RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Susan Dynarski, Caroline Hoxby, Tom Loveless, Mark Schneider, Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, John Witte and Michelle Croft, December 16, 2010, The Brookings Brown Center Task Group on Charter Schools
The number of charter schools has increased steadily in the last decade, reflecting their popularity with parents and the general public. As a result, the federal government’s role in charter schools has expanded of late. In that context, the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings gathered a group of prominent policymakers, practitioners and researchers to address what the federal government should do if its policy were to increase the number of effective charter schools in the nation. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Diane Ravitch, November 11, 2010, The New York Review of Books
In a review of Davis Guggenheim's Waiting for "Superman," Diane Ravitch comments on the documentary's endorsement of charter schools, writing that although America's schools should be in far better shape than they are now, privatization is not the solution. The solution, Ravitch says, lies in improving the nation's teacher force and addressing poverty. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst and Michelle Croft, July 28, 2010, The Brookings Institution
Russ Whitehurst and Michelle Croft revisit their recent paper on the Harlem Children's Zone, writing that the “HCZ works” to raise student achievement and credit the effectiveness of the HCZ charter schools. However, they still dispute evidence supporting the claim that HCZ is a cost effective approach to increasing academic achievement. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst and Michelle Croft, July 20, 2010, The Brookings Institution
Russ Whitehurst and Michelle Croft ask whether students served by the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), which is famous for combining community services with its charter schools, do better academically than similar students who attend charter schools that stand alone. Their new analysis indicates that achievement by students in HCZ schools is unexceptional relative to other charter schools. As a result, they question President Obama's nationwide Promise Neighborhoods Initiative as the best use of public education dollars. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Diane Ravitch and Ben Wildavsky, March 18, 2010, The New Republic
In a March 2010 education symposium held by The New Republic, Diane Ravitch and Ben Wildavsky argue for and against, respectively, market-based school reform on the bases of school choice and accountability. Ravitch contends that the current education reform "consensus" ignores teachers, whereas Wildavsky claims that Ravitch misunderstands the roles of teacher professionalism, charter schools and bipartisanship in education. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Tom Loveless, March 17, 2010, The Brookings Institution
The 2009 Brown Center annual report analyzes the state of American education using the latest measures of student learning, uncovers and explains important trends in achievement test scores, and identifies promising and disappointing educational reforms. The 2009 research shows the persistence of test scores and school performance, as well as examines the narrowing gap between high and low-achievers. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Ben Wildavsky, March 15, 2010, The New Republic
In a review of Diane Ravitch’s The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Ben Wildavsky writes that although Ravitch offers some useful insights into the inadequacies of education reform efforts to date, she ultimately fails to make the case that the central philosophies governing today’s bipartisan reform movement - test-based accountability and school choice - have undermined teaching, learning and content. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, Tom Loveless, Jay Greene, W. Bentley MacLeod , Thomas Nechyba , Paul Peterson, Meredith Rosenthal and Michelle Croft, February 02, 2010, The Brookings Institution
School choice exercises a powerful pull on parents of school children. The Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings and a task force composed of leading education policy experts propose expanding school choice to increase equity and create a market within the public sector for school quality. Parents should be afforded the maximum degree of choice, provided with valid information on the performance of the education programs that are available, and have their preferences for education programs reflected in the funding of those programs. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
John Witte and Stéphane Lavertu , March 2009, The Brookings Institution
In this Issues in Governance Studies paper, John Witte and Stéphane Lavertu analyze the impact of charter school attendance on student gain scores on mathematics and reading achievement tests in the Milwaukee Public School district. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, March 2009, The Brookings Institution
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorized the Secretary of Education to establish a $650 million Innovation Fund to expand the work of schools that have made gains in closing achievement gaps. With growing discussion and considerable money heading in the direction of innovation, Russ Whitehurst provides recommendations on how the Department of Education should evaluate successful programs. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, Bob L. Schieffer and Jonathan Martin , March 13, 2009, CBS News
President Obama spoke about implementing the merit pay system for teachers as well as expanding charter schools in a effort to reform the education system in the United States. Brown Center Director Russ Whitehurst joined Politico's Jonathan Martin and CBS News’ Bob Schieffer on Washington Unplugged to talk about the politics behind Obama's education policy and how it would affect our education system. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, March 10, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Russ Whitehurst assesses President Obama's education speech and applauds his commitment to regaining our international lead in education by addressing the "crazy quilt of state standards and assessments." But, he argues, "the proposal to provide incentives to states that improve their standards is a far weaker prescription than is desirable or politically possible." Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
David F. Garrison, Marni D. Allen, Margery Austin Turner, Jennifer Comey, Barika X. Williams, Elizabeth Guernsey, Mary Filardo, Nancy Huvendick and Ping Sung, April 24, 2008, The Brookings Institution
The District of Columbia is struggling to attract and retain families with children. Most newcomers are singles and childless couples. The total number of school-age children has declined slightly. Many of the city’s schools suffer from long-standing physical, management and academic problems. The availability of quality public schools, near affordable family-friendly housing, will help determine the city’s success. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Alice M. Rivlin, February 13, 2007, Council of the District of Columbia, Committee of the Whole
In her testimony before the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee of the Whole, Alice Rivlin presents her views on Mayor Fenty's proposed educational reform act. Read More