Danielle Holley-Walker (South Carolina): A New Era for Desegregation. The Failure of American Schools: In his eight years as chancellor of New York City’s school system, the nation’s largest, Joel Klein learned a few painful lessons of his own — about feckless politicians, recalcitrant unions, mediocre teachers, and other enduring obstacles to school reform. The GOP is simultaneously emasculating teachers’ unions while adopting the worst parts of their agenda — the result could be devastating. Tested: LynNell Hancock on covering schools in the age of micro-measurement. Behind the scenes of standardized testing: Jessica Lussenhop goes inside the multimillion-dollar essay-scoring business. Toward a free market in education: School vouchers or tax credits? Why preschool shouldn't be like school: New research shows that teaching kids more and more, at ever-younger ages, may backfire. Once deified, now demonized, teachers are under assault from union-busting Republicans on the right and wealthy liberals on the left — and leading the charge from all directions is a woman most famous for losing her job: the former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee. It's school admissions season in New York: Does your 18-month-old have what it takes? Finland's educational success: Joshua Levine on the anti–tiger mother approach. Should public schools fear billionaires, is Finland a poster nation? An interview with Diane Ravitch, the nation's leading education historian. A review of Organizing for Educational Justice: The Campaign for Public School Reform in the South Bronx by Michael Fabricant. False Choice: How private school vouchers might harm minority students. Who's "cool" after graduating from high school? In The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, Alexandra Robbins finds out the surprising answer (and more).
