Alexander Russo

Freelance journalist Kyle Spencer speaks quickly, is relentlessly curious (and deeply skeptical) about claims people make about education, and has a lot on her plate. This include a piece of some kind on former Newark superintendent Cami Anderson (probably for the NYT) and a big new video project she can’t talk about timed for the 2016 Presidential […]

Here’s some potentially good news: WBUR (Boston public radio) is going to be boosting its education coverage in the near future.   How do I know this? They’ve tasked Louise Kennedy to oversee WBUR’s “new vertical about education and learning at all stages of life.” It’s scheduled to launch this fall. There was an event where folks came […]

Washington state gets failing grade on school funding AP: Washington state is being fined $100,000 a day by the state Supreme Court because justices say lawmakers have failed to adequately pay to educate the state’s 1 million school children…. See also PBS NewsHour. Test-Refusal Movement’s Success Hampers Analysis of New York State Exam Results NYT: With 20 percent […]

Way back in the Spring during test-taking season, there was little if any official information available about the numbers of parents who were opting their kids out of standardized tests. But there was no shortage of spin and speculation and wishful thinking.  That left news outlets who wanted to cover the story with a tough call: […]

Today’s news (excluding the Sesame Street move to HBO) includes a $100,000/day fine levied against Washington State for its inequitable funding system, along with a handful of second-day stories about the implications and ramifications of new (still low) test score results from New York state (and high parent opt-out numbers in the outlying areas): Washington […]

August 12, 2015 This CNN segment highlighting high homework burdens on American students also came under fire on Twitter yesterday. One of those critical of the segment was EdWeek’s research guru, Holly Yettick. Via Twitter, she broke in with: “Breaking: Single study with convenience sample leads CNN back-to-school coverage.”  Adding later, “K12 ed gets so little […]

Kudos to Slate and Laura Moser for correcting yesterday’s blog post about a teacher’s lawsuit against her evaluation quickly and readily — and to eagle-eyed Stephen Sawchuk (from EdWeek) and Matt Barnum (for The Seventy Four). Shortly after the piece went live, Sawchuk and Barnum weighed in via Twitter: @alexanderrusso except I think NY uses […]

Today’s news includes NY test score results (and opt-out numbers) for both the state and NYC, plus news that the Murdoch-funded, Klein-run edtech outfit Amplify is being sold, and 2 new laws in California limiting districts’ abilities to monitor and toss out kids it think don’t live within attendance boundaries: About 20 percent of NY […]

This informal Twitter introduction sprung up earlier this week off of the EWA list-serve (as have many other good things). Check it out and see if there’s anyone covering education you don’t already know or follow — and of course be sure to add your own name if you haven’t done so already: #sayhiewa Tweets

Here’s a beautifully-rendered school segregation story showing how poorly racially isolated elementary schools in part of Pinellas County have fared since the County abandoned its integration efforts.  Click the link and scroll or click down to watch it all unfold over time. In a perfect world, there’d be a slow-motion GIF or movie version of […]