Author Archives: Don Soifer
What Charter School Excellence Can Offer Virginia Richmond Times-DispatchWhat educational benefits do the nation’s top-performing public charter schools have to offer Virginia? And what should be done, if anything, to attract them here?
These were among the questions discussed recently when the state Board of Education [Read More...]
Closing the Latino Education Gap Providence (RI) JournalCavernous achievement gaps between Latino and white children persist, as an education system largely dominated by teacher unions and powerful entrenched interests denies parents opportunities to make crucial choices about their children’s education. If current trends hold, [Read More...]
Help For Military Families Of Special-Needs Children Issue BriefFor active-duty military families who have children with disabilities, the challenges can be especially demanding. Frequent moves, and the education interruptions associated with them, can set back any child’s academic progress. For families of special-needs children, a constant [Read More...]
Libertad de la Educacion: School Choice Solutions for Closing the Latino Achievement Gap Research StudyPaper published in Spanish and English
Cavernous achievement gaps between Latino children in the United States and their white peers have not only persisted through the past decade, but have barely shown any signs of improving. For the [Read More...]
The Teacher Unions Strike Back Richmond Times-Dispatch
If the national teacher union chiefs are embarrassed by the suddenly pointed criticism the major media are leveling at their school-reform obstructionism, their actions don’t show it. Indeed, they are engaged in pitched battles coast to coast to [Read More...]
Results Show Inclusion, Exclusion Impact English Learners Issue BriefNew research on state test scores by the Center on Education Policy confirms what some observers had predicted: that changes made in federal education policies for English learners as part of the No Child Left Behind Act have [Read More...]
Obama’s Fuzzy Education Plans For English Learners Issue BriefThe “blueprint” for reforming federal education laws released last week by the Obama Administration appears to have met with the expected proportions, relatively even, of praise and criticism. But its absence of many critical specifics has muted this [Read More...]
New Test Would Compromise Standards Norfolk Virginian-PilotOne essential question following the March 10 release of the so-called Common Core national education standards is: How will students be tested for what the national standards-setters deem to be critical for them to know and be able [Read More...]
Statehood for Puerto Rico and the Potential Fiscal Impact of Official Bilingualism for the United States Executive Summary
Recent developments have advanced the likelihood that voters in Puerto Rico may soon vote on a sequence of ballot initiatives that could result in the granting of statehood status. Should Puerto Rico become the 51st state, a number [Read More...]
Virginia School Plans Offer Important Opportunities Issue BriefThree 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 [Read More...]