"Juggling Academic Pressures" (San Jose Mercury News, 06-21-05)
SUSE Lecturer Denise Clark Pope says that the problem of America's "overachievers" is often overshadowed by the focus on "underachievers," the youths at the bottom of the academic spectrum. But, she argues, "the students who are succeeding by working the system aren't what America needs, either. And there are more and more of these teens -- of course, no one knows exactly how many -- scattered across the country, often in places like Silicon Valley, where driven, well-educated parents set expectations high."

Arts Education

"Three Rs Are Essential, but Don't Forget the A -- the Arts" (Los Angeles Times, 01-03-05)
SUSE Professor Elliot Eisner answers the questions: Just what do the arts have to offer to our children? Are they really important? Put most directly, what do the arts have to teach?
Attached Document: Three R's Are Essential.doc

California Education System

"Investment in Public Education for State's Students Pays Off" (06-02-08)
The success of East Palo Alto Academy has shown that a great deal can be accomplished with even a modest increase over California's low investment in most of its students, says Dean Deborah Stipek.

"Finding Right Mix for School Funding" (01-13-08)
Although California faces a grim education state budget this year, Professor Emeritus Michael Kirst says that additional dollars won't make a difference if California doesn't change how it funds its public schools.

"Sizing Up the Excellence Committee Report" (01-08-08)
Professor Emeritus Michael Kirst shared his thoughts on the recommendations put forth by the California Governor's Committee on Education Excellence on how to overhaul California's pre-K-12 schools.

"Brown v. Board: 50 Years Later" (Sacramento Bee, 05-16-04)
Former SUSE Dean Marshall Smith argues that 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education, California schools and teachers do not have the resources they need to be effective. He urges the Governor to take the opportunity to settle Williams v. State of California to begin to address the state's problems.
Attached Document: Brown v. Board.doc

Education Research

"Out of the Tower and Into the Classroom" (10-03-07)
SUSE Dean Deborah Stipek says that many educational researchers are not well-informed of the real challenges practitioners face, which undermines the relevance of their research. The problem, she argues, stems in part from a disconnect that exists between research and practice.

"Maintaining the Vitality of Our Irrelevance: Preparing a Future Generation of Education Researchers" (Education Week, 04-06-05)
SUSE Professor Sam Wineburg argues that educational researchers need to work harder at ensuring that their research is relevant to the general public. He argues, "We have aided and abetted those who seek to stifle our voice in the public debate over education. While paying lip service to communicating to a general audience, we continue to write in ways that have us talking only to ourselves."
Attached Document: Sam Wineburg op-ed.doc

Head Start

"Head Start: Can't We Have Our Cake and Eat it Too?" (Education Week, 05-05-04)
SUSE Dean Deborah Stipek discusses the controversial issues surrounding the purpose and nature of the Head Start program in light of the reauthorization currently under way in Congress.
Attached Document: Head Start.doc

Higher Education

"State's Economy Needs More College-educated Latinos" (San Jose Mercury News, 02-27-08)
California stands to produce too few college graduates to fuel its cutting-edge service economy, mainly because not enough Latinos attend and complete college, says Martin Carnoy.

"We Are Betraying the College Dream in America - - But Who Cares?" (Palo Alto Weekly, 06-15-05)
SUSE Professor Michael Kirst says that recent spate of news stories focusing on stressed-out students and parents and competitive college admissions gives the false impression that this is the typical experience for college-bound high-school students across the nation. He contends, "Nothing could be further from the truth, because about 70 percent of high-school graduates go on to college within two years of graduation -- although many must do some catch-up remedial work once they get there."

"Auditing Higher Education to Improve Quality" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 06-20-03)
SUSE Emeritus Professor William Massy advocates audits of higher education institutions to ensure high quality education is being delivered. He includes seven common-sense principles and practices that can help a department improve its processes developed by researchers at the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement at Stanford University.

"Undermining Student Aspirations" (CrossTalk, 05-08-03)
SUSE Professor Michael Kirst and Andrea Venezia, Director of K-16 projects at the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research, share their views and the Bridge Project's research findings on the frayed connections between K-12 and postsecondary education.

History (Teaching)

"Opening Up the Textbook" (06-05-07)
Professor Sam Wineburg says that the main problem of history textbooks is not how they're written, but that they exist in the first place. According to Wineburg, "History's complexity requires us to encounter multiple voices" - the antithesis of the simplified, "godlike" narratives of most history textbooks.

"Teaching the Mind Good Habits" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 04-11-03)
SUSE Professor Sam Wineburg argues that many students have never learned the basic but powerful skills of interpretation. He argues, "As teachers, we need to remember what the world looked like before we learned our discipline's ways of seeing it. We need to show our students the patient and painstaking processes by which we achieved expertise. Only by making our footsteps visible can we expect students to follow in them."

"Teaching history: We are still crazy after all these years" (Tallahassee Democrat, 06-09-02)
SUSE Professor Sam Wineburg suggests teachers try a "radically different tack" for teaching history, including using accurate history on film and shorter, more focused texts that emphasize depth over breadth.
Attached Document: Teaching History.doc

International Comparative Education

"Why Low-Income Children Excel in Cuban Schools" (San Jose Mercury News, 04-26-07)
Professor Martin Carnoy, author of Cuba's Academic Advantage, argues that our California school system could learn a lot from Cuban schools, where the lowest-income students outperform most upper-middle-class students in the rest of Latin America.

No Child Left Behind Act

"No Child Left Behind needs more than tests " (Pasadena Star-News, 05-28-04)
Stanford University School of Education Professer Linda Darling-Hammond, along with Pedro Noguera, argue that despite the laudable intentions that led to the No Child Left Behind Act's adoption, key aspects of the law are fundamentally flawed and the U.S. remains a long way off from realizing the goal of providing a high-quality education to all children.

Open Access

"Access and Taxes" (02-13-08)
As Harvard University considers adopting an open access policy for the publications of its faculty, Professor John Willinsky discusses the stakes associated with such choices and their potential impact on the public use of knowledge.

Policy

"The Day After" (12-07-07)
Professor Sam Wineburg, with Dr. Eli Gottlieb, contend that the heated rhetoric surrounding the Israeli teachers' strike has swept aside discussion of the processes of teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment at the heart of the educational enterprise.

"Swing State" (Education Next, Summer 2002, 07-01-02)
SUSE Professor Michael Kirst discusses the history of California's ever-changing accountability initiatives and questions whether the state's current accountability system will change and improve classroom instruction.

Reading

"The Scientific Teaching of Reading" (Education Week, 01-26-05)
SUSE Professor Michael Kamil, along with Hoover Institution Distinguished Visiting Fellow Herbert Walberg, outline the most important aspects of teaching reading to elementary-aged children.

School finance

"Today's method is outdated, confusing and inadequate" (San Jose Mercury News, 11-23-03)
SUSE Professor Michael Kirst argues that today's method of financing California's schools should be "thrown out." After outlining the history of how the CA school finance system became so inadequate, he offers several suggestions for turning the system around.

School Leadership

"Influencing Transformative Learning for Leaders" (The School Administrator, 08-29-06)
SUSE Associate Professor Steve Davis says that superintendents are uniquely positioned to cultivate workplace conditions that stimulate on-the-job learning for school administrators. By citing experts on adult learning, Davis offers several useful suggestions.

Science and gender

"Can Harvard Ever Play a Positive Role for Women in Higher Education?" (Chronicle of Higher Education, 02-04-05)
SUSE Professor Myra Strober criticizes Harvard President Lawrence Summers for his remarks about gender differences in math and science ability.
Attached Document: Harvard and Women.doc

"Science is cool--for girls, too" (San Jose Mercury News, 10-24-03)
SUSE Dean Deborah Stipek and astronaut Sally Ride write: Statistics show that in early elementary school, boys and girls share equal interests and aptitude in math and science. But as early as third grade, girls have begun to second-guess their abilities, according to a new study by Stanford University researchers. The study, which followed 300 students from kindergarten or first grade through fifth grade, found that despite scoring as well as boys in math, girls rated their abilities lower than boys -- and parents started rating their daughters lower in ability than their sons!

Science Education

Science achievement, country's economic growth is not linked (Spectrum Online, 02-09-07)
In an op-ed to be published by Spectrum Online, Professor Francisco Ramirez debunks the popular belief that math and science achievement is linked to a country's economic growth.

Standardized Tests

"High Quality Standards, a Curriculum Based on Critical Thinking can Enlighten our Students" (10-15-07)
Most tests in U.S. classrooms don't measure the skills that are critical for succeeding in the global economy, argues Linda Darling-Hammond.

"What Does It Take to Graduate?" (San Francisco Chronicle, 06-28-05)
SUSE Professor Linda Darling-Hammond argues in favor of California Assembly Bill 1531, which would allow districts and schools to use performance assessments alongside the state exit exam to determine graduation starting in 2006. She states, "In a nationwide study of state graduation policies over the last decade, we found that most states that have successfully raised standards and increased graduation rates use a state test as only one indicator of achievement, taking additional measures--including grades, coursework and performance assessments--into account when determining graduation."

"State Hasn't Done Its Homework on High School Exit Exams" (San Jose Mercury News, 06-21-05)
SUSE Professor Linda Darling-Hammond and School Redesign Network Associate Director Elle Rustique-Forrester argue that California should learn from other states' experiences: Keep the exit exam, but augment it with other sources of evidence and adequate investments in students' learning.
Attached Document: High School Exit Exams.jpg

"When Testing Trumps Learning" (Los Angeles Times, 05-16-02)
SUSE Dean Deborah Stipek challenges the high school Advanced Placement (AP) tests, arguing that AP courses are about test preparation rather than about learning.

"The College Admissions Derby" (New York Times, 04-13-02)
SUSE Lecturer Denise Clark Pope argues that revising the SAT is not likely to have much of an effect. She suggests that by devaluing test scores and emphasizing more qualitative review methods, colleges may be able to assess more effectively the traits that help students succeed in college.

Teacher Quality

"We Need to Invest in Math and Science Teachers" (12-18-07)
Professor Linda Darling-Hammond says that creating a high-quality teaching force in math and science will lead to student success and employability, and contribute to our our nation's competitiveness.

"A Marshall Plan for Teaching" (Education Week, 01-10-07)
School of Education Linda Darling-Hammond says that improving teacher quality is essential to closing the achievement gap and attaining higher levels of achievement across the board.

"Vetting and Understanding Research" (Stanford Daily, 04-21-05)
SUSE Professor Linda Darling-Hammond responds to criticisms of her new study with SUSE colleagues that shows that elementary students in Houston, Texas, consistently performed better when they were taught by certified teachers rather than by uncertified teachers.

"In Praise of Good Teachers" (San Francisco Chronicle, 05-23-04)
SUSE Dean Deborah Stipek provides research that shows the effectiveness of good teaching on student learning outcomes. She argues that in California, too few students have access to qualified teachers, especially in schools serving children of color and children from low-income families.

"Lesson One: Training Counts" (Los Angeles Times, 09-01-02)
SUSE Professor Linda Darling-Hammond argues that highly qualified and trained California teachers are the keys to student success and fighting crime. With training, mentoring, and higher salaries, qualified teachers appear and stay in school districts longer than those with emergency or "intern" or "pre-intern" credentials. California staffing problems can be resolved, she asserts, as evidenced throughout the nation.

"Bringing School Quality to a Level Playing Field" (TIAA-CREF Investment Forum, March 2002, 03-01-02)
SUSE Associate Professor Susanna Loeb believes that raising teacher quality is key to improving America's schools. She discusses the importance of raising teacher salaries to increase the quality, quantity, and equitable distribution of teachers.

Attached Document: Loeb.pdf

Technology in Education

"The Laptop Revolution Has No Clothes" (Education Week, 10-18-06)
School of Education Emeritus Professor Larry Cuban argues that the trend among schools to give each student a laptop has not revolutionized teaching and learning and increased test scores, as its advocates claim.

Urban School Reform

"Powerful Reforms With Shallow Roots" (Education Week, 02-27-02)
SUSE Emeritus Professor Larry Cuban, along with Michael Usdan, analyze major governance and leadership changes in six large urban school districts: Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Seattle. Complete findings will be published in their book Powerful Reforms With Shallow Roots: Educational Change in Six Cities, due out this spring by Teachers College Press.

Attached Document: Usdan and Cuban.doc