Some good weekend reads:
- Catherine Gewertz on more states moving to the ACT* or SAT as their high school accountability test.
- Sandy Kress doesn’t pull any punches on current NCLB reauthorization proposals.
- Mary Nguyen Barry asks if we need a “NAEP for Higher Ed.”
- Here’s the GAO on teacher prep and the lack of state oversight. Key quote: “Some states reported that they do not assess whether TPPs are low-performing, as required by federal law.
- And Sara Mead on America’s broken approach to teacher preparation.
- On that note, Kevin Carey makes the point that researchers basically can’t tell universities apart from one another, because they’re just a collection if disjointed departments and faculty members. If that’s true for entire universities, what does that mean for colleges of education, which typically offer multiple distinct prep programs, each of which may only have a handful of students?
- On enrolling newly hired University of California employees into a new 401k-style plan rather than the existing defined benefit pension system, Janet Napolitano said, “Pension reform needs to happen. It’s the responsible thing to do.”
*Disclosure: ACT is a former client.
–Chad Aldeman
