Poverty vs Student Achievement and Ethnic Composition

With few exceptions, low-poverty schools have high percentages of proficient readers and high-poverty schools have lower percentages–regardless of the school’s ethnic makeup (see selected states below).  This evidence argues against the view that the generally low percentages of proficient readers in high minority schools are the result of racial discrimination.  Rather, it is consistent with the view that the low reading proficiencies of high-minority schools are principally a function of their high percentages of economically disadvantaged students.  Most economically disadvantaged … Read More

Consumer Empowerment

American Decline can be Reversed through Grassroots Action Public education has been decaying on the inside for decades. Educators blame poverty, poor parenting, changing demographics, the growth of hedonistic popular culture, insufficient funding, and myriad other factors. Seldom mentioned, however, is education’s failure to adapt and overcome these conditions. In the view of most educators, schools are doing all they can–an explanation that is contradicted by the measurable differences in effectiveness among teachers within the same school and … Read More

Information Fuels Support for School Reform

Although a brief for the value of national standards, this survey affirms that public knowledge of local school performance facts is key to grassroots action. Our findings reveal that when respondents learn how their local schools rank in comparison to the performance of schools elsewhere in the state or in the nation as a whole, they become more supportive of school choice proposals, such as making school vouchers available to all families, expanding charter schools, and giving parents … Read More

2008 VAAA – Memphis Academy of Health Sciences

Second Place, West Division, Middle Schools Curtis Weathers, Principal 3925 Chelsea Extension Memphis, TN 38108 Memphis Schools Website here Recipe For Success: Memphis Academy of Health Sciences Middle School (MAHS, pronounced Mause) is one of the first charter schools in Tennessee to open its doors. On July 18, 2003, students arrived at MAHS to what appeared to be a very chaotic beginning— furniture in the hallways, unopened boxes of supplies, parents and students unsure of where to report. … Read More

Charter School Research & Advocacy

posted in: General Information |

Center for Education Reform (2014) “Charter schools do not inevitably succeed but they do incentivize better teaching and learning, and they do push competing public schools to improve.  Charters played a key role in Newark and the The Center for Education Reform can provide numerous other examples of success.” https://www.edreform.com/issues/choice-charter-schools/

Zuckerberg’s Folly? Not Really

posted in: Briefings & Reports, Research, Analysis, & Opinion for Reform-minded Consumers |

The popular view is that the Newark reforms failed.  The New Jersey Department of Education data says otherwise.  Charter schools excelled and the projected reduction in dropouts and unprepared graduates district-wide will benefit taxpayers for years to come. June 17, 2014 – Print School districts and their boards often face seemingly insurmountable opposition to changes that would beneficial to students. Changes that would be upsetting to the established bureaucratic and institutional order are especially challenging, yet there are examples … Read More

Reading: Any US School

  How well does your school teach children to read? In every city, state, and district, some schools are far more effective than their demographic peers. These charts will help you to identify them. Charts are based on the most recent publicly available data. Click here for a guide to creating school and district comparison charts.   Alabama (2023) Alaska (2019) Arizona (2021) Arkansas (2022) California (2022) Colorado (2022) Connecticut (2022) Delaware (2022) DC (2022) Florida (2022) Georgia … Read More

Rethinking Special Education

(click here for full article) (Click here to download the PDF of this article) Edited by Chester E. Finn, Jr., Andrew J. Rotherham, and Charles R. Hokanson, Jr Washington,DC: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, 2001.   Briefing Special programs for disabled students partly account for the poor achievement and the high and rising costs of American schools. Of course, programs for blind, deaf, and other children with scientifically evidenced disabilities are clearly justified. But most of the roughly 6.1 … Read More

Policy Highlights

Tennessee’s Race to the Top Application Significant Reforms Found By J.E. Stone, Ed.D. President Education Consumers Foundation February 15, 2010 (click here for PDF) Introduction Tennessee can take justifiable pride in its Race to the Top (RTTT) application. It is a bold plan and it succeeds by ensuring that the key elements of schooling enterprise—governance, hiring, compensation, and training—all treat student achievement gains as schooling’s top priority. Even retention for tenured teachers is subject to job performance requirements. In … Read More

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