History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
What are “middle class schools”?
- 09-21-2011
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Blog by Matthew Di Carlo/Shanker Blog
An organization called “The Third Way” released a report last week, in which they present descriptive data on what they call “middle class schools.” The primary conclusion of their analysis is that “middle class schools” aren’t “making the grade,” and that they are “falling short on their most basic 21st century mission: To prepare kids to get a college degree.” They also argue that “middle class schools” are largely ignored in our debate and policymaking, and we need a “second phase of school reform” in order to address this deficit. The Wall Street Journal swallowed the report whole, running a story presenting Third Way’s findings under the headline “Middle class schools fail to make the grade.” To be clear, I think that our education policy debates do focus on lower-income schools to a degree that sometimes ignores those closer to the middle of the distribution. So, it’s definitely worthwhile to take a look at “middle class schools’” performance and how it can be improved. In other words, I’m very receptive to the underlying purpose of the report. That said, this analysis consists mostly of arbitrary measurement and flawed, vague interpretations. As a result, it actually offers little meaningful insight. (more...)
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