The Baltimore-based investment firm's k-12 specialists have an unusual perspective on Senator Kennedy’s report on the connections between consultants like Edward Kame' ennui and the major publishing firms – one that doesn’t serve the investment community’s need for information and analysis all that well.   more »

Two items in Time magazine’s otherwise bland summary of the issues around NCLB reauthorization deserve a closer look. What is meant by “perverse” and what consequences were "unintended"?   more »

The private sector is no more entitled to waste federal tax dollars than the public schools. When it comes to poor student performance, the defense that that parents feel good about their children’s teachers is no more relevant for SES providers under NCLB than it is for schools or districts. Applying the rule of student performance equally to schools and providers is about “accountability” to the taxpayer, “equal protection under the law” between schools and providers, and, in the end, the credibility of the entire school improvement industry. Is the taxpayer getting real value here?   more »

Every corporate blog is part of the firm’s marketing operations. That doesn’t mean they aren't worth reading. Content analysis of posts and press releases often yields useful information on a provider’s values, priorities, fears and strategy.   more »

Measured morally, without doubt, yes. Measured in terms of industry interests, it's not so clear.   more »

The evidence in his emails is unambiguous: While Kame' ennui was working for the Department as a key consultant on Reading First regulation and implementation - a matter that required not only the reality of impartiality but the appearance of impartiality – he was also engaged in high-level lobbying on behalf of Pearson’s corporate position on Reading First. It's a hell of a story. Plus a footnote.    more »

Quoting right-of-center Finn's defense of Reading First's peer review process in the "Political Risks" subsection of your business plan will do more to discourage investment than a thousand anti-privatization quotes from NEA's Reg Weaver.   more »

If the best prospect for tutoring having an impact on student performance is when it is closely tied to the classroom, many providers would also rather work for the district as a contractor than compete with it under SES. Herein lies the basis of an entirely new strategy for SES in NCLB II.   more »

The reaction of Education Industry Association Executive Director Steve Pines more or less tracks what your editor suggested to expect from most SES providers. Read the response. Then let's deconstruct it. Then read TN SES study co-author Steve Ross' reaction.    more »

The article by Michelle R. Davis offers a great opportunity for seeing how others read the tea leaves on NCLB reauthorization. The point (not) made with overwhelming clarity is that the school improvement industry plays no material role in its own legislative future.   more »

It's a summary of the available research on the market that's worth reading. As an "academic weapon" employed by the left in the "SES wars," the study is a failure. Still, that's just politics. From an investor's or buyer's perspective, the report suggests that when it comes to evaluation, most SES providers' management teams have been asleep at the wheel.    more »