their public school counterparts, according to a study released last week by the Brookings Institution and Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance. For more than a decade the study tracked […]
Will a new conversation about funding pre-k take hold in Mississippi?
A new conversation about pre-k is emerging in Mississippi as citizens examine the reasons behind the state’s woeful academic performance—documented in the first story of our “Mississippi Learning” series and since taken up by other news media in the state. This is an important conversation in Mississippi, which has the highest rate of childhood poverty […]
America’s math problem: Should we get rid of algebra?
Is math holding the United States back? Last week, a community-college student from Harlem, speaking at a meeting of educators and community activists, told a harrowing story about his battle to get a degree. Raised by a single mother in a neighborhood wracked by violence, he had struggled to make it through high school. Then […]
Ed in the Election: New York group tries to tie Romney to anti-union group
A New York-based group released a report this week trying to tie Mitt Romney to StudentsFirstNY, an education organization known for opposing teachers unions and supporting Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s often controversial education policies. StudentsFirstNY is a local offshoot of a national organization founded in 2010 by Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the District of Columbia […]
More states requiring students to repeat a grade: Is it the right thing to do?
Thousands of third-graders may have a sense of déjà vu on the first day of school this year: The number of states that require third-graders to be held back if they can’t read increased to 13 in the last year. Retention policies are controversial because the research is mixed for students who are held back, […]
Is state-sponsored pre-k the solution for Mississippi?
What would help the children of Mississippi, which has test scores that are consistently among the nation’s worst? The Hechinger Report and Time magazine have partnered to take a long look at the state’s performance and try to find some answers and solutions. From Hechinger editor Liz Willen’s first piece in the ongoing series: Although […]
Ed in the Election: Where does Paul Ryan stand on education issues?
Mitt Romney’s pick of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his vice presidential candidate over the weekend offers new clues about what a Romney administration could mean for federal education policy. Although Ryan hasn’t made education a signature issue during his seven terms in Congress, he believes the federal government should cut back its involvement in […]
Some states resisting Obama administration ed-reform requirements
This week the Obama administration announced it had released a total of 33 states from some No Child Left Behind requirements with the approval of Nevada’s application for a waiver from the law. “While well intentioned, the law’s rigid, top-down prescriptions for reform have proved burdensome for many states,” a statement from the U.S. Department […]
Report: Scholarships for in-state college students lengthen time to degree
Programs meant to keep high-achievers close to home by providing scholarships to in-state public universities reduce students’ chances of graduating on time, according to a study released on August 8th by researchers at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The study’s authors examined a Massachusetts program launched in 2004 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney that […]
