You seen the bird. Do what he says.

Check out the Dropout Nation Twitter feed for instant news and updates on the reform of American public education. Here are some select tweets from March 19th:

• RT @EdEquality: CS Monitor looks @ value-added data & gives EEP a shout-out! http://bit.ly/chZXax #edreform #edgap #edpolicy #TQ #
• RT @conncan: RT @conncan: Smarick says CT’s #RttT app is on the bottom: http://ow.ly/1oqmH #
• RT @NCTQ: RT @Stand4Children: The founder of KIPP makes case for longer school days and a longer school year: http://bit.ly/aGOVne #edreform #
• RT @EdEquality: RT @educationweek Friday Reading List District Roundup http://bit.ly/agMeM3 #edreform #education #
• RT @AndresHenriquez: March 24,10:00 a.m. ET NAEP reading results for ’09 to be released. http://bit.ly/aAjI4E #literacy #adolescentliteracy #
• RT @edreform: CER’s #edreform Headlines 3/19 http://bit.ly/cNcpBZ #edpolicy #
• RT @ClaytonMuhammad: RT @ScottWilliams: Sometimes you have to say “No” to good things, in order to say “Yes” to great things! #
• As if Andrew Sullivan has anything worth saying. RT @alexanderrusso: Quote: Denigrating Those Who Change Their Minds. http://bit.ly/bGnC4t #
• RT @MBAENews: Interesting debate @educationweek about whether teachers unions to blame for failing schools http://is.gd/aP2IJ #edreform #TQ #

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We need more black men like Roy Jones of Call Me MISTER to work with young black men and keep them on the path to graduation and college completion. Let's make it happen.

What’s on the minds of the dropout nation today:

1. Diane Ravitch’s new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System is certainly getting heavy play. Honestly, the book is just a step above bargain bin material from my perspective. Others feel the same way:  Cato Institute education czar Andrew Coulson notes that Ravitch offers little in the way of cogent policy analysis. She can’t comment on charter schools or vouchers because she’s education historian, not a policy analyst or a researcher of any kind. Declares he: “They should never have been given credence in the first place.” Although I will state that Coulson’s argument is a bit faulty (based on his theory, most school reformers also wouldn’t qualify), he is right to state clearly what should be known by now: Ravitch is the Evan Bayh of education policy.
2. Orestes Brownson is even more dismissive of Ravitch than Coulson or I would be. He also gives school reformers some grief: “One wishes, in vain, that education reformers would take their noses out of the test score tables and draft curriculae and talk about whether parents have a right to educate their children as they see fit… or not.” Understandable point, although I would argue that it isn’t exactly an either or. Parents should have the right to send their children to any high-quality educational options. At the same time, letting parents send children to failing schools is as much neglectful (and, dare I say, abusive) as physical abuse. There is a reasonable balance between anything goes and absolute restriction. Common core standards, from my perspective, seems unnecessary. Why? Because the National Assessment of Educational Progress already does a fine job of setting the bar for where states should be in terms of standards.
3. For a masterful historian on education, one need not go to Ravitch. There is Jeffrey Mirel, whose treatise on the failings of the comprehensive high school system should be widely read by those interested in why high schools need reform (and why ability tracking should be abandoned altogether). His book on the history of Detroit’s public schools system should also be read. One need not agree with all of his conclusions in order to appreciate his scholarship.
4. As Dropout Nation readers know, long-term pension and retiree health benefits and the evidence that seniority doesn’t equal quality are the two main forces that may lead to the end of traditional teachers compensation. Another reason why: The civil rights movement, which is now beginning to fully understand the consequences of seniority-based job protections (and the damage of “last hired-first fired” policies) to low-income students. As reported last month by the Los Angeles Times, the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the L.A. Unified School District for laying off its young teachers (and by proxy, being contractually unable to replace them with experienced teachers who don’t want to teach in schools serving poor children). At Samuel Gompers Middle School, the principal there recruited a highly-talented team of young teachers just to see them laid off; the school now depends on a rotating team of lower-quality substitutes. If the ACLU succeeds, this will result in a shock to every urban school system in the nation. And the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers will find themselves even more on the defensive.
5. In Tupelo, Miss., a group called 150 Men is teaming up with the local school district to mentor 150 young black male dropouts and get them back into school, according to WTVA. It is part of a larger effort by the district to get more black churches and fraternities to take the achievement gap and the dropout crisis as seriously as they took the fight against segregation five decades ago.
6. John Fensterwald notes that a few parent groups are asking state officials about the use of the Parent Trigger and open enrollment rules that can now be used by parents to either restructure failing schools their children attend or move them to better-performing schools in the area  (whether in their home district or outside of it). The two promising moves can help improve the quality of education for the poorest children. But as Fensterwald points out, the state hasn’t given thorough guidance on the use of either one. By the way, check out the Dropout Nation Podcast on Parent Trigger for more perspective.
7. The Common Core Standards initiative being headed up by the National Governors Association and the Council for Chief State School Officers has unveiled its math and English standards for comment. Feel free to leave your comments. Checker Finn has already offered his.

Check out this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast on next steps for Race to the Top. And read this week’s report on the possible impact of the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights efforts.

This week’s Dropout Nation Podcast focuses on California’s parent trigger school reform law (along with Connecticut’s efforts to pass a similar measure) and why the arguments against it from such skeptics such as Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews and Diane Ravitch don’t stand up to scrutiny.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod or MP3 player. Also, subscribe to the podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Podcast Alley, the Education Podcast Network and Zune Marketplace.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

More of what’s going on in the dropout nation today:

1. Kevin Carey reviews the decision by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to skip Race to the Top. His thoughts? “. This is just Rick Perry running for re-election against a legitimate primary opponent in Kay Bailey Hutchinson by pandering to the strain of bizarre and archaic separatism that is apparently still alive and well in the Texas body politic.” Ouch.
2. Andy Smarick offers more thoughts on Race to the Top, courtesy of his latest Education Next article. Writes he, the reform effort will only work if the district gets tough. His Fordham cohort, Smooth Mike, hopes that the recent Democrat debacle in the Bay State will force federal ed spending to decline. By the way: The Education Writers Association has just launched its new site tracking federal stimulus spending in education. Check it out.
3. Ed Week reports on U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s first year in office. Predictably, Diane Ravitch, as usual, has few kind words to say. Why? Basically because she shares the same thoughts on Duncan’s focus on charters, standardized testing and teacher quality as Randi Weingarten.
4. A University of California research coalition releases a report detailing how poor families are struggling — both in school and in the economy — courtesy of the recession. Whether schools can actually solve such issues — or should — is questionable. But interesting report nonetheless. (HT-John Fensterwald)
5. Speaking of new stuff, educator Kevin Washburn’s new book is out. (HT-Chad Ratliff)
6. Matthew Ladner goes all off education and writes about the U.S. Supreme Court’s strike down of campaign finance limits on corporate donations. This could become a major factor in education, especially as the NEA and AFT have doubled the number of campaign donations raised from their rank-and-file thusfar. I’ll talk more about this and the impact of Scott Brown’s election on education reform tomorrow in The American Spectator.
7. In the Beltway ed reform world, Big Ed Reform Andy No. 1 and Kim Smith are teaming up to form a consultancy. Rotherham’s former Education Sector colleague, Sara Mead, is joining.
8. Outside the Beltway, L.A. Unified’s reform effort continues. Here are the collection of proposals from the charter school operators, teachers union groups and mayoral offices. Enjoy.
9. And for some thoughts on teacher performance pay, check out Dropout Nation‘s video featuring Jason Kamras of D.C. Public Schools.

The dropout nation is brimming with news:

1. Matt Yglesias argues that some conservatives are moving past charters because they “don’t do anything to entrench the privileges of the wealthy.” As usual, Yglesias weakens his arguments with class warfare material instead of making a strong case for his position. For one, plenty of conservatives are supportive of charters; it’s usually hard-core libertarians — who, on principle, are opposed to any state intervention in education — and moderate Republicans representing suburban school districts (which oppose vouchers and charters altogether) who have issues with charters. Two, as seen in the case of D.C.‘s soon-to-be-shuttered voucher program and the pioneering program in Milwaukee (along with programs run by private foundations), all the kids attending private schools on vouchers are poor. If Yglesias is going to play the class warfare game, he should at least get it right.
2. In any case, charters and vouchers can both foster educational equity, especially for the poorest children, who couldn’t otherwise afford even the highest-quality Catholic schools. As I’ve reported in The Catholic World Report, Catholic archdioceses across the country struggle to maintain their position as the private schools of choice for poor immigrant, urban and rural families largely because of the costs. Allowing for both charters and vouchers, along with improving the quality of public education overall, helps to bring equity to all.
3. Speaking of charters: Diane Ravitch is at it again. At least she admits charter schools do work (even if it is a tad backhanded).
4. And the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools releases its rating of states today. The Washington Post has its take.
5. The Orlando Sentinel notes that only 14 Sunshine State districts have so far signed onto the state’s Race to the Top reform plan. Meanwhile the head of Florida’s PTA has taken a stand for Race to the Top participation.
6. Speaking of Race to the Top, Tom Carroll speculates on whether the state’s dysfunctional legislature will get the job done. Of course, the AFT’s New York State affiliate is key in this discussion — as as noted yesterday, aren’t exactly playing nice.
7. Speaking of the AFT, here is the video of union president Randi Weingarten’s announcement that it will begin supporting the use of student test score data in teacher evaluations. How much of this is proverbial rope-a-dope? As Andy Rotherham notes, Weingarten declares the union is turning over a new leaf every year with little in the way of follow-through. Weingarten’s letter in Monday’s Wall Street Journal (along with her classic “Bush II” comment last year) justifies the skepticism. But, as I’ve noted, the location of the AFT’s locals in hotbeds of reform, along with its history and demographics, makes it more likely that the union will actually walk the walk. Besides, as pointed out by the Education Equality Project, it’s a sweet way to stick it to the rival National Education Association (which has historically lagged behind the AFT in everything).
8. Meanwhile the guy causing all these dust-ups, Arne Duncan, gets a bashing from one outlet for lacking teaching experience. As if the most successful education reformers this past decade (or for that matter, this past century) have been teachers. By the way, my take on Duncan and the problems in reforming school districts is officially up today.
9. EducationNews’ Michael Shaughnessy interviews The Month of Zephram Mondays author Leslie A. Susskind. Short and interesting.
10. Chad Ratliff observes the appointment of a charter school-friendly state education chieftain in his home state of Virginia — a notoriously difficult state in which to start them — and is excited by the possibilities.
11. Joanne Jacobs comments on the latest round of charter school activity in L.A. and notes that charters are doing well by their students even if they have to admit all children– unlike magnet schools, which Richard Kahlenberg fails to point out in a screed dedicated to yours truly. As an aside: It is interesting that those arguing for equity support a form of public education that is inherently unequal and anti-family choice.
12. And for those interested in the role of broadband in education, here’s a PowerPoint presentation on distance learning and broadband given yesterday at the Broadband Breakfast by the Federal Communications Commission’s education director. Enjoy.