Author Archives: axooms

Opinion: Board members, middle schools and truth

Posted on September 6, 2011 by axooms

Jeannie Kaplan and Andrea Merida, two sitting members of Denver’s board of education, published this Op-Ed last Friday.  Its genesis, they tell us, is in their conversations with Denver parents.  “We are listening,” they write, “and are calling for the truth about … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, School Performance | Tagged | 1 Comment

The graduation-proficiency gap in DPS

Posted on June 6, 2011 by axooms

The recent Westword article on Denver North High School’s manipulation of its graduation rates, the  belief that “juking the stats” likely spreads beyond a single school and a sage comment at the end of Alan’s post wondering what other Denver high schools were … Continue reading →

Posted in College and Career Preparation, School Performance | Tagged | Leave a comment

Higher ed: The next bubble?

Posted on April 17, 2011 by axooms

A provocative hypothesis is newly making the rounds: Does higher education currently have the basic characteristics of a speculative economic bubble? Given new life by investor Peter Thiel, it is an idea that has been around since at least 2009 … Continue reading →

Posted in Higher Education | Leave a comment

The price of milk in education (answers now provided)

Posted on February 23, 2011 by axooms

I’ve updated this post with the answers and source links, which follow the questions below: – Last week I moderated a mayoral forum on education at KIPP. The candidates were, I thought, quite good – there was a suitable range of opinion, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Whimsy | Tagged | Leave a comment

2010 top education stories

Posted on January 10, 2011 by axooms

One of the whimsical pleasures in a New Year are the end-of-year lists.  These are often more for amusement than instruction, but do a reasonable job of measuring the sentiment of the previous twelve months.  So, in contrast to Van’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Whimsy | Leave a comment

Pension debate heats to a boil

Posted on January 5, 2011 by axooms

Two remarkable articles in the NYT about the dreary and critical subject of public pensions, including those of teachers. The first begins with the YouTubed confrontation between teacher and Governor in New Jersey, but provides a very balanced and nuanced view of the issue: … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiscal & Economic | Tagged | Leave a comment

The performance of Denver’s charter schools

Posted on December 14, 2010 by axooms

The movie Waiting for Superman, and the recent signing of a district and charter compact, has energized an intense debate about the quality of charter schools compared to their traditional school peers. Local opponents of charters have focused much of their criticism by … Continue reading →

Posted in Charter Schools | Tagged | Leave a comment