Recently, two separate studies--one by Alan Ginsburg, a former director of Policy and Program Studies in the U.S. Department of Education, the other by a committee constituted by the National Research Council (NRC)--have sought to discredit the work of Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of schools for the District of Columbia. According to Ginsburg,…

For a decade, at least since the passage of No Child Left Behind, the nation's foremost education goal has been to erase achievement "gaps" in which African American, Latino, and low-income students dramatically lag behind their peers. This emphasis has enjoyed broad support through the Bush and Obama administrations, and from major…

Many studies have shown the benefits of smaller class sizes--including random experiments like the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio Project conducted in 79 elementary schools in Tennessee, which assigned children to either small or regular-size classes, as well as large-scale analyses of small and large classrooms that have occurred naturally.…

In the very near future, Latino students will become the majority in California's public schools and because of their great numbers and presence, the pattern of lackluster academic achievement must be a major concern of teachers, school leaders, and policy makers. Despite having made great strides in narrowing the gap that separated them from…

The authors reviewed the article "What Do Klein et al. Tell Us About Test Scores in Texas?" by Toenjes. A summary of their responses is presented. First, Toenjes incorrectly describes the focus of the authors' study. Second, Toenjes appears to have misunderstood the purpose of their 20-schools analysis. Third, Toenjes misunderstands the…