HGSE in the Media

September 2007

Kozol Campaigns for Educational Reform
"In an appearance co-sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Askwith Education Forum, the Cambridge Forum and the Harvard Book Store, Kozol discussed his new book Letters to a Young Teacher." (Harvard Gazette, 9/27/07)

Kansas Can Do More on Early Childhood
"The vocabularies of 3-year-olds from poor families are a third of those of more affluent preschoolers." – Professor Jack Shonkoff (Kansas City Star, 9/21/07)

China's 'Perfect Child' Generation
"This was the generation that was supposed to be the perfect children.... With only one child to raise, parents could provide the food, clothing and education to make each child a winner." – Assistant Professor Vanessa Fong (BBC News, 9/20/07)

Sounding Reville for Schools
"The biggest attribute Mr. Reville, president of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy in Cambridge and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, brings to the board is his common sense. In one of his recent classes at Harvard, he noted how schools are now required to get all kids to reach the same high standards, despite the children’s varied social, educational and economic backgrounds." (The Worcester Telegram, 9/19/07)

Draft Proposal Seeks to Equalize School Resources
"[Professor] Susan Moore Johnson, an expert on teachers’ careers and teacher-union collective bargaining at Harvard University’s graduate school of education, cautioned against exaggerating the dangers of contract violations. The bigger game for unions and for districts, she said, would be to work together to ensure that extra dollars to high-poverty schools were wisely spent." (Education Week, 9/18/07. Free registration required.)

The Public (Non-Salary) Advantage
"A study released Monday by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (or COACHE) suggests that public colleges may have some advantages, at least once money is set aside." (Insidehighered.com, 9/18/07)

Parent-School Conflict Is Lesson on Efficacy
"Family-school experts Henderson and Karen L. Mapp, a former Boston school administrator and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education -- asked by The Post to review a sample of the Maryvale messages -- said they were 'on the whole, respectful, courteous and trying to understand the other’s position.'" (The Washington Post, 9/17/07)

This Is Your (Father's) Brain on Drugs
"More responsible brain researchers — like Daniel Siegel of the University of California at Los Angeles and [Professor] Kurt Fischer at Harvard’s Mind, Brain and Education Program — caution that scientists are just beginning to identify how systems in the brain work." (New York Times, 9/17/07. Registration required.)

Teachers Told to Take Control
"Harvard University professor Richard Elmore says educators do not exercise serious control over the terms and conditions of who gets to practice, they do not have a clear body of knowledge and they have not risen to the challenge of policing the competence of their own colleagues." (The Age, 9/14/07)

Reville To Chair State Ed. Board
"In an e-mailed statement to the Crimson, [Lecturer Paul] Reville wrote, ‘We hope not only to close learning gaps, but to realize the promise of our society that one’s destiny need not be determined by one’s socio-economic circumstances as a child.'" (Harvard Crimson, 9/10/07)

2nd SAT Dip in Row Stirs Debate on 2005 Revision
"I would say, ‘Hmm, it’s a warning sign.' If we keep getting these kinds of declines, then that’s something we’ve got to start worrying about." – Professor Daniel Koretz (Education Week, 9/5/07. Free registration required.)

Art for Our Sake
"Why do we teach the arts in schools? In an educational system strapped for money and increasingly ruled by standardized tests, arts courses can seem almost a needless extravagance, and the arts are being cut back at schools across the country." – Senior Research Associate Ellen Winner and Research Associate Lois Hetland of Project Zero (Boston Globe, 9/2/07)

Which Way, IT?
"In this time of explosive change in the acquisition of knowledge and information, how will ed tech organizations cope? [Professor Christopher] Dede said the key is to focus, not on what technology enables, but on the objectives you seek. After all, he said, channeling Yogi Berra, 'If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.'" (THE Journal, 9/07)