This year’s most popular Ahead of the Heard blog post is one from Bellwether senior fellow Jason Weeby arguing that education leaders need more outlets for productive conversations about race.
Topping the list of most popular publications is a slide deck that provides a comprehensive picture of the current state of the charter school movement in the United States.
More below, and don’t forget that our sister site, TeacherPensions.org, also did a roundup of the top pension stories from 2015.
Top 2015 Ahead of the Heard Blog Posts

1. Let’s Talk About Race: An Uncomfortable Necessity for Education Leaders
   By Jason Weeby
   February 20, 2015
2. On College Signing Day, A Look at FAFSA Completion Rates
   By Chad Aldeman
   May 1, 2015
3. Optimistic Predictions Notwithstanding, Common Core Faces Brutal 2015
   By Andy Smarick
   January 6, 2015
4. Grade-Span Accountability Is A Bad Idea: Just Ask CAP and the AFT
   By Chad Aldeman and Anne Hyslop
   January 15, 2015
5. You Think You Know about Teacher Professional Development, But You Have No Idea
   By Kaitlin Pennington
   August 4, 2015
6. 5 Reasons Getting Rid of Annual Testing is a Dumb Idea
   By Anne Hyslop
   January 7, 2015
7. Open Letter to 2015 Grad School Graduates: Be a Big Fish in a Small Pond.
   By Jason Weeby
   January 21, 2015
8. The Montessori Approach to Teacher Training: An Interview With Jackie Cossentino
   By Chad Aldeman
   December 10, 2015
9. No, WaPo, Half of U.S. Kids Aren’t Living in Poverty (But the Truth is Still Pretty Bad)
   By Sara Mead
   January 18, 2015
10. 5 Winners and 5 Losers Under the Every Child Achieves Act
    By Chad Aldeman
    July 9, 2015

Top 2015 Bellwether Publications

1. The State of the Charter School Movement
   By Sara Mead, Ashley LiBetti Mitchel, and Andrew J. Rotherham
   September 10, 2015
2. Exponential Growth, Unexpected Challenges: How Teach for America Grew in Scale and Impact
   By Sara Mead, Carolyn Chuong, and Caroline Goodson
   February 2, 2015
3. Rethinking Teacher Preparation: Empowering Local Schools to Solve California’s Teacher Shortage and Better Develop Teachers
   By Sara Mead, Chad Aldeman, Carolyn Chuong, and Julie Obbard
   July 28, 2015
4. A Path to the Future: Creating Accountability for Personalized Learning
   By Anne Hyslop and Sara Mead
   May 6, 2015
5. Pacts Americana: Balancing National Interests, State Autonomy, and Education Accountability
   By Chad Aldeman, Kelly Robson, and Andy Smarick
   June 29, 2015

Thanks for reading Bellwether’s work in 2015!