Stories that Made a Splash: Our First Annual “Educated Reporter” Awards

*Update: Today's post has been revised from its earlier version. USA Today was the first publication in 2011 to question erasure analysis in high-stakes standardized testing in multiple districts, starting with the District of Columbia. (Many thanks to Robert Schaeffer, public education director of FairTest, for bringing this important distinction to my attention.)


There were many memorable education stories in 2011, but instead of a traditional “best of” list, I’d like to try something a little different. Here are a few examples of education journalism that made a difference, made me think and made me hopeful for the future of the profession:

The Ripple Effect Award (for the first pebble in the pond): In March of 2011, USA Today questioned whether "soaring gains" in D.C.'s public schools were real. The fallout from the thoughtful investigation was substantial. The paper has continued its coverage with subsequent stories looking at other jurisdictions, including schools in Georgia.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's own reports followed, detailing widespread cheating in the public schools in which teachers were encouraged by administrators to change students’ incorrect answers on high-stakes standardized tests. The AJC has been tenacious in its follow-ups, breaking fresh ground and pushing for greater transparency.

USA Today's stories have led to more scrutiny and tougher questions in other districts by local and regional reporters. Better oversight and accountability, especially when it's coupled by responsible watchdog media, can only be a good thing for public schools.

The Water Cooler Award (for one of the most talked-about stories of the year): Paul Tough's New York Times Magazine story on the role of "grit" in learning. Tough both an incisive reporter and a fine storyteller. The story generated significant conversation, and also got me (and many other people) thinking about key elements of education reform in a new way. That's an impressive feat given how well-worn the path has been lately. Tough successfully tackles a complicated question: What role does failure play in success?

The School Spirit Award (for college journalism): The staff at Penn State's Daily Collegian. Editor in chief Lexi Belcufine, a senior at the university, has steered her newsroom of 200-plus reporters through what have been some of Penn State's darkest days. The students have provided superior coverage of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, as well as legendary coach Joe Paterno's subsequent retirement. In an interview with EWA (click here for the link), Belcufine told me she receives angry emails and phone calls demanding her resignation, and has been accused of failing to promote "positivity" at Penn State. That's a tough burden for any editor to shoulder, never mind someone who is still a semester away from graduation. Belcufine estimated that at least half of her staff intends to pursue journalism careers, herself included. They're off to an excellent start.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email Emily Richmond erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Will College Student Get to Vote in the 2012 Elections?

Was anyone else dismayed by this New York Times editorial noting that many college students could be disenfranchised in the 2012 elections? The editorial notes that Republican state lawmakers appear to be pushing legislation intended to keep younger voters from the polls.

According to the editorial, Republicans acknowledge part of their motivation stems from the fact that college-age voters tend to be more liberal. Not all of them are, of course. Take, for example, the sorry state of affairs among the University of Texas Young Republicans. The group is on its second president this year, after the first resigned in November for an inappropriate tweet about President Obama. (Her replacement doesn't seem to be much more thoughtful with her thumbs.)

Texas represents an extreme example. In reality, college is a place where many students try on different identities and ideologies to try and get a better sense of what fits. That's actually one of the best arguments for a liberal arts education. Not every college student is going to hold the same beliefs as a senior that they held as a freshman. But they are still entitled to exercise their right to vote, even if those votes don't go the way some Republican lawmakers might wish.

How active are the political groups on your college and university campuses? What about at the community colleges, where students tend to be slightly older and, in some cases, even more engaged in civic life?


Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Jay Mathews: Why So Few TV Squabbles About Education?

Jay Mathews' has an interesting column (no shocker there, eh?) examining why education writers aren't regularly featured on the current events talk show circuit. Mathews argues it's in part because Americans "don’t get very excited about education ... It doesn’t spark the same passion, anger, resentment and shouting on Fox and MSNBC that you get with discussions of politics, sports, business or celebrities."

Mathews then goes a step further, suggesting the lack of TV pundits screaming and yelling about schools  is probably a good thing.

"Nearly all of us have been to school ... We know what makes it work: thoughtful and energetic teachers, attentive parents, flexible administrators and intelligent school board members," Mathews writes.

The lack of arguing could lead to more civil discourse and swifter solutions, Mathews contends.

Having spent eight years covering school board meetings, I can verify Mathews' point that public attendance tends to be sparse. He's also spot-on in noting that voters tend to skip the school board section on their ballots, leaving a few hundred people to choose the representative for a few (and often many) thousand.

But I would contend the low meeting attendance reflects more than just a disaffected public. The meetings are often held in the evenings, when people are tired from work or looking forward to spending time with family. The agenda is often bogged down by ceremonial activities that feel like a huge time suck, unless it's your child's school's turn to provide the percussion performance or to receive a citation for its recycling campaign.

When the vote is on something that families see as directly affecting their child, such as plans to charge fees for extracurricular sports programs, they flood the school board chambers. But the day to day business of schooling just doesn't get people stirred up.

There's an interesting dichotomy at work here. In local polls, parents often report they are more than satisfied with the quality of their child's public school. But in nationwide polls asking people what issues top their lists of concerns, education and the economy are most frequently cited.

Do you agree with Mathews that relative consensus among presidential contenders about education reform is actually a benefit? Might it actually lead to faster action? To my education writer colleagues -- what's the average length of a school board meeting in your town, and how many people are typically in attendance?

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email Emily Richmond erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Race To The Top Round 3: Seven States Share $200 Million

Lost in the holiday shuffle of news stories about Kmart layaway angels was an early holiday gift for seven states from the U.S. Department of Education.

Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania share $200 million in Race to the Top Round 3 for programs aimed at boosting K-12 achievement. (Education Week's Politics K-12 blog has a nice summary of how the states plan to spend the money.)

“These seven states are now among 22 Race to the Top winners spread out across the country that are investing in key education reforms to prepare more students for college and careers,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a Dec. 23 press release. “Race to the Top has been a pivotal program that has generated more progress in improving our nation’s education system over the last three years than we’ve seen over the last decade. We look forward to partnering with these states to continue this important work."

But it was something further down in the press release that caught my attention. There were nine states eligible for the grants this time around, having been finalists (but not winners) in the previous rounds, with $4 billion was awarded. However South Carolina opted not to apply for Round 3, and California submitted an incomplete application.

I'd like to know more about how (and why) California's application was incomplete. So far I haven't found a really thorough explanation. If you spot a news story about this issue, would you send it my way?

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily. 

Do Teacher-Student Facebook Friendships Cross the Line?

Missouri recently passed a law to severely limit online interactions between teachers and their students on social networking sites. It quickly became known as Missouri’s “Facebook Law,” and the state’s teachers union filed suit to block the new regulations from taking effect. A state judge has since struck the laww down as unconstitutional. On Monday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, the state's lawmakers were debating repealing the law and replacing it with requirements for school-based policies.

Meanwhile in Southern California, a school district is being sued after an assistant football coach sent sexually explicit texts and photographs to a 13-year-old girl. The coach pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 113 days in the county jail, according to the Los Angeles Times.

What these two stories have in common are issues of boundaries and common sense.There isn’t anyone who would think the coach’s behavior was appropriate. But I’m also hard-pressed to come up with a way that school districts can reasonably predict that an employee would engage in such reckless and harmful behavior.

As for the so-called Facebook Law, it seems more like an attempt to mollify community members (including parents) who don’t fully understand just how pervasive technology is in their children’s lives. Shutting the door on teacher-student online chats won’t keep children safe. It will only restrict educators from using a potentially useful interactive form of communication. That doesn’t mean online relationships between students and teachers shouldn’t have limits.

As one teacher told me, “My students aren’t my friends … they’re my students. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about them, it just means there should be limits to how much they know about my private life.”

For parents, keeping children safe isn’t about setting up artificial barriers to contact, it’s about monitoring the actual contact children have on a daily basis – with their friends, with strangers they meet in online gaming forums and … yes … with their teachers. In other words, it’s about the boundaries -- and common sense.


Have a question, comment or confidential concern for the Educated Reporter? Email Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

Rise in Homeless Students Strains School Safety Net

I met an elementary school counselor in Henderson, Nev. a few years ago, who was looking for a good deal on sleeping bags.

The economic downturn has struck southern Nevada harder than almost any other region in the United States. The local schools are struggling to help thousands of students and their families facing dire economic conditions. At this particular campus, nearly 80 percent of the students met the federal government’s definition of a homeless person as anyone who lacks “a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.”

Two sisters, age 8 and 11, were among those students with no reliable place to call home. When their aunt had room at her apartment, they shared a couch. When there wasn’t room, they bunked down with their father on the floor of a neighbor’s garage.

With the sleeping bags, the school counselor reasoned, at least the girls wouldn’t be cold.

The number of public school students in the United States identified as qualifying for homeless services under the federal McKinney-Vento Act has soared in recent years. According to the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, in the 2010-11 academic year there were 939,903 homeless students who received services such as transportation and counseling. That’s a 38 percent increase since 2007.

Those figures are both astronomical and frightening.

Experts and advocates agree those figures are probably on the low end, given that many parents refrain from seeking government services out of concerns that they might lose custody of their children. Even harder to count are the older youth, who often have no contact with even their parents.

“We know there are high school students who have left abusive family situations – what we categorize as unaccompanied homeless youth – who are doing everything they can to avoid detection because they don’t want to go into foster care,” said Barbara Duffield, national policy advisor for association. “They go to extreme lengths to blend in.”

Even with these efforts to deflect attention, school districts still reported 65,317 unaccompanied homeless youth in 2009-10, double the number since 2007.

This is a crisis. This is a socioeconomic time bomb that will have repercussions on individual students, schools and the wider communities for many years to come.

For more on how states are responding to the increase in homeless children and youth, I encourage you to read a new report from the National Center on Family Homelessness, entitled "America’s Youngest Outcasts." The report gives state-by-state rankings, as well as important national overviews.

You can also listen to a recent webinar we held on the issue, featuring Duffield, Dr. Ellen Bassuk (the National Center on Family Homelessness’ founder and executive director) and Pamela Hosmer, who coordinates programs and services for homeless students in the San Diego Unified School District. (Click here for the link to the webinar.)

The webinar offers excellent background on the core issues, along with recommendations for story angles that have gone underreported.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily. 

As Guiding Lights, Charter Schools Struggle to Shine

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about charter schools, particularly in light of what’s happening in the Windy City. A recent study of Chicago Public Schools found that its charter school students were not doing any better than their peers at traditional neighborhood campuses, and, in some cases, were actually performing significantly worse. (Click here for the Chicago Tribune article.)

Earlier this month, less than two weeks after the study was released, CPS announced it planned to add 12 more charter schools. Why, exactly, would you want to add more charter schools when the ones you already have seem to be more struggling than stellar?

The findings in Chicago mirror charter school outcomes in other cities and states. Recent studies have concluded that charter schools nationally have not performed much better than regular public schools, and — again, unfortunately — in some instances did much worse. As with almost every kind of educational model, there were pockets of excellence that could be singled out. But overall, the data was far from a ringing endorsement for these schools that use public money but are independently operated. (Click here for more on the often-cited Stanford study.)

Despite these results, support for the charter school concept hasn’t wavered among some key advocates – including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Expanding opportunities for choice in public education, including charter schools, is a key element in his reform initiatives.

When the charter schools concept first emerged in late 1980s and early 1990s, it carried the banner of the Next Great Idea in public education. Unencumbered by perceived distractions like collective bargaining agreements and district regulations, charter schools would flourish. They would also be lighthouses, shining the way for “traditional” public campuses to follow.

Being a birthplace for concepts or a guiding light for good practices presents a fairly heavy burden. The reality is that few charter campuses have managed to come anywhere close to meeting those expectations.

There are plenty of possible reasons for the lackluster data. Whether or not students succeed academically depends on a multitude of factors, many of which are beyond the school's control. Another problem is that charter schools are often launched by well-meaning parents and community leaders who often have little or no experience in the day-to-day business of schooling. In more than a few states, for-profit management companies stepped in to run the charter schools -- and ran them straight into the ground.

For another perspective, I’d like to go back to a conversation I had recently with author and educational psychologist David Berliner, the Regents Professor of Education at Arizona State University.

He’s not surprised by the substandard student performance at many charter schools, given several key factors related to their teachers. Research shows that charter school teachers tend to be less experienced than their peers at traditional schools, Berliner said. Staff turnover is also much higher at charter schools than traditional campuses.

But it is unexpected, Berliner said, that charter schools aren't more successful. He contends that charter schools are often able to engage in what he called “skimming.” Charter schools can turn away students with behavioral problems, something regular public schools can’t do. Charter schools can also mandate parents sign contracts (pledging involvement in everything from homework supervision to on-campus activities) and then expel those students when their parents fall short.

It's important to note that charter school advocates, including the Center for Education Reform, dispute that skimming is a factor in enrollment. CER argues that charter schools actually provide more high-quality learning opportunities for disadvantaged students than they would otherwise be able to access. (Click here for the organization's new report on the state of the nation's charter schools.)

But Berliner's provocative point is worth deliberation. By eliminating the families who lack the time, resources or motivation to participate more fully in their children’s learning, charter schools are thinning the herd. Why hasn’t this luxury translated into more academic success?

For some students, charter schools (like the highly successful KIPP model) might well be the answer. But at many of the campuses, there are still too many questions.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. She also tweets @EWAEmily.

L.A. Times: Students Reject Healthier Cafeteria Fare

The L.A. Times has a terrific story about just how difficult it is to get students to eat healthy -- even when the other options are taken off the cafeteria menu.

When asked what they would eat for lunch instead of the healthier options, two students reached in their backpacks for Cheetos and soda.

First Lady Michelle Obama has made reducing childhood obesity the centerpiece of her public agenda, and schools play an important role in that campaign. But as the L.A. Times story makes clear, you can lead students to tofu but you can't make them eat it.

I wrote a story a few years ago about junk food being banned from high school vending machines. The results weren't quite what the school board had in mind. Convenience stores in the neighborhoods surrounding the campus reported sales of snacks and soda had increased sharply in the hours immediately before -- and after -- classes. The schools lost the revenue from the vending machines.

In case you missed it, public school teacher Sarah Wu at the cafeteria meals for a year ... and survived. Her book (based on her popular blog) is now out. Click here for a Public Radio International interview with Wu.


Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Three Higher Ed Stories Worth a Look - And a Listen

*The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is planning to expand its free, online course offerings, according to the Boston Globe. If you pass the class you can trade your good grades for a certificate, although that will cost you a small fee. (On a related note, Forbes' Tim Worstall poses this provocative question: "Is Education the Next Industry That Will Be Killed By the Internet?" )

*NPR's Larry Abramson had an interesting piece recently on "All Things Considered" about new rules for military tuition assistance, and how some colleges and universities are balking at the more stringent requirements. This is a particularly timely issue given that so many troops are headed home from Iraq ... and back to school. You can hear the story here.

*Is there anything more stressful than law school examinations? Is there any better cure for that stress than a puppy? Apparently not, according to George Mason University (click here for the Washington Post story).

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Best Of 2011: What Education Stories Make Your List?

I'm compiling a list of the most interesting education stories of 2011, and I'd like your help. Were there thought-provoking pieces that were conversation starters in your office? Who wrote the profile that you sent to co-workers and friends? What was the investigative series that made you say "wow!"

We've been talking about this over on EdMedia Commons (click here to sign up, if you're not already a member). Two stories have already been nominated: Paul Tough's remarkable piece in the New York Times Magazine's annual education issue, looking at the influence of "grit" on student learning and achievement; and Michael Winerip's column (also from the NYT) about Tennessee's controversial plan for evaluating teachers teaching subjects that don't require standardized testing of students.

I'd like to add a few more stories to that list. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution deserves credit for pushing hard on the cheating scandal that's rocked its public school system (click here for a link to the collected stories). This is probably one of the most talked about stories of the year, and it spurred closer scrutiny of testing procedures and results in other states, as well.

I also was impressed with the Boston Globe's "Getting In" series, which followed parents navigating the city's confusing -- and often confounding -- school assignment maze. The multimedia elements of the project, including video interviews with the families, were an effective way of bringing readers deeper into the narrative.

So, what stories stood out for you this year? To my education journalist colleagues -- don't be shy about nominating your own work. I also encourage you to submit it to the EWA's annual contest. Entries are now being accepted (find out more and get the application by clicking here).

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Race To The Top: Early Learning Grant Winners Announced Today

UPDATE: Want the Early Learning Challenge scoop? Join EWA's Q&A with the experts today at 1:30 pm (ET). Call-in # 888-299-4099, passcode VB84100.

** At 10 a.m. today, the winners of the first round of the Race To The Top Early Learning Challenge will be announced at the White House. A handful of states (out of the 35 that applied, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) will share $500 million in federal grants.

After the announcement, EWA will hold a conference call with two experts in the field. We'll talk to Jon Schnur, executive chairman and co-founder of America Achieves (who also served as an advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and was on President Obama's transition team), and Sharon Lynn Kagan, executive director of co-director of the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University, and professor adjunct at Yale University's Child Study Center.

** There's another important event coming up that I'd like you to put on your calendar. From Maine to California, school districts are reporting significant increases in the number of homeless students. On Monday, EWA will offer a webinar to help you get a deeper understanding of the underlying issues. How does homelessness impact an individual student's long-term prospects both in and out of school? How are campuses responding to record levels of need? What are the overlooked (and under-reported) elements of this compelling story?

Our presenters will include Barbara Duffield, policy director of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children; Pamela Hosmer, Program Manager for the San Diego Unified School District's Children and Youth in Transition program; and Dr. Ellen Bassuk, a Harvard University professor and founder and president of the National Center on Family Homelessness.

The webinar will run from 1 to 2 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). You need to register in advance, and space is limited. Click here to sign up.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

CEP Study: Nearly Half of Schools Miss AYP Mark

I remember a few years back when the Clark County School District -- the nation's fifth-largest, with more than 300,000 students in and around Las Vegas -- tried to soothe the sting of No Child Left Behind with an exercise in building campus pride.

At the time, the district was sending out flags to its schools where students did well enough on standardized tests to meet the threshold for "adequate yearly progress" under No Child Left Behind. Schools were expected to proudly fly their AYP colors ... never mind that adequacy usually isn’t something to brag about.

But that's not quite how things worked out. Educators in southern Nevada -- as in much of the rest of the country -- were skeptical about using AYP as a measure of a school's overall success. Additionally, there were dozens of schools that fell just short of the necessary target, often because of poor performance by one small subgroup. In more than a few instances, that subgroup was special education students, raising inclusion advocates' concerns that an already vulnerable population would be unfairly blamed for "bringing down" a school.

Rather than a banner of excellence, the flags wound up signifying what many NCLB critics called the patent unfairness of the federal education reform.

So, the Clark County School Board had an idea. What if the district handed out different flags to schools to signify accomplishments other than making AYP? How about a flag for outstanding daily attendance? Or a flag for schools that make significant progress, even if the hard targets of NCLB aren't reached?

The multiple flags initiative was eventually abandoned in the wake of public criticism (and yes, some outright mocking) of what many saw as a misguided attempt to make sure no one's feelings were hurt.

I am thinking about this episode today because the Center on Education Policy has put out its key findings on the nation's AYP results for the 2010-11 academic year. (Click here for the link.)

The nonprofit and independent organization annually compiles a nationwide snapshot of AYP results for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. This year's figures show that nearly half – 48 percent -- of the country’s schools are estimated to have not made AYP on the most recent assessments. That’s a significant jump from the 39 percent of U.S. campuses that fell short in 2010.

I use the word "estimated" carefully, and I would encourage you to be equally measured in how you use the CEP findings. As CEP notes in its report, the "content and rigor" of the tests used to measure student achievement vary widely among states, and therefore "AYP results should not be directly compared between states, and a state with a higher percentage of schools failing to make AYP should not be assumed to have a weaker educational system."

The CEP report's figures should be considered preliminary in part because the numbers can change after they have been collected. There are ways for a school to appeal its AYP results, and state education departments have the authority to issue waivers.

The CEP report is still useful, even with the caveats that come with it. The findings clearly show that schools, districts and states continue to struggle to meet existing benchmarks for student achievement. Among the report's key findings was that in 24 states and the District of Columbia, "at least half of the public schools did not make AYP in 2011.

It's also strong evidence of how much variation there is among states when it comes to defining adequacy and achievement. The percentages of schools not making AYP ranged from just 11 percent in Wisconsin to a whopping 89 percent in Florida.

This has been perhaps the single most consistent criticism of NCLB – that it shames schools, rather than lays out a means of helping them improve.

Congress -- and the various education and community stakeholders -- is continuing its wrangling over the ESEA reauthorization, and whatever will take the place of NCLB. The next incarnation is expected to focus on rewarding growth, rather than retaining the inflexible bar for measuring achievement that is still widely in place.

My question: Will it come with flags?

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.og. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Alabama Sets Limits on Gifts to Teachers

Alabama has a new ethics law that sets strict limits on what teachers can accept as gifts from students. I have to ask: Was this really a problem? Were teachers being showered with large amounts of cash, or iPods or flat-screen televisions?

I remember a terrific story from the New Yorker (by the inimitable Caitlin Flanagan) about the ridiculous amounts of swag being showered on private school teachers in Southern California. As for me, my mother's holiday banana bread was reportedly quite popular in the teachers' lounge at my middle school.

**

While we're on the topic of ethics, check out this story from the Bradenton Herald in Florida. Reporter Christine Hawes details how the Manatee School Board appears to have violated the state's "sunshine" law, but so far isn't owning up to it. This where the media's watchdog role can't be overstated. Ignorance rarely works as an excuse, particularly for elected officials.

**

On a lighter note, if you're looking for a holiday gift for the journalist on your list, here's some solid suggestions from Media Bistro's 10,000 Words site (thanks to Poynter's Mediawire for pointing it out).

I can attest to the usefulness of the Newseum's coffee mug. The electronics-cleaning putty is a must for anyone who works in a newsroom, where lunch at your desk often means your keyboard could be mistaken for a squirrel's winter hideout.

I also endorse No. 13 on the list -- the complete series DVD of "Newsradio."

What's on your education wish list this holiday season? I'll share some of your suggestions later in a future blog posting.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

At Camp Lejeune, Unexpected Lessons in School Success

Michael Winerip's latest column in the New York Times -- about children on military bases outscoring their civilian peers on the "Nation's Report Card" -- got me thinking.

I spent nine years in southern Nevada, which is home to Nellis Air Force Base. Stories about the children of military families usually revolved around how they were dealing with the stress of having a parent on active duty overseas or perhaps a profile of a particularly outstanding graduate. To be honest, we didn't spend much time on how those schools might be operating differently than the off-base campuses.

I doubt many people knew, prior to reading Winerip's column, that the schools on military bases are not subject to the stringent regulations of No Child Left Behind. I'm curious about the origins of that exemption, and I plan to look into it.

There are a lot of nice moments in Winerip's column (no surprise there, right?). But perhaps my favorite is this one: "It has become fashionable for American educators to fly off to Helsinki to investigate how schools there produce such high-achieving Finns. But for just $69.95 a night, they can stay at the Days Inn in Jacksonville, N.C., and investigate how the schools here on the Camp Lejeune Marine base produce such high-achieving Americans — both black and white."

Winerip describes a Camp Lejeune elementary school where the principal has autonomy, the teachers union and the administration work in concert -- not conflict -- and standardized tests are used to guide individual student instruction.

Come to think of it, that does sound a fair bit like Finland.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Today's Aspen Prize Award: Top Community Colleges to Share $1 Million

Today, the Aspen Institute will award the first-ever Aspen Prize for community college excellence, choosing from a list of 10 finalists (the original candidate pool was over 1,200).

The winning campus and four runners-up will share the $1 million prize, which recognizes both exceptional educational programs and student success.

The nonprofit think tank selected the finalists because "they are relentlessly focused on three non-negotiable outcomes -- a high bar for learning, a focus on college completion, and real attention to preparing their students for 21st century jobs," said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute's College Excellence Program, in a written statement. "Needless to say, no institution is perfect, and each school in America -- from elementary through higher education -- has its own challenges, particularly in today's economic climate. But, we believe that these 10 (community colleges) embody many of the elements that all community colleges should seek to emulate."

I'm glad to see the Aspen Institute paying close attention to what's happening at community colleges, and sharing stories of success. At the same time, I encourage education writers to spend some time on their own local campuses, meeting the students, hearing the challenges and -- most importantly -- pushing for accountability and transparency in how the business of higher education is being carried out.

Community colleges are understandably in the spotlight right now, largely because of the promise and opportunity they represent. As Inside Higher Ed's co-founder and editor Scott Jashnik told us at EWA's recent seminar at UCLA, this is a story that all education reporters should be covering. (Click here for my blog on the subject, and more of Jashnik's excellent story suggestions.)

The Aspen Award ceremony will be here in D.C., and the roster of featured speakers include U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Jill Biden, a longtime educator and wife of Vice President Joe Biden (sorry, I just struggle with the "second lady" nickname). You can watch the live webcast of the awards ceremony starting at about 12:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The link is here.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Rescuing Ed Reform, D.C. Choice and Ill-Timed Sushi

Frederick Hess and Linda Darling-Hammond New York Times editorial entitled "How to rescue education reform" is getting a lot of attention -- and criticism. You can read Eduwonk's thoughtful critique here.

Also, RiShawn Biddle offers his pithy views over at his blog Dropout Nation. Several bloggers have mentioned the "odd couple" pairing of Hess and Darling-Hammond. You can watch them spar at a debate last year sponsored by Grantmakers' for Education conference.

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I recently mentioned a New York Times op-ed piece by a D.C. parent frustrated by the lack of school choice in the public schools, as well as inequities in programs, services and facilities. The Fordham Institute's Mike Petrilli offers this rejoinder over at the National Review.

**

Giving new meaning to the phrase "unfortunate coincidence," consider this blog item from the Washington Post's Reliable Source column, detailing what was on the lunch menu at Sasha and Malia Obama's D.C. private school (Sidwell Friends) on Wednesday.  

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Nation's Report Card: Honest Progress in Atlanta Schools?

For the most part, the National Assessment of Educational Progress results are shared only at the state level. The National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees "The Nation's Report Card," has been slowly adding districts to a pilot program that compiles local results on student achievement. On Wednesday, we learned the results for 21 urban districts, the largest number ever to volunteer to participate in the pilot program.

The results were not encouraging. Noting that performance overall was lackluster, Mark Schneider, a vice president of the American Institutes for Research, said to the Huffington Post that "This is just really, really, really depressing."

I was waiting for Atlanta's NAEP results. The city's public school students did better in math but stayed flat in reading (click here for Atlanta Journal-Constitution blogger Maureen Downey's post).

At the same time, Atlanta has actually shown some of the best long-term progress since signing on to the pilot program in 2002. Atlanta's cheating scandal -- where dozens of teachers, principals and regional superintendents allegedly worked in collusion to falsify student achievement on statewide tests -- has cast a heavy cloud over the city's public schools. However, there's no indication that there was any attempt to tamper the NAEP answer sheets (which would have been much more difficult to pull off). Atlanta's long-term trend of improved NAEP performance suggests there could be real improvement taking root.

In other words, nobody had to cheat.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

School Choice Falls Short For D.C. Parent, Gotham Principals Mum on Teacher Evaluations

The New York Times has a terrific op-ed piece from a Washington, D.C. parent questioning the limitations of school choice policies. Author Natalie Hopkinson doesn't directly identify her neighborhood, but it sounds a lot like where I live near Capitol Hill. As one of my newspaper colleagues in Detroit pointed out, the scenario described by Hopkinson will also sound familiar to families in Motor City ... and beyond.

Additionally, I wanted to note that a blog reader had pointed out principals in New York are signing a petition urging caution in proceeding with teacher evaluation reforms. GothamSchools.org has a story explaining that so far administrators in the nation's largest district are for the most part not putting their names on the dotted line.

I was also intrigued by this story from the Oregonian, about a special education principal who is in court alleging she was demoted for complaining about issues related to student and staff safety. So often these disputes are settled behind closed doors. Education reporters are often stymied when it comes to writing about these types of complaints, because we end up with just one side of the story. School districts can cite "personnel privacy" as a reason to not share any details of such cases. I'm interested in the Portland jury's eventual verdict.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Nearing Goodbye for the Greatest Generation

Tomorrow is Dec. 7, the 70th anniversary of the day that will live in infamy.

In the sixth grade, I was given an assignment to interview someone who could remember where they were on Dec. 7, 1941.

That's not as easy an option for today's classroom teachers, since the The National World War II Museum estimates that 14 million veterans who survived World War II have since died. The remaining 2 million veterans are dying at a rate of about 900 per day.

Given that so many students already consider Sept. 11 ancient history, I'm wondering how much attention schools are paying to the anniversary of Pearl Harbor? How are the events leading to the United States entering World War II taught, and made relatable?

I found plenty of interesting materials online to help classroom teachers with their lesson plans (click here for one from Scholastic). I also found a solid digital library through the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom. There's also a large collection of resources from U.S. federal agencies, which can be found by clicking here.

I'll be keeping an eye out for education stories on this topic, and I'll share whatever I find. In the meantime, I'd like to hear from you. What were you taught about Pearl Harbor?

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Good Read: Budget Woes Slow Florida's Education Progress

We hear a lot about Florida being a bellweather for aggressive education form -- multiple states are implementing similar models, including holding back students who aren't reading at grade level by the end of the third grade. But as the Sun-Sentinel reports, it's not always sunny in the Sunshine State's schools.

After a decade of steady and measurable growth, Florida's students made no gains on the most recent round of the National Assessment of Education Progress, known as "The Nation's Report Card." The steady progress on NAEP had been one of the key hooks where conservative education reformers had been hanging their hats. (On a related note, NAEP scores for 21 of the largest urban districts will be made public Wednesday.)

According to reporters Kathleen Haughney and Leslie Postal, state educators blame budget cuts for stagnant test scores, especially among minority students. Florida districts have "laid off staff, put off teacher raises, closed schools and reduced academic offerings," Haughney and Postal report.

Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association, told the Sun-Sentinel that "in the education arena right now, everything is revolving around the budget — or lack thereof ... I think we're just trying to hold on."

The Sun-Sentinel story should serve as a reality check for anyone looking to Florida for inspiration, including lawmakers.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Lessons from Indianapolis: Higher Education Struggling To Boost Completion Rates

I was in Indianapolis this week for an event hosted by the Lumina Foundation, and I caught this story about Ball State University moving to cap tuition costs. Ball State is offering $500 to students as an incentive to graduate on time, and there is also the potential of saving up to $10,000 over the course of their studies by staying on track. The Ball State story echoes some of the central themes on the higher education beat these days: What are students getting for their money, is what they're getting worth the price, and how can institutions improve completion rates.

Incidentally, Lumina has an ambitious campaign underway: Goal 2025. The intent is to increase the percentage of the nation's population with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent. Right now, that percentage hovers around 40 percent. To reach that goal by the year 2025, Lumina is proposing four steps: rewarding institutions that improve completion rates; rewarding individual students who finish their degrees; expanding opportunities for non-traditional and low-cost degree options; and investing in business practices that support this mission. For more on college completion and remediation issues, I suggest you start with Getting Past Go.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org. I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.

Duncan Calls For Radical Change and Another View Of Parent Trigger

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told a town hall in Las Vegas, Nev. that it's going to take "radical change" to improve public schools, and the nation's economic health depends on that happening (Click here for the link to the Las Vegas Sun's story).

Had the Silver State appeared on the list of 23 potential grantees for the Ed Department's "I3" innovation grants, I might be more encouraged about Nevada's prospects for embracing the kind of community partnerships that Duncan is advocating.

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The Washington Post has an interesting video interview with author Eric Ries, about how the nation is failing its students by not "rewarding risk-taking." You can watch it here.

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I wrote earlier this week about lessons from California's new rule requiring public schools to convert to a charter school or undergo significant transformation if enough parents sign a petition. Over on his blog, Alexander Russo spotlighted about a Northern California's school with its own experience with the "parent trigger." Russo is right: "August to June" is worth a look.

Have a question, comment or concern for the Educated Reporter? Email me at erichmond@ewa.org I'm also on Twitter @EWAEmily.