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Congratulations to the brilliant Caroline Hoxby of Stanford University, who this week received praise from Smithsonian Magazine for her indispensable research in making college more accessible to underserved students. Hoxby’s intensive, nationwide project compiled and cross-referenced data in an effort to find the high-performing students who for a multitude of reasons, probably would not even have […] Read more »

California students posted the biggest gains on a national standardized test last year, placing the state in the unfamiliar position of being the best rather than among the worst when it comes to anything related to education. Students here topped those in the 49 other states with a seven-point gain in eighth-grade reading, according to results […] Read more »

Alarming and disturbing – two words that are not normally associated with New York City charter schools.  Two words that in no way describe the choice public schools that continually provide the most innovative options and stellar achievement for students.  In fact, a study by Caroline Hoxby shows that the longer NY students are in […] Read more »

Enrollment in the aptly named parental choice program in Racine, WI has more than doubled after the removal of a state-imposed cap, meaning over 1,200 Racine students in the 2013-14 school year will have increased choice and opportunity to be in a schooling environment that’s right for them. School leaders in the area are reporting […] Read more »

The release of the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Math and Reading scores yesterday showed little to no progress for students in 4th and 8th grade. When diving into the online resources, some subgroups did have gains, while others fared worse. Hispanic students in both grades made two point gains since 2011. Eighth-grade […] Read more »

CER Press Release Washington, DC November 7, 2013 Kara Kerwin, president of The Center for Education Reform (CER), released the following statement upon the release of the 2013 Nation’s Report Card: “It’s a disgrace and truly incomprehensible that after decades of mediocrity, we celebrate today the fact that only 36 percent of our nation’s 8th […] Read more »

As another round of First Friday tours began at Center City Brightwood Public Charter School I was immediately surprised by the number of students in the school in correlation to the number of grade levels offered. The Brightwood campus is one of six Center City Public Charter Schools located in DC and serves 251 students […] Read more »

The language of the “Don’t Worry Crowd” never ceases to amaze me in its antiquated nature and inability to come to terms with the truth. Recently, perhaps the Don’t Worry Crowd’s biggest spokesperson, Diane Ravitch, was a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  She almost speaks a different language than real reformers. They […] Read more »

Dear Friends: Only a few times in my life have I had writer’s block, or been speechless, but lately it’s happening every day! Maybe it’s because my time as president of the Center for Education Reform is now coming to an end, and it is indeed bittersweet. I’m so proud of all that we’ve accomplished together. As […] Read more »

Surprising split in school reformer monolith By Jay Mathews Critics of current trends in education reform, such as historian Diane Ravitch, often complain that they are up against a phalanx of business executives and rich investors more interested in making money than improving schools. These people, the critics say, march in lock step to replace […] Read more »