Monthly Archives: September 2009

NY charter study: What districts can do

Posted on September 24, 2009 by axooms

There is a lot of noise around the evaluation of charter schools, and a paucity of good data, which makes most comparisons of little use.  That is starting to change. One of the problems in gauging the effectiveness of charters … Continue reading →

Posted in Charter Schools, School Performance | Leave a comment

Sunlight and election questions

Posted on September 21, 2009 by axooms

The plight of newspapers is well known; how information about important topics like school board races is disseminated and reviewed by voters is both incredibly important and in real flux. How does the public – especially a younger demographic less … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, Politics | Leave a comment

School Performance Framework shorthand

Posted on September 18, 2009 by axooms

I looked at the DPS School Performance Framework (SPF) data in a number of different ways. There is some intriguing data, but I found a shorthand that I think serves as a pretty good summary. Let’s look at the DPS schools with … Continue reading →

Posted in District Performance, Student Achievement | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The ghost of selective admissions

Posted on September 15, 2009 by axooms

The Denver Post this weekend kept alive the oppositional dualism that far too often permeates the education debate by doing the usual Tastes Great, Less Filling argument on charter schools (see for; and against). This puzzles me.  I don’t know too many reasonable people who think that … Continue reading →

Posted in Charter Schools, School Performance | Tagged | Leave a comment

Playing games to sneak kids into good schools

Posted on September 14, 2009 by axooms

Students across Denver have now put aside their summer games and trotted off to school. Where they head, however, is often decided by how well their parents play the games afforded by the public education system. The most egregious example … Continue reading →

Posted in Engagement, School Performance | 2 Comments

College one-two punch

Posted on September 12, 2009 by axooms

Two fascinating articles.  The first is a futuristic view of online higher education: In less than two months, she had finished four complete courses, for less than $200 total. The same courses would have cost her over $2,700 at Northeastern Illinois, $4,200 … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiscal & Economic, Higher Education | Leave a comment