We've got a true multimedia experience for you in this week's Education Gadfly. Mike and Checker lead the way with an editorial on a little thing we like to call ?Reform Realism? and how it should help shape federal education policy in general, and the reauthorization of ESEA in particular. (Also, check out Fordham's latest, our ESEA Briefing Book released this week). For those visual learners in the crowd, this week's ?fly also features a short video on the topic.
In the New Analysis section, we speculate about the sustainability of reforms in Illinois?and opine on what the appointment of J.C. Brizard as Chicago schools chief might mean for the Windy City. (Hint: We're thinking singing kumbaya can only get you so far.) We then highlight an exciting new pilot program out of Boston. When it comes to turnarounds, not much has worked. But, this initiative to recruit a ?critical mass? of effective, experienced teachers in low-performing schools (to act as teacher-leaders and to support the good work done by strong principals) just might be onto something. ?The question will be how to bring it to scale.
Short Reviews tackle school choice, explain that Gen Y teachers may not be as reformy as we think, push the teacher-evaluation conversation just a little further and show what Finland really has going for it.
And a few of the articles are supplemented by some witty banter from the Education Gadfly Show Podcast. Shoot, we've even got another video tucked in for good measure. (I'll let you find that one for yourselves.)
Happy reading, listening, and viewing!
?Daniela Fairchild
