ICYMI: This Week's Notable Bloggery

Here are some bloggy highlights from this week.

Damaging the Charter School Brand

John Merrow doesn't blog often, but when he does, it's powerful stuff. Here's a look at the charter school Hall of Shame, complete with historical perspective and some links to egregious actors.

Moscowitz, Petrilli, and the Hard Truth about America's Schools

This is an absolute must-read. Jersey Jazzman has managed to synthesize most of the big news of the week, from Moscowitz's meltdown to the student assault in South Carolina. Read this.

Now, I hear a lot about the quantity of my output, but for the past little bit, Mercedes Schneider has been quietly cranking out at least one post a day (or, perhaps more accurately, one post a night, because it looks like maybe she's staying up till the wee hours to write these). That is far more impressive than my output because Schneider does actual research, whereas I just remove the filter from my brain and start typing. But if you are used to checking Schneider just every now and then, you may have missed some of the gems she's been putting out there. You should save yourself the trouble and just subscribe to her blog, but ICYMI...

Louisiana's High School Letter Grades

Just when you think you've seen every way to game an evaluation system, LA comes up with yet another data dodge.

The Waltons Set Out To Promote a Choice Ecosystem

Schneider dug up a piece of paperwork in which the Waltons lay out their plan for the next five years of educational reforminess, and it's not pretty. You need to see this.

“Fund for Louisiana’s Future” is a DC Super PAC Devoted to David Vitter

One more tale of how reformy carpetbaggers are trying to buy themselves some influence.

Commentary on Mathematica’s “First Study of Its Kind” of PARCC

Mathematica performed a study on PARCC testing. Schneider pulls that apart to find the real conclusions we can reach.

Finally, from Paul Thomas, a piece that reflects his usual thoughful and nuanced view of a difficult issue.

Resisting Good/Bad Teacher/Police Frame and Confronting Systemic Flaws in Education, Law Enforcement