Don’t miss the first link in this post

'Wisconsin Teachers Protest' photo (c) 2011, WxMom - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Here are some recent useful articles on education policy issues:

Reliability and Validity of Inferences About Teachers Based on Student Test Scores by Edward H. Haertel from Stanford University was published by The Education Testing Service (ETS). Though I’ve only had a chance to skim it, it appears to be an extraordinary critique of the use of Value Added Measures in teacher evaluation. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation.

Do American public schools really stink? Maybe not is from Politico. I’m adding it to The Best Articles Pointing Out That Our Schools Are Not Failing.

Education and poverty, again is by Matt Bruenig. I’m adding it to The Best Places To Learn What Impact A Teacher & Outside Factors Have On Student Achievement.

The Race Between Education and Technology—Revisited is by Marc Tucker at Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Posts About Trust & Education.

Cyber schools flunk, but tax money keeps flowing is from Politico. I’m adding it to A Beginning “The Best…” List On The Dangers Of Privatizing Public Education.

What is Common Core and why is everyone—right, left—so mad about it? is by Alexander Russo and appears on Slate. I think it gives a decent overview of Common Core for those who are not familiar with it.

Jonathan Kozol reviews Diane Ravitch’s new book in The New York Times. You can read a few other thoughtful reviews here.

A lot of attention has been paid to the release of SAT scores this week. Here are two pieces that provide good perspectives: Why the new SAT scores are meaningless by Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post and College Board ‘Concerned’ About Low SAT Scores from NPR (especially the second half of that report).

Bill Gates: ‘It would be great if our education stuff worked but…’ is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The Role Of Private Foundations In Education Policy.

The bottom line on charter school studies appeared in The Washington Post. I’m adding it to A Beginning List Of The Best Posts & Articles On The Charter School CREDO Study.