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Jay Mathews
March 19, 2010Politicians and pundits are using results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests to say our kids are falling behind the rest of the world, so maybe we should get some PISA practice. Brookings Institution scholar Tom Loveless, a member of the U.S. advisory board to PISA, offered this sample question for 15-year-olds from the mathematics literacy section of the exam:
Jay Mathews on Campaign Promises and Virginia Schools
March 19, 2010Political candidates, like the two gentlemen running for governor of Virginia, are always sincere about their education platforms. Their to-do lists are long. Their concern about the state's children is deep. But the proposals they offer, like more efficiency at school headquarters or more pay for teachers, seem to be focused on appealing to voters and not improving schools.
Gifted Student Is Being Held Back By Graduation Rules
March 19, 2010 Anyone who wants to appreciate how strong a grip high school has on the American imagination -- and how clueless some school districts are about this -- should consider the story of Drew Gamblin, a 16-year-old student at Howard High School in Ellicott City.
Donald Fisher, 81; Gap Founder Championed Charter Schools
March 19, 2010Donald G. Fisher, 81, a founder of the Gap clothing store chain and a power behind the growth of U.S. public charter schools, died of cancer Sept. 27 at his home in San Francisco.
Jay Mathews: Looking Beyond the Numbers for Progress
March 19, 2010On July 11, Brian Betts, principal of the District's Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson, was at Dulles International Airport about to leave for a vacation in Spain. He was feeling good. His first year running a school whose students struggle with poverty and neighborhood strife had gone well, he thought. Quarterly test results were encouraging. Attendance was up. Parents were happy. Some of his staff had gone so far as to enroll their children at Shaw.
Today's Class Struggle
March 19, 2010This Class Struggle RSS subscription has changed. To continue getting Class Struggle by Jay Mathews visit washingtonpost.com/class-struggle.
Banging on the PK-16 Pipeline
March 19, 2010 Looking for this week's Class Struggle? You can find it on Jay's new blog at washingtonpost.com/class-struggle.
Cheaters never prosper when teachers get in the way
March 19, 2010What should we do about the computer hackers at Winston Churchill High School in Montgomery County who changed dozens of grades? What is the solution to student cheating in general?
Perspective is needed on school budget-cut fears
March 19, 2010You saw the big headline on the front of our Metro section recently: "Deep budget cuts approved for Prince George's schools." The news from Northern Virginia was much the same: "Fairfax County schools chief proposes dramatic budget cuts" and "Proposed Arlington schools budget cuts back in many areas."
Jay Mathews: Nonfiction books for schools' consideration
March 19, 2010 Buried in the avalanche of e-mails and comments I received after my column that begged for more nonfiction books in school, I found a note from one of my favorite educators, Dan McMahon, principal of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville. In an English class he teaches, McMahon had assigned "The Dragons of Eden" by Carl Sagan and "Black Boy" by Richard Wright, so I hoped for more good suggestions.
