As schools move toward our brave new digital world, a battle has raged over the usefulness of handwriting practice and cursive pedagogy. Why do children need to learn to write…
Minnesota could do a better job equipping elementary teacher candidates in math instruction, according to a new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). The report analyzes how…
When it comes to education spending in Minnesota, there never appears to be enough dollars at play. Gov. Walz and the teachers’ union continually call to “fully fund” public schools,…
There’s a strong positive relationship between union density and administrative expansion, suggesting that unions “may play a critical role in explaining the ‘educational bloat’ that now pervades schools in the…
Spending on E-12 public education is Minnesota’s biggest general fund expenditure. For the 2024-2025 biennium, E-12 education makes up nearly 35 percent of all general fund dollars and is expected…
How relaxing school accountability has hurt academic achievement.
I have been a broken record on the fact that Minnesota’s academic achievement woes existed years before government policy responses to COVID exacerbated learning declines. In fact, it was because…
Minnesota has slid down to #45 for its overall education freedom ranking, according to the second edition of the Education Freedom Report Card published by The Heritage Foundation. (Florida, for…
Average reading and math scores for the nation’s 13 year olds have declined again, with the math decline the largest ever recorded on the National Assessment of Educational Progress’ (NAEP)…
In 1983, a report by the United States National Commission on Excellence in Education sounded the alarm on the many failures in American education. Following the release of the report,…
The four-year graduation rate for Minnesota’s class of 2022 is up slightly from 2021, according to newly released data from the Minnesota Department of Education. At 83.55 percent, this is…
The four-year graduation rate for Minnesota’s high school students has steadily been increasing over the years, which should be cause for celebration. But not when student proficiency in math is…
The false narrative that inadequate funding is the root of our education problems paints Minnesota as a state allergic to accountability.
Forty years ago today, the United States Department of Education began operating. But student scores in the U.S. are not improving under the Department, which, according to a new report,…
George Packer is a staff writer for The Atlantic and lives in New York City. Like most of us, he is the product of public schools and a strong believer…
The bill comes due for sacrificing academic excellence to a social agenda.
An American Enterprise Institute report examines the heightened interest in career and technical education and its long-running notability compared to other education reform efforts such as No Child Left Behind,…
Because of causes I can safely guess, national polling last year showed weaker support for various types of school choice than had been the case. This included charter schools (which…
As controversy swirls around the debate over the Edina public schools that Center of the American Experiment has launched, some charge the Center with exaggerating the political indoctrination going on…
I participated on a panel earlier this week on the stubborn persistence of achievement gaps, and as you might guess, at the first opening I jumped in and started talking…