The downloadable scorecard put together by Title I Online is worthy of review, although the experts surveyed do seem to be conflating what they want with their predictions. Astute readers will pay more attention to the overall pattern of converging and differing opinions.   more »

The Oregon Department of Education gives a bit more of its story on the dispute with Vantage, and hires nonprofit research organization AIR (American Institutes of Research) for next year's TESA administration.... The corporate website of Vantage Learning lists no press releases on the dispute. To paraphrase George Bush I, that decision "doesnt seem prudent."... Vantage counsel did speak to Education Week Reporter Andrew Trotter, but make note of the reporter's decision to cast the story as Vantage "leaving the state in the lurch" rather than, say, "being denied $4.7 million dollars in payments owed by the state." Both characterizations tend to prejudge what looks to be a legitmate business dispute - complicated by the end of a multi-year contract and Vantage's failure to win the new competition. But the underlying issue is now a matter for the courts. In the American legal system the facts and the law here are not decided but in dispute, and it is a bit unfair for Education Week to permit one of its reporters to pre-judge Vantage as straight reporting. The more legitimate place for this opinion is an Op/Ed page.   more »

Investing in k-12 with a superficial understanding of its political history and landscape will yield about the same results as invading Iraq without a deep appreciation of Islam's varied influences on the nation's ethnic make-up.... Your editor's March 28 presentation to the Education Industry Investment Conference.   more »