Author Archives: Robert Holland
The Reaction Against Ritalin Issue BriefDuring the 1990s, the U.S experienced an enormous increase in the prescribing of Ritalin and other psychotropic drugs to treat U.S. schoolchildren, primarily boys, diagnosed with attention deficit disorders. The United Nations reported that that the U.S. was [Read More...]
Finding Keys to Teacher Quality Article published in Oklahoma City Daily OklahomanLittle noticed in the “No Child Left Behind” education reform bill that President Bush will sign into law early in 2002 is a shift toward greater autonomy for localities in how they use [Read More...]
Unlocking Options for Parents Article Published in The Washington TimesAfter 35 years of largely subsidizing failure, the federal government finally may require measurable academic results for the billions spent on public education.
That’s the historic importance of an agreement by House-Senate Education Conferees [Read More...]
Indispensable Tests: How a Value-Added Approach to School Testing Could Identify and Bolster Exceptional Teaching Issue BriefExecutive Summary
Most parents want the comparative information that tests supply about students, schools, and school districts. Tests also serve as a hedge against grade inflation, and help ensure that education standards are more than mere suggestions.
However, [Read More...]
The Rise of Home Schooling Among African-Americans Issue BriefExecutive Summary
Significant growth in black families’ participation in home schooling is beginning to show up on the radar screens of researchers. The National Center for Education Statistics computed African-Americans as 9.9 percent of the 850,000 children the [Read More...]
Candidates Disregard School Issue Article Published in The Charlottesville (VA) Daily ProgressPlenty of evidence exists that Virginians are skeptical of the status quo that a government monopoly perpetuates in K-12 schooling and are open to fresh ideas about educating children..
Consider: A Commonwealth [Read More...]
School Choice for Virginia? A Forum at the Capitol If the dark cloud from our national tragedy has had any silver lining, it has been in bringing us closer together as Americans, regardless of our regional, political, racial/ethnic or other differences. We are a diverse nation but there is [Read More...]
Use Virginia’s Universities to Rescue Failing Schools Article published in The Roanoke (VA) TimesAs Virginia public schools prepare to start a new year, there’s good news and bad news about their ability to meet the state-prescribed Standards of Learning (SOL).
The good news is that schools [Read More...]
The Rise of Private Teacher Training Issue BriefExecutive Summary
A shortage of teachers and the growing demand of parents for choices in their children’s education are combining to spur the entry of the private sector into teacher training, which has largely been left to a [Read More...]
Freedom for Teachers Letter to the Editor of The New York TimesThe increased “autonomy, flexibility, and freedom to innovate” that the Carnegie Corporation’s Vartan Gregorian wants for teachers surely will not be found in the nationalized system of teacher certification that he [Read More...]