December - 2014

The Rise in Kindergarten Readiness Assessments

Nationally, there is a growing trend towards assessing all incoming kindergartners to ensure that teachers and schools are meeting their academic needs. Currently, 34 states either require some form of these assessments or have a plan for them; using federal grant funds allocated for early childhood education, both Maryland and Ohio have implemented a formal system called the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) this year, with every teacher assessing every kindergartner i

The High Cost of Higher Education

In a nation where we increasingly believe that further education after high school is necessary for success, the cost of that education is becoming increasingly unaffordable. CNN aired a documentary last month called Ivory Tower about the astronomical costs of college and the crushing student debt shouldered by many of our young people. According to a recent report published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, since 2008, state spending on higher education has drop

How Can We Ensure that Kids Have Great Teachers?

One of the aspects of our public school system that comes under fire time and again is the quality of the teaching. Most people, both politicians and citizens alike, believe that a great teacher makes a huge difference in the lives of his or her students. That’s why the Department of Education requires all states to submit a plan to “Ensure Equitable Access to Excellent Educators.” As I’ve written before, though, we can’t seem to agree on the characteristics that define excel

Can Universal Preschool Close the Achievement Gap?

Two weeks ago, my column focused on the growing achievement gap between low-income children and their wealthier peers. In fact, students whose families live in poverty enter Kindergarten already lagging behind students from middle and upper income families. (One of the reasons for this may be the thirty million word gap, a study by Hart & Risley showing that low-income preschoolers hear an average of thirty million fewer words than their wealthier peers by age three.) I propo

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