For some strange reason, I am always cynical about surveys.  It seems like people spout off information, and use it to support their own causes.  What really happens with the accumulated data anyway?  For a few years we were able to evaluate our schools and their leaders in a very secretive system at the end of the the year.  ...

Texas has had its share of headaches when it comes to testing.  Does anyone else remember the TECAT?  That was a test that every Texas teacher had to take to keep on trucking.  It was an absurd, expensive ordeal where teachers were treated like cattle because lawmakers weren't sure that they were educated enough ...

In an effort to help teachers facing problems with low performing students, the state of Rhode Island has placed step by step lesson plans on a Web site available to teachers and everyone else.   The article on boston.com also explains that using the plans is voluntary. The materials include more than 70 lesson plans, ...

My mother always used to say, ''Open the jar, and the worms will come out.''  This seemed to apply to almost any controversial situation.  Bloggers are having a field day with a ''jar opening'' decision about school vouchers. On cnn.com we learn that Utah lawmakers have okayed vouchers for all students currently ...

See the video posted on dallasnews.com showing a group headed to Austin to participate in a rally for vouchers. Several private school parents said they need public funding so they don't have to skimp on other things to cover education costs. Public school parents at the rally said vouchers could help their children bail ...

Eighth and tenth grade students in six Montgomery schools might have the opportunity to be in cutting edge classes for sex education.  On washingtonpost.com an article called ''Schools Picked to Pilot Sex-Ed Lessons'', we get the latest about the ongoing controversy of the pilot program. Montgomery County school Superintendent ...

Everyone wants to blame teachers for low test scores.  After all, teachers are the easiest targets.  I have to wonder how much money is being spent on all of the research studies about improving teacher quality.  What about the time and effort spent on discussions about the No Child Left Behind Law?  Are ...

A group of parents are not happy about the decision to discontinue separate classes for their children.  On washingtonpost.com A plan to phase out Montgomery County's secondary learning centers, programs in eight middle and high schools that teach special education students in separate classes, is meeting with determined resistance ...

Parents are scrambling to get their kids tested for the gifted-and-talented programs due to a new admissions process in New York City.  Confusion seemed to be the name of the game in an article on nytimes.com as parents sought testing times and locations. A new admissions process for highly coveted gifted-and-talented ...

Some students are receiving more than the traditional report card.  According to an article on nytimes.com  The practice of reporting students' body mass scores to parents originated a few years ago as just one tactic in a war on childhood obesity that would be fought with fresh, low-fat cafeteria offerings ...