News, Announcements and Analysis from School Improvement Industry Week Online
View Article  K-12Lead of the Week
Setting Standards for the Day Care of School-Age Children   more »
View Article  Cong. Miller on NCLB Reauthorization
On the whole, not very promising for the industry. Alarming actually, especially to those in the industry who planned on a rosy future.   more »
View Article  A Nagging Worry About Recent Investments in K-12
Deja vu. Declasse. Clauswitz. Will this turn out to be characterized as "all about the fees?" And what do you know about "groupthink" or how to protect against it?   more »
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View Article  Political Risk Dominates K12's Investment Risk
Three, arguably four, of the five risks identified in the summary section of K12's IPO prospectus are political.   more »
View Article  Lieberman, Landrieu and Coleman Propose Their NCLB II
What to make of The All Students Can Succeed Act of 2007.   more »
View Article  Katzman Finds $60 Million for Princeton Review
The price? The founder is slowly, gently, but probably, eased out, handing management over to people with the investors' confidence.   more »
View Article  Rhee Declares War on DC's Education Bureacracy?
"And for the most part, not all, but many of them consider the requests coming from parents and teachers - they think it's a nuisance." Not the best rhetorical strategy for DC Public Schools' new boss.   more »
View Article  The Arts v. Math and Reading
It's a false choice. The arts contribute to literacy and numeracy, and there's no reason the stuff of math and reading can't be the great works of world culture. School improvement providers that fuse the two worlds can only do well as educators wake up to the possibilities.   more »
View Article  Test Providers: Winners and Losers
Norm-referenced tests aimed at an accountability regime based on average student performance give way to criterion-referenced tests based on every student’s performance. There are industry implications.   more »
View Article  7/24 New Education Economy®
Information to help make sense of your in-box - and to think outside of it.   more »
View Article  K-12Lead of the Week
SES is not the only tutoring going on after school in public schools.   more »
View Article  What Fast ForWord Tells Us About Today's K-12 Market
Imagine if American hospitals permitted doctors who treat brain injuries by drilling holes in patients' heads to practice alongside those who employ the latest tools of laser surgery.   more »
View Article  O'Callaghan, Harcourt, Private Equity and the Old Education Industry
And a view into the strategic calculus behind these buys.   more »
View Article  To Reduce The Number of Schools In Need of Improvement, Concentrate The Low Performing Students In A Few Schools
It's unconscionable, but rational, hard to prove, and might make it easier to serve the kids. Still....   more »
View Article  This We Could Fix
If the back office doesn't work, why should the shop floor?   more »
View Article  Deconstructing The Business of SES (I)
Starting at the bottom and working our way up, the basic economic unit of tutoring is the class. Look at those gross margins!   more »
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View Article  What To Make of Houghton Buying Harcourt
What it means for k-12 industry structure, Houghton's investors, and the school improvement provider community. How much do you know about antitrust law?   more »
View Article  Centrist Democrat Groups Line Up In Support of Today's AYP
Alexander Russo of This Week in Education, snags a letter from the rerspectable left urging Congressman Miller to avoid the multiple measures approach. Now where's a copy of the memo from the House Education Committee chair to Congressional freshmen that set this off?   more »
View Article  7/17 New Education Economy® & Special Offer
Five minutes of reading a day to keep ahead of your market.   more »
View Article  K-12Lead of the Week and Special Offer
A grant program that looks a lot like your editor's proposal to change NCLB's SES program.... and a manufacturing curriculum for high school.   more »
View Article  Houghton Buying Harcourt From Reed Elsevier
The number of big publishers shrink, but the big get much, much bigger.   more »
View Article  A Useful Figure: How to Make AYP
From the Colorado Department of Education.   more »
View Article  Senators Gregg and Burr Propose Their NCLB II
There does not seem to be much air between their bill and one the Administration might write. And you can see where they'll give in to the Democrats   more »
View Article  Math Wars are Civil Wars
The battleground is the school district, not the state capital. The antagonsts are parents, not policy wonks. The school improvement industry has an interest and a possible opening.   more »
View Article  If You Are Not Tired of the Reading First Fiasco
The right of center Weekly Standard does have an interesting article on the subject.   more »
View Article  New Team To Run What Work's Clearinghouse
The birth of a for-nonprofit alliance - and a blow to nonprofit AIR.   more »
View Article  7/10 New Education Economy® & SPECIAL OFFER
Understand the forces shaping your marketplace.   more »
View Article  K-12Lead of the Week & SPECIAL
Win the California state Reading First evaluation and become the low cost provider for the rest. Plus: Special offer for new K-12Leads clients.   more »
View Article  Dept. of Ed. Begins to Address Academic Advisors Conflicts of Interest
The disclosure is a great improvement. Whether the conflicts should have barred many participants deserves attention and debate. Still, a good first step, and one silk purse from the sows ear of Reading First implementation.   more »
View Article  Pittsburgh Cuts Kaplan Contract by a Quarter. So What?
Better late than never, Superintendent Roosevelt decides teachers should be part of curriculum reform. And an interesting admission from Kaplan management.   more »
View Article  Data Points on the CMO Model
Regarding the practicability of Charter Management Organizations (CMO).   more »
View Article  Alliance Strategy
How smaller school imrovement providers leverage limited assets.   more »
View Article  Washington on NCLB: A Tide Turning in the Wrong Direction
The Washington Post’s July 2 editorial provides some indication that the tide is turning against the kind of NCLB II necessary for a healthy school improvement industry.   more »
View Article  7/3 New Education Economy®
Important, quick reads for busy people in our industry (that's probably you) who want to stay ahead of the curve.   more »
View Article  K-12Lead of the Week
Three examples of opportunities that may be outside of the box you inhabit today, but well within your current capacity.   more »
View Article  What Should We Make of Philly's Decision to Extend School Managers Contracts?
School managers serve a purpose beyond raising achievement; it's not clear whether providers dodged a bullet or took one; it will take more than marginal improvements to current operations to get politically significant improvements in student performance.   more »