The Education Gadfly Weekly

This slender book is an elegant and heartfelt plea for educators (and other adults) to pay far more attention to the moral and civic formation of young Americans in school and beyond. Author Bill Damon (professor of education at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution) is probably the country’s wisest, most learned, and most thoughtful observer/critic/analyst of civic and character education, its absence, and the consequences of that absence for our kids and nation. You won’t find tons of new data in these pages (for numbers, look here) but you will find an astute and deeply alarming discussion of why we’re doing such a crummy job of preparing our daughters and sons for “citizenship in a free society” and of how and why we could do a whole lot better. In Damon’s words, “What the American Dream means to young people today is more than a matter of passing cultural trivia. If the Dream means little, or if it is confined to its most base connotations of quick materialistic gain, we cannot deny that our society’s prospects have grown dimmer within our lifetimes. If, on the other hand, young Americans come to appreciate some of the deeper meanings that the American Dream has held for hopeful citizens over the centuries; if they come to understand the role of liberty in fostering this hope; if they learn that liberty does not come easily or automatically to any society, but requires particular social conditions and the dedication of citizens to main; and if they are educated to develop the virtues and the character required for living responsibly in a free society, THEN the American Dream will remain intact for them and for future generations to come.”

This federal analysis finds that Hispanic students have made considerable leaps in fourth- and eighth-grade math and have also progressed in reading: Since 1990, their fourth-grade math scores have shot up twenty-eight points. (To put this in context, a ten-point jump on the 500-point scale is equivalent to about one grade level of increased learning.) Eighth-grade scores in math jumped twenty-one points. In reading, scores for both fourth and eighth graders bumped up ten points since 1992. Still, these gains didn’t narrow the achievement gap because white students progressed even faster in math and at about the same rate in reading. The media reported this analysis as a glass-half-empty story, focusing on the lack of progress in closing the gap. We tend to favor the half-full view: Both Hispanic and white youngsters have made big gains over the past two decades. That’s worth celebrating.

Detractors of the Common Core State Standards Initiative have argued for months now that the “state” part of its title is misleading. By their estimation, the forty-five states that have adopted the standards are under the yoke of the federal government, signing onto Common Core under duress and out of desperation for extra cash. This analysis is not crazy; it’s a fact that, for better or worse, Arne Duncan seduced states into participating in Common Core with the lure of Race to the Top grants. But now that RTT’s largesse is largely spent, most states—half of them, at minimum—are free to bail at any time. Yet at the end of a landmark legislative season that featured conservative breakthroughs on vouchers, collective bargaining, and pensions, not a single state took action to back out of Common Core. (Some discussed doing so.) Were the hundreds of Republicans swept into office in November too busy to make the “states’ rights” argument a top priority? Or perhaps do they agree with Jeb Bush (and Joel Klein) that the move to common standards—developed and owned by the states—is just common sense?

“The Case for Common Educational Standards,” by Jeb Bush and Joel Klein, Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2011

“Pop quiz on Common Core,” by Mike Petrilli, Flypaper, June 27, 2011

Kudos to Chris Christie and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in New Jersey for passing comprehensive reform of public sector workers' benefits this week. The plan is expected to save the Garden State a whopping $120 billion over the next thirty years by bringing the benefits offered to teachers and other government workers closer in line with the private sector. The reforms call for higher employee contributions for pension and health care benefits for most workers, suspend collective bargaining over health care, and raise the retirement age. Still, Jersey has some heavy lifting ahead in addressing its unfunded obligations, as retirees and long-tenured employees will continue to receive health care free of charge—unlike nearly every other worker in the country. Lawmakers in nearby states—we’re looking at you, Connecticut—could well take a lesson from Trenton's brave crew, in particular from the Democrats who joined Christie in standing up to excessive union demands.

“N.J. Dems Approve Sharp Rise in Teacher Pension, Health Care Costs,” The Associated Press, June 29, 2011.

“What are states doing on retirement benefits?,” by Chris Tessone, Flypaper, June 29, 2011.

This slender book is an elegant and heartfelt plea for educators (and other adults) to pay far more attention to the moral and civic formation of young Americans in school and beyond. Author Bill Damon (professor of education at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution) is probably the country’s wisest, most learned, and most thoughtful observer/critic/analyst of civic and character education, its absence, and the consequences of that absence for our kids and nation. You won’t find tons of new data in these pages (for numbers, look here) but you will find an astute and deeply alarming discussion of why we’re doing such a crummy job of preparing our daughters and sons for “citizenship in a free society” and of how and why we could do a whole lot better. In Damon’s words, “What the American Dream means to young people today is more than a matter of passing cultural trivia. If the Dream means little, or if it is confined to its most base connotations of quick materialistic gain, we cannot deny that our society’s prospects have grown dimmer within our lifetimes. If, on the other hand, young Americans come to appreciate some of the deeper meanings that the American Dream has held for hopeful citizens over the centuries; if they come to understand the role of liberty in fostering this hope; if they learn that liberty does not come easily or automatically to any society, but requires particular social conditions and the dedication of citizens to main; and if they are educated to develop the virtues and the character required for living responsibly in a free society, THEN the American Dream will remain intact for them and for future generations to come.”

This federal analysis finds that Hispanic students have made considerable leaps in fourth- and eighth-grade math and have also progressed in reading: Since 1990, their fourth-grade math scores have shot up twenty-eight points. (To put this in context, a ten-point jump on the 500-point scale is equivalent to about one grade level of increased learning.) Eighth-grade scores in math jumped twenty-one points. In reading, scores for both fourth and eighth graders bumped up ten points since 1992. Still, these gains didn’t narrow the achievement gap because white students progressed even faster in math and at about the same rate in reading. The media reported this analysis as a glass-half-empty story, focusing on the lack of progress in closing the gap. We tend to favor the half-full view: Both Hispanic and white youngsters have made big gains over the past two decades. That’s worth celebrating.