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Friday, March 12, 2010

Top Story

Virginia School Plans Offer Important Opportunities

Don Soifer

3/2/2010

Issue Brief

Three education proposals by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, currently being considered by the General Assembly, represent important opportunities to advance public elementary and secondary education in the Commonwealth. Each plan would offer educational opportunities open for all children to take advantage. But they are designed so children who currently have the fewest options, those presently attending schools at the lowest end of Virginia’s learning and achievement scale, would stand to gain the most. Around the nation, it is such children who generally gain the largest educational benefits from attending high-quality charter schools. In Washington, DC, for instance, economically-disadvantaged middle and high school charter school students are 70 percent more likely to be proficient

. . . Read more.

Features

Give Principals Real Control

Don Soifer

2/24/2010

The New York Times, Room for Debate Blog

A system like New York City’s that requires schools to pay upwards of $350,000 in fees, arbitration and salary, and then be forced to wait three years to dismiss an ineffective teacher, can’t possibly

. . . Read more.

Lexington Institute’s Don Soifer Interviewed on Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg

WGN Radio – Chicago

2/9/2010

Excerpts from Don Soifer’s interview with host Milt Rosenberg’s nightly radio show on Chicago’s WGN Radio – 720 AM. Don is interviewed along with two other guests, Dr. James Quaid, Associate Superintendent

. . . Read more.

School Safety and School Choice in Urban Education

Don Soifer

2/5/2010

Presentation to the Illinois Policy Institute

Summit on Vouchers and the Future of Education in Illinois. Surveys repeatedly tell us that school safety is one of the most important factors parents consider when choosing a school for their

. . . Read more.

Education Articles

3/2/2010	Virginia School Plans Offer Important Opportunities Don Soifer Issue Brief Three education proposals by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, currently being considered by the General Assembly, represent important opportunities to advance public elementary and secondary education . . . Read more.
2/24/2010	Give Principals Real Control Don Soifer The New York Times, Room for Debate Blog A system like New York City’s that requires schools to pay upwards of $350,000 in fees, arbitration and salary, and then be forced to wait three years to dismiss an ineffective teacher, can’t possibly . . . Read more.
2/9/2010	Lexington Institute’s Don Soifer Interviewed on Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg WGN Radio – Chicago Excerpts from Don Soifer’s interview with host Milt Rosenberg’s nightly radio show on Chicago’s WGN Radio – 720 AM. Don is interviewed along with two other guests, Dr. James Quaid, Associate Superintendent . . . Read more.
2/5/2010	School Safety and School Choice in Urban Education Don Soifer Presentation to the Illinois Policy Institute Summit on Vouchers and the Future of Education in Illinois. Surveys repeatedly tell us that school safety is one of the most important factors parents consider when choosing a school for their . . . Read more.
2/2/2010	New Educational Choices Would Help Military Families Don Soifer Issue Brief One set of program details conspicuously absent from the Obama Administration’s proposed 2011 budget released this week was for Impact Aid, the federal Department of Education’s funding mechanism to public . . . Read more.
1/29/2010	No Conozco Mucho Sobre Historia –Y Ese Es El Problema Robert Holland El Periodico USA (McAllen, TX) Los norteamericanos no saben de historia, tanto como creen, pero su conocimiento de la cultura popular sobrepasa todos los records. Una nueva encuesta del American Revolution Center (ARC), una . . . Read more.
1/24/2010	Charter Schools Fulfill Jefferson Vision of Education for All Robert Holland and Don Soifer Richmond Times-Dispatch Even though national experts generally have given Virginia high marks for its Standards of Learning, those public schools at the bottom rungs of the achievement ladder continue to show little improvement . . . Read more.
1/13/2010	A GUARANTEED PLAN TO FLUNK TEACHING ENGLISH Don Soifer Issue Brief National Education Association president Dennis Van Roekel is fond of asserting that, “A great public school for every student starts with a great teacher.” But his union’s advocacy agenda frequently . . . Read more.
12/29/2009	Don’t Know Much About History – And Why That Matters Robert Holland Americans don’t know nearly as much about U.S. history as they think they know. But their knowledge of popular culture is off the charts. A new survey commissioned by the non-profit, non-partisan . . . Read more.
12/18/2009	The Teaching of American History: Promise and Performance Robert Holland Research Study The appalling results of de-emphasizing the study of U.S. history in elementary and secondary schools have become painfully obvious in recent years. In the most recent round of the National Assessment . . . Read more.
12/10/2009	DOES EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY INCLUDE CONTRACTS? Don Soifer Issue Brief The Obama Administration has made a top education priority of the elimination of federally guaranteed student loans by private-sector lenders, to be replaced by expanding the federal Education Department’s . . . Read more.
11/19/2009	8 WAYS VIRGINIA CAN ADD HIGH- QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOLS Don Soifer Issue Brief Governor-elect Bob McDonnell and his incoming administration face an historic opportunity to draw from the best of the nation’s 5,000 public charter school leaders and models to help energize a high-performing . . . Read more.
11/18/2009	Bringing High-Quality Charter Schools To Virginia Don Soifer Remarks at the Thomas Jefferson Institute Annual Policy Luncheon These are exciting times for Virginia education. With a newly-elected Governor who not only supports charter schools, but brought them up frequently and with enthusiasm throughout his campaign; a President . . . Read more.
11/5/2009	Lexington Institute Policy Forum: “The Future of Student Loans: A Policy Dialogue” The Lexington Institute will host a policy forum on the future of the federal student loan program in the United States. The event will take place Tuesday, November 10, from 9:30 – 11:00 AM at . . . Read more.
10/26/2009	WHAT MAKES A CHARTER SCHOOL SUCCEED? Don Soifer Issue Brief A study of New York City public charter schools published last month produced some of the most positive evidence to date of charters’ educational benefits. The report, by a research team headed by Caroline . . . Read more.
10/15/2009	Obama Tests Teacher Unions with “Bush III” Reforms Robert Holland Article Detroit News When they look back on the Obama years, the national teacher unions may reflect in Dickensian manner that “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . it was the spring of hope, it was the . . . Read more.
9/29/2009	Charter Schools and Changing Neighborhoods: Hispanics and English Learners in Chicago Collin Hitt Research Study Executive Summary Chicago’s Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Hispanic students will play a major role in determining the city’s economic future. Unfortunately, these two critical groups . . . Read more.
9/22/2009	WHEN IS A SAFE SCHOOL NOT A SAFE SCHOOL? Don Soifer Issue Brief Can you name a school you would describe as “persistently dangerous?” You might think so, but according to official education statistics, there are only 38 persistently dangerous public schools in the . . . Read more.
9/3/2009	IMPROVING FEDERAL ADULT ENGLISH LEARNING PROGRAMS Don Soifer Issue Brief Most of the 11 million English learners living in the United States are adults. Their ability to learn English has a major impact on their economic future, but also on that of their families and the . . . Read more.
8/28/2009	SCHOOL SAFETY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: NEW DATA FOR THE 2007–2008 SCHOOL YEAR DAVID MUHLHAUSEN, PH.D., DON SOIFER, AND DAN LIPS A joint paper by the Heritage Foundation and Lexington Institute As American students head back to school, many parents will worry about their children’s safety at school during the coming year, especially in cities including the nation's capital. In 2009, the U.S. . . . Read more.
8/18/2009	National Education Standards: Not Voluntary, and Maybe a Step Down Robert Holland and Don Soifer The Baltimore Sun Article The movement to adopt national education standards is hurtling down the tracks to acceptance, even as many of the decision-makers behind it are laying eyes on the draft for the first time. While “voluntary” . . . Read more.
8/2/2009	Will Virginia Dumb Itself Down by Accepting National Standards? Richmond Times-Dispatch by Robert Holland August 2, 2009 Virginia is one of 46 states lined up in support of the campaign led by Washington-based lobbyists and backed by the Obama administration to write National Education Standards. The collaborationists . . . Read more.
7/31/2009	FINDINGS CONFIRM BENEFITS OF EARLY ENGLISH LEARNING Don Soifer Issue Brief Children’s ability to learn new languages is strongest between birth and age seven, and becomes much more difficult after puberty, according to new research published in the July 2009 issue of the journal . . . Read more.
7/17/2009	Does Judge's Nonprofit Serve the Interests of Children? Don Soifer Issue Brief Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings this week focused often on her 12-year tenure as a board member of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF). The extent of . . . Read more.
6/26/2009	SUPREME COURT’S ARIZONA RULING EMPHASIZES RESULTS Don Soifer Issue Brief When courts measure the quality of education programs strictly in terms of dollars spent, student and taxpayer are both imperiled. This is especially true for English Language Learners, probably the . . . Read more.
6/12/2009	South Carolina’s Charter-School District Helps Expand Choice Robert Holland Article The Index-Journal (Greenwood, SC) A combination of home schooling and online instruction is an option that appeals to a growing number of American parents. In South Carolina, families are beginning to be able to have that as well as other . . . Read more.
6/12/2009	How About a Statewide Charter-School District for Virginia? Robert Holland Article Richmond Times-Dispatch The role of charter schools in K-12 education reform could gain focus in this fall’s Virginia gubernatorial election. Republican candidate Bob McDonnell said last week Virginians ought to have alternative . . . Read more.
6/5/2009	English Language Learners in Illinois - It's Still Not Working Anne Swanson, Ph.D. Research Study Executive Summary lllinois’ Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50, located 40 miles north of Chicago, in Lake County, educates nearly 7,000 students in grades K-8. The district has a diverse population of . . . Read more.
5/29/2009	SOLVING VIRGINIA’S CHARTER SCHOOL RIDDLE Don Soifer Issue Brief Virginia’s Governor’s School Program is thriving, while its charter school movement is still struggling to get off the ground. The top Governor’s School, Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School . . . Read more.
5/22/2009	School Vouchers Give the Poor the Freedom of the Wealthy Don Soifer Letter to the Editor USA Today To the Editor: Senator Dick Durbin’s Opposing View column (“Voucher Program Flops,” May 19) states that most parents wouldn’t give the results of Washington, DC’s Opportunity Scholarship program “a . . . Read more.
5/13/2009	New Jersey's Promising Public School Choice Don Soifer Issue Brief New Jersey’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program is a largely unknown reform model whose time may have come. The voluntary program began as a five-year pilot ten years ago, and is still going . . . Read more.
5/4/2009	Lexington Institute's Don Soifer on Bilingual Education on "Destination Casa Blanca" Don Soifer Lexington Institute's Don Soifer debates the future of bilingual education with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Aspira President Ron Blackburn-Moreno on the national cable . . . Read more.
4/29/2009	FEDERALIZING PRE-K COULD DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD Robert Holland and Don Soifer Issue Brief All signs point to the $787 billion federal economic-stimulus package signed into law on February 17 by President Obama becoming just the beginning of a major increase in governmental involvement in early . . . Read more.
4/14/2009	Virginia Graduation Rates Show Need for Improvement Don Soifer Issue Brief Virginia’s Class of 2008 had an on-time graduation rate of 82.1 percent, and a dropout rate of 8.7 percent, according to new data from the Virginia Department of Education. The worse news is that the . . . Read more.
4/10/2009	Linguistic Isolation Carries a Heavy Cost Don Soifer Article NewAmericaMedia.org Nobody knows for certain what made Jiverly Wong walk into a citizenship class for immigrants in Binghamton, New York and open fire with two handguns, killing 13 people before taking his own life. But . . . Read more.
4/7/2009	The Value of English Proficiency to the United States Economy Don Soifer Research Study What is the cost to the United States economy attributable to a lack of basic English skills? There are currently over 11 million English learners living in the United States, including over 5 million . . . Read more.
3/26/2009	FEDERAL EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROPOSALS COULD PROVE HAZARDOUS FOR CHILDREN, TAXPAYERS Don Soifer Issue Brief President Obama has consistently described improving America’s education system as a central component of his strategy to increase long-term economic growth, beginning with a plan for federal early childhood . . . Read more.
3/17/2009	The Federal Government and Early Childhood Education Don Soifer Testimony U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor WATCH VIDEO TESTIMONY BEFORE THE U.S. . . . Read more.

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