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/* custom css */ .tdi_2_91f{ min-height: 0; } /* custom css */ .tdi_4_052{ vertical-align: baseline; } The SAT has long been a rite of passage for high school seniors looking to attend college. Well, as readers may know, the College Board last month announced that the test is being revise...

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Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) was designed to provide an elite, high-tech education for the most academically gifted students in Northern Virginia. Since its inception, TJ applicants had been sorted first by test scores and grades, with scores weighted at 80 percent and grades at 20 percent. In an attempt to close the excellence gap, the admissio...

In a few weeks, President-elect Trump will be officially sworn in. Among other things, that means it’s moving season for the political appointees at the U.S. Department of Education. Obama’s team is packing their boxes and, before too long, Trump appointees will be taking charge. As the new crowd thinks about what’s ahead, the New Year seems a propitious time to offer a few res...

Over the past few years, students by the thousands have refused to take their state’s standardized tests. This “opt-out” phenomenon has prompted debate in state legislatures and in Washington, putting states at risk of losing Title I funds. Advocates describe opt-out as a grassroots movement of parents concerned about overtesting, teaching to the test, and a lack of transparenc...

In a January 2014 speech, Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, urged parent leaders to hold high expectations for schools. “Please raise your voice for excellence—and against complacency,” he said. “Organize other parents…. Ask the hard questions, even when it means shaking things up and challenging the status quo.” One year later, parents in New York raised thei...

One of the only things Republicans and Democrats in Washington, DC can agree on is that they don’t like the accreditation system in higher education. The “watchdogs that don’t bark,” as former Education Secretary Arne Duncan famously termed them, just don’t seem to be doing a great job holding institutions responsible for their student outcomes, as a Wall Street Journal invest...

There is increasing momentum behind the idea that curriculum materials, including textbooks, represent a powerful lever for education reform, but teacher surveys suggest that textbooks may not be the main source of lessons for large proportions of teachers. For instance, a five-state study found that 72-80% of teachers (depending on subject) reported using instructional materi...