Brenda Belton shows us just how easy it is to hire friends and family instead of qualified providers.   more »

The market effect is significant and, in the case of Alabama, easy to see.   more »

The Dialectic (Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis) of School Reform Politics   more »

But quality "assurance" isn't.   more »

Professional Development Reimbursements Have Market Potential   more »

Political risk meets commoditization.   more »

Reading the tea leaves in Buck McKeon's remarks. And what about two dogs that no side of the NCLB II discussion has encouraged to bark?   more »

When the intellectual wing of public education's political right rejects a market-based option, there's a problem.   more »

It's never so black and white. And the details are more interesting than such a portrayal implies.   more »

Congressman Miller bears bad news about NCLB reauthorization.   more »

Setting Standards for the Day Care of School-Age Children   more »

On the whole, not very promising for the industry. Alarming actually, especially to those in the industry who planned on a rosy future.   more »

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 »

Three, arguably four, of the five risks identified in the summary section of K12's IPO prospectus are political.   more »

What to make of The All Students Can Succeed Act of 2007.   more »

The price? The founder is slowly, gently, but probably, eased out, handing management over to people with the investors' confidence.   more »

"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 »

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 »

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 »

Information to help make sense of your in-box - and to think outside of it.   more »

SES is not the only tutoring going on after school in public schools.   more »

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 »

And a view into the strategic calculus behind these buys.   more »

It's unconscionable, but rational, hard to prove, and might make it easier to serve the kids. Still....   more »

If the back office doesn't work, why should the shop floor?   more »

Starting at the bottom and working our way up, the basic economic unit of tutoring is the class. Look at those gross margins!   more »

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 »

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 »

Five minutes of reading a day to keep ahead of your market.   more »

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 »

The number of big publishers shrink, but the big get much, much bigger.   more »

From the Colorado Department of Education.   more »

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 »

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 »

The right of center Weekly Standard does have an interesting article on the subject.   more »

The birth of a for-nonprofit alliance - and a blow to nonprofit AIR.   more »

Understand the forces shaping your marketplace.   more »