For Activists

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

Support the Education Consumers Foundation

Every year, public education pours vast amounts of money into self-congratulatory reports and public communications designed to strengthen and maintain a favorable image.  Smaller school districts have staff dedicated to external communications and larger ones host entire external communications offices.  Their goal is to inform, but they highlight successes and favorable events while minimizing anything that would detract from a positive image.  The result is that most local communities are selectively bathed in a stream of positive messaging and … Read More

Second Opinions

The Education Consumers Consultants Network is a partnership of experienced scholars and educators committed to the interests of education’s consumers – i.e., parents, taxpayers, and policymakers. It is affiliated with the Education Consumers ClearingHouse, a grassroots “Consumers Union” (publisher of Consumer Reports) for the consumers of public education. Just as there are law firms specializing in corporate law or consumer law, the Network specializes in serving the interests of education’s consumers. Our primary service is to provide Second Opinions to … Read More

About ECCN

Getting a Second Opinion The Need for Consumer-Friendly Expertise Local and state school boards, legislative committees, parent organizations, and business and community groups are often asked to endorse or approve education policy. Typically, the policy is supported by an authoritative recommendation—usually a panel of educators, an employee of the recommending agency, or a handpicked consultant. Rarely are such requests accompanied by an appraisal by an expert that is sympathetic to the consumer’s perspective. The result: Every year, public … Read More

Value Added Achievement Awards

How School Rankings and Awards Validated Data-Driven Improvement Tennessee has gained a substantial measure of reform success because of local and statewide public and policymaker awareness of the objectively measured increases in student achievement produced by local schools. ECF’s school rankings played a key role.  They drew public and educator attention to the otherwise long-ignored TVAAS data and gave public recognition to the schools that were producing superior achievement gains.  For the first time, public attention was drawn … Read More

Recommended Reading

Emily Hanford on Why Children aren’t Learning to Read Journalist Emily Hanford explains how teacher training grounded in flawed pedagogical theory has brought about decades of shockingly poor reading outcomes in American public schools.  Her reporting on the subject is the clearest of any observer in 50 years.      Clear Teaching Clear Teaching: With Direct Instruction, Siegfried Engelmann Discovered a Better Way of Teaching Written by veteran journalist Shepard Barbash over a period of 10 years, Clear Teaching is a … Read More

Schooling & Society

ECF has numerous tools to help keep you informed. Check out the links below for more detailed reports and articles. Americans Know Very Little About Local School Quality A cheating scandal involving teachers in Atlanta has captured national attention and revealed a profound breach of trust in the public education system. [small_button text=”Local School Quality” title=”Local School Quality” url=”http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/060613-659072-americans-show-shocking-ignorance-about-local-school-quality.htm” align=”left” target=”_blank” style=”light”]   Reversing American Decline Resources Links America’s current economic, social, and cultural directions to decades of … Read More

Education Research

ECF has numerous tools to help keep you informed. Check out the links below for more detailed reports and articles. Direct Instruction: What the Research Says A list of the primary studies and meta-analyses regarding Direct Instruction, including a discussion of controversial findings. [small_button text=”Direct Instruction Research” title=”Direct Instruction Research Article” url=”/pdf//DI_Research.pdf” align=”left” target=”_blank” style=”light”]   A Bibliography of the Direct Instruction Curriculum & Studies Examining its Efficacy Studies involving Direct Instruction curricula and its implementation have been … Read More

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