Publications

Ideas matter. In addition to our work with clients, Bellwether Education Partners generates and gathers ideas and policy solutions, analyzes ongoing reform efforts, and writes about and discusses education and education reform. We believe that the work we do to improve education for all students benefits from thought leadership, analysis, and thoughtful discourse around emerging ideas, in order to help challenge leaders and leading organizations to think differently and improve, to coordinate efforts where possible, to inform policymakers and improve the political and policy context, and to share successful approaches with the public education field at large.

Authors

Teach For America: 5 Myths that Persist 20 Years On

February 10, 2011

Publication

TIME.com -- TFA’s 20th birthday seems like as good a time as any to unpack the misconceptions put forward by its critics (and by some of its proponents). Here are five of the most common.

Location, Location, Location: How Would a High-Performing Charter School Network Fare in Different States?

February 8, 2011

Publication

How much does the difference in charter school funding between states matter to high-performing charter schools? In this analysis Chris Lozier and Andrew J. Rotherham use actual financial data from a California charter management organization to estimate how the network's finances would be affected if it operated in different states. The analysis looks at funding in more than 20 states to examine how much the variance works in practice.

Super Bowl School: What the NFL Can Teach Teachers

February 3, 2011

Publication

TIME.com -- For a deeper look at what educators might be able to learn from pro football, I talked with Tim Daly, a leading education reformer and president of the New Teacher Project, which trains teachers and conducts research and policy analysis, and his brother Brendan Daly, a former teacher who coaches the defensive line for the St. Louis Rams.

Fixing Teacher Tenure Without a Pass/Fail Grade

January 27, 2011

Publication

TIME.com -- All the new governors (29), state education chiefs (18 new ones elected or appointed since November), and state legislators (nearly 1,600) mean things are more fluid in the states, where teacher tenure is becoming a major flashpoint.

Shanghai Surprise: Don’t Sweat Global Test Data

January 20, 2011

Publication

TIME.com -- Concern about falling behind internationally is one of America’s most popular education anxieties.

States’ Rights and States’ Wrongs on School Reform

January 13, 2011

Publication

TIME.com -- When it comes to education, we shouldn’t lionize states when they’re too often failing to fix our schools.

11 Education Activists for 2011

January 6, 2011

Publication

TIME.com -- Here are 11 reformers poised to shake things up even more in these tumultuous times.

The Real War on Christmas: No Teaching of Religion

December 23, 2010

Publication

TIME.com -- Once you cut through the blather on cable news, there is a real, if much less discussed, problem in that public schools are skittish about teaching much about religion.

Jackson Browne: Singer, Songwriter, School Board Member

December 16, 2010

Publication

TIME.com -- I spoke with the Hall of Famer turned school board member about his sympathy for parents who opt out of traditional public schools, why he never went to college and what qualifies him to help bring education reform to inner-city students.