On Monday, Paul Peterson penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed arguing that American politicians ought to stop exploiting the common, mistaken belief that most schools are getting by on a shoestring. This is also, of course, a strong argument for more fiscal transparency, something that doesn’t get enough treatment in ed reform. If states and districts were more upfront about per-pupil costs, we could start having useful conversations about how to efficiently and effectively spend money—and how to best stretch school dollars.
Over at Education Next, John Bailey and Tom Vander Ark call for democratizing school information. Most of us won’t watch a movie, buy a book, eat at a restaurant, or stay at a hotel without checking crowd-sourced and/or expert reviews. It’s appalling, then, that Americans are forced to choose where their kids attend school without this sort of fundamental, easy-to-access data. Annual school report cards, which are required under federal law and ought to the one-stop shop for discerning parents, are difficult to find, lack key data, and can be hard to understand. And GreatSchools.org, a fantastic, useful resource, often bases its ratings exclusively on test scores, falling short of providing parents a complete picture. Thus a redesign of annual report cards is in order. Fortunately, MySchoolInfoChallenge.com—a joint project from ExcelinEd, Getting Smart, and Vander Ark—is leading the charge.
Ohio recently released its school report cards for 2013–14. The results were predictable, at least when it came to proficiency rates: Suburban, upper-middle-class schools came out looking spiffy, while poorer schools struggled. The local press latched onto the poverty message: School performance, as measured by achievement results alone, was closely linked to economic disadvantage. In the U.S., that fact has been settled for decades; so it's too bad that newspapers still run headlines—as if it were a revolutionary discovery—like “Data Link Poverty, School Performance.” But what is worse is that they ignore high-poverty schools that deliver exemplary results. For those in search of great urban schools in the Buckeye State, look no further than Fordham’s new report, Poised for Progress.
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
University of Michigan scientists think differences in brain architecture could allow doctors to use brain scans to diagnose ADHD—and track how well someone responds to treatment. An American Institutes for Research study shows wide variance in state performance standards, exposing a large gap in expectations between the states with the highest standards and the states with the lowest standards. Large differences among states “clearly indicate why we need more common assessments and the Common Core State Standards,” the report concludes. New data from the Department of Education show that more public school students than ever before were homeless during the 2012–2013 school year. 1.3 million elementary and secondary school children reported lacking a permanent home, many of them living on their own or sharing a space with a relative or friend.
