Education policy waxes and wanes as a major policy interest in this country. We latch onto one big policy idea, poiticians make some big speeches and then we throw some legislation at it. Politics, financial contraints, and reality inevitably water down the original idea, until we hit a depression point and realize that nothing has changed. After a few years of nothing new, people start talking again and we begin the cycle of reform with new vigor.

Where are we right now?

No Child Left Behind has left us with a legacy of state standardized tests. These tests give us some rough measurements for showing how miserably we’re failing urban and poor kids, but doesn’t give us any tools for helping them out.

Michelle Rhee is still talking about politics, specifically the unions, as the primary cause of school problems. Nicholas Lemann has an article talking about Rhee and similar reformers who hope to bring about change through performance incentives, choice, and private options. There is still some chatter about school vouchers, but this brand of reform isn’t as hot as it was in the past.

Some people are focusing on the need for early childhood education and parenting reform as an essential first step for reform. The KIPP schools and their ilk are modeled on the premise that poor kids need to be re-programmed to behave like middle class kids. The kids from those programs don’t have a great track record, when removed from the highly structured, military-style schools.

Others are hating on the entire system of public education. Penelope Trunk’s homeschooling blog gives me a little insight in that sector.

The education policy geeks are flitting around with various new ideas, but I’m not seeing a clear winner right  now.

I would like to see the model of highly regarded special education programs, like Ian’s program, being appied to urban schools. Special education programs have extremely small class size, ability-based instruction, therapy for weaknesses, and frequent meetings with parents. It’s expensive though, so it would be hard to implement on a large scale. Still, it would interesting to see how effective this model would work with a general population of needy kids.