Schools News Around the Blogosphere

America had the world's best school system.
Keith Baker
Guest Columnist EducationNews.org
Once upon a time, and not so long ago, America had the world's best school system. That may no longer be true, and the reason why will surprise you.
Education reformers typically claim we have a serious problem with our schools because American students do poorly compared to other nations on international tests. They claim our low scores will adversely affect our ability to compete economically on the world stage.

The National Math Panel Report Goes to Washington
Barry Garelick
Columnist EducationNews.org
The National Math Advisory Panel (NMP), which was formed two years ago, released its final report on March 13, 2008. One of the principal messages of the report is that "the delivery system in mathematics education is broken and must be fixed." Such a statement is hard to ignore, so it was only a matter of time before someone on the Hill would look into what it would take to fix the broken system.

Charter oversight hobbled in 2005
Philadelphia Daily News
Rather than risk offending powerful legislators, the School Reform Commission decided to end audits.
The Philadelphia School District's first audits of charter schools up for renewal in 2004 found problems at all seven, including conflicts of interest at a charter founded by the wife of State Rep. John Perzel, the powerful Northeast Republican who was then speaker of the House.

Government's education policy is self-defeating, academics warn
The Independent
The drive to reform Britain's education system, with frequent shifts in policy and the added burden of targets, is self-defeating and "working against the Government's own intentions", leading academics have warned ministers.

In Defense of Testing Series: NIST Assessment of the U.S. Measurement System
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released a new report, An Assessment of the United States Measurement System: Addressing Measurement Barriers to Accelerate Innovation (NIST Special Publication 1048). The report is available at usms.nist.gov and consists of 68 pages for the main report plus nearly 1,000 pages of appendixes. An eight-page "in brief" summary is also available.

Living Literacy: A Cycle of Life to Text and Text to Life
Elliot Washor and Charles Mojkowski
In a December 2007 New Yorker article, "Twilight of the Books," author Caleb Crain laments the decline of literacy in the United States, citing a number of studies indicating, "Americans are losing not just the will to read but even the ability." Crain reports that, "readers are more likely than non-readers to play sports, exercise, visit art museums, attend theater, paint, go to music events, take photos, and volunteer.