Charter schools, testing, school calendar, and schools aren't like a business

The Horace Mann League of the USA

Greetings!

Welcome to the July 23, 2012, email of recent additions to the Horace Mann League Blog.
This notice is a service to the members of the Horace Mann League. Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

Jack McKay, Executive Director, The Horace Mann League of the USA.

Some of the recent postings on the HML Blog for July 23, 2012.
Click on the title to read the complete article.

NC's CHARTER SCHOOL LAW: Creating Two Public Education Systems by Leanne E. Winner

Absent any legal changes, the coming proliferation of charter schools due to the removal of the cap will only serve to further solidify this new dual nature of North Carolina's public education system.

Study Renews Call to Slow Growth of K12 Inc. Virtual Schools by Ian Quillen

Among the key conclusions of that analysis is that students in virtual schools run by K12 are performing worse academically and dropping out of courses at much higher rates than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

Is All of This Testing Really Necessary? b y Trenton Goble

At the time, it felt as though the only real reward for making AYP was a great sense of relief, and the consequences of failure were limited to public humiliation when the failing schools were listed in the local newspaper.

Year-round calendar helps ease crowded schools

Research suggests that students in high-needs districts and those who have disabilities do better in year-round learning situations.

"Ten Reasons Why Charter Schools Could Improve Education, but...." by Jack McKay and Gary Marx

With that in mind, here are ten reasons why charter schools could improve education,but...

Why a School Is Not Like a Business by diane Ravitch

When a school closes, a community dies. Those in big corporate cultures don't understand this. They are used to closing down low-performing units, firing people who aren't at the top of the stack ranking.

All of the above articles plus more, click here.

About Us

The Horace Mann League of the USA is an honorary society that promotes the ideals of Horace Mann by advocating for public education as the cornerstone of our democracy.

Officers:

President: Mark Edwards, Supt., Moorseville Graded Schools, NC

President-elect: Joe Hairston, Supt., Baltimore County Public Schools, MD

Vice President: Gary Marx, President, Center for Public Outreach, VA

Past President: Julie Underwood, Dean, Sch. of Ed. U. of WI, Madison

Directors:

Martha Bruckner, Supt., Council Bluffs Community Schools, IA

Evelyn Blose-Holman, (ret.) Superintendent, Bay Shore Schools, NY

Carol Choye, Instructor, Bank Street College, NY

Brent Clark, Exec. Dir., Illinois Assoc. of School Admin. IL

Linda Darling Hammond, Professor of Education, Stanford U. CA

Nancy DeFord, Supt. (Ret.) Park City Schools, UT

Charles Fowler, Exec. Dir., Suburban School Superintendents, NH

James Harvey, Exec. Dir., Superintendents Roundtable, WA

William Hite, Supt., Philadelphia City Schools, PA

Dwight Jones, Supt., Clark County Schools, NV

Eric King, Supt., (Ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN

Barry Lynn, Exec. Dir., Americans United, Washington, DC

Stan Olson, Supt. (Ret.) Boise Public Schools, ID

Douglas Otto, Assoc.Prof.,Ed. Ad., University of North Texas, TX

Executive Director:

Jack McKay, Professor, (Ret.) University of Nebraska at Omaha,

560 Rainier Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 (360) 821 9877

HML Blog Posts through May 2012

The 173 postings are listed in alphabetical order by author.

Click here to view list.