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

Fenty’s Loss in D.C.: A Blow to Education Reform?

September 15, 2010

Publication

TIME.com -- Fenty’s loss to City Council Chairman Vincent Gray leaves in doubt not only the status of Washington’s revolutionary school chancellor, Michelle Rhee, but the national momentum for her brand of ambitious -- and aggressive -- education reform.

What Common Standards for Schools Can and Can’t Do

September 9, 2010

Publication

TIME.com -- Today states, school districts, and in some cases individual schools are allowed to set both their academic standards and the tests to determine whether students are reaching them.

Better Benefits: Reforming Teacher Pensions for a Changing Work Force

August 1, 2010

Publication

Education Sector -- Policymakers are beginning to take note of the fiscal problems in teacher retirement systems. States have recently taken action by raising retirement ages, lowering benefit payments, and reducing cost-of-living adjustments. These are small steps toward shoring up the system to help ensure that it remains sustainable in the future.

How Schools Can Achieve Obama's Lofty Education Goals

May 18, 2010

Publication

U.S. News and World Report -- Finding depressing education news is easy, but three trends offer hope for the future.

21st Century Skills’ Not New but a Worthy Challenge

April 1, 2010

Publication

American Educator -- Dan Willingham and Andrew J. Rotherham examine the challenges to implementing "21st Century Skills" in America's schools. Willingham and Rotherham look at the history of the idea, the research on how students learn, and the obstacles to effectively implementing the "21st Century Skills" approach in American schools.

Transcript: 'The Sacred Fire of Liberty'

March 31, 2010

Publication

In a symposium at Suffolk University College of Law, Andrew J. Rotherham and E.D. Hirsch discuss how curriculum and content matter to democratic approaches to public education.

“Is Education on the Wrong Track,” The Life and Death of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch

March 17, 2010

Publication

The New Republic -- An open letter to Diane Ravitch. "Death and Life is being debated as a policy prescription. That's a problem, because it doesn't offer an agenda."