The Grade

Happy Friday. I’m working on a couple of longform pieces today. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be sharing out news, commentary, and all the rest. You can check out all my updates here, or on Facebook (Alexander Russo), or directly on Twitter (@alexanderrusso). You won’t miss a thing, plus you can see the fun […]

According to last week’s WNYC series, NYC Charters Retain Students Better Than Traditional Schools — though different networks fare differently (see below). Yep, that’s right. In contrast to the findings from anecdotal coverage published by other outlets — and the understandable instinct to believe that tough discipline and suspension practices would cause parents to pull their kids from […]

CTU delegates give go-ahead for April 1 walkout Tribune: The Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body approved a plan Wednesday to shut down the city’s schools with a one-day walkout April 1. Union leaders called the walkout to bring attention to its differences with the district in contract talks and to push. See also Catalyst: Teachers split over CTU […]

So the news is out: Chalkbeat is piloting an expansion to Detroit. Erin Einhorn is going to be leading the effort. Einhorn’s bio says she’s “Chalkbeat Detroit and Indiana editor, mom of 2, former deputy managing ed and city hall bureau chief @ NYDN.” In contrast to previous Chalkbeat bureaus, which have been close to fully staffed […]

Chiefs For Change Brings on Six District Superintendents District Dossier: The organization, which advocates for the use of the Common Core State Standards and school choice, once consisted solely of state school chiefs. Chicago Teachers Union Seeks Furlough Trade For April 1 Walkout Tribune: A CPS spokeswoman said the district would not consider such a trade. The call by […]

Used to be, news outlets seemed to tends towards credulity when it came to education coverage — so much so that I used to put out a regular Hype Index making fun of unproven approaches and models that were being touted in the media.  These days, the pendulum has swung pretty hard in the other […]

Teach for America to cut national staff by 15 percent Washington Post: The two shake-ups will leave Teach for America with approximately 930 national staff members in fiscal year 2017, 410 fewer than it employed in fiscal year 2015, according to the organization. It’s a staffing level that the organization expects will be sustainable even if there […]

It’s no secret that men are quoted much more than women in news stories, given the widely-noted male willingness to blather about topics both in and out of their expertise.  One obvious approach to rectifying this sorry situation would be to develop more robust lists of expert sources to talk to who are women, and then […]

New York’s Opt Out Movement Revs Back Up WNYC: State education officials… shortened the tests for all grades in both math and English, though only slightly so (some parents say the change is negligible). Students this year will be allowed as much time as they need to finish the tests. And, according to the state education department, […]

  Motivational speaker Eric Thomas addresses St. Louis-area HS students in video that’s gone viral: “Ain’t nothing funny. Look how we’re living. Ain’t nothing funny.” BEST OF THE WEEK Daily Signal: Lone Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Opposed New Education Secretary http://ow.ly/Zw7LS HuffPost: Merrick Garland Tutored And Mentored DC Students For 18 Years http://ow.ly/ZG1FN  NPR: Turmoil Behind […]