Monday, October 05, 2009

Links for 10/5/09

As if my dog blogging weren’t enough, here is even more proof that dogs are smarter than cats.
1. Dog Gets Online MBA…
10. Cat Gets GED
A resurgent British aristocracy?



Richard Whitmire and Andrew J. Rotherham

Unions are asking the public to believe that teachers should never be judged on their effectiveness. Even if the media were in the tank for the unions that would be a tough sell.

Of course, in the past it was difficult to measure teacher performance. But now, as a result of data collected under No Child Left Behind provisions, it is easier to figure out which teachers are succeeding. "Data and results are challenging an industry that was traditionally driven by hope, hype and good intentions," says Jane Hannaway, the director of education policy at the Urban Institute. Ms. Hannaway argues that in the long run these emerging databases may be the most important dividend of today's school accountability policies.

James Guthrie
America does not now need education schools. They add little and cost a great deal…

Are online ed schools any good?
No one knows. The performance of their graduates has not been systematically compared to those completing conventional ed school programs. [AG: I would add that this is true of established conventional programs too]…

Researchers (e.g., Hanushek and Rivkin) cannot discern a positive association between students’ academic achievement and their teachers’ post-BA course credits, degrees, or certificates...

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