We Thought We Should Mention

Implementing the Standards

Jason Turner — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:54:46 +0000

Uh-oh. The EPE Research Center is reporting that, of the 46 states and D.C. that have adopted the Common Core State Standards, only seven have fully developed plans to put them into practice in the three key areas of: instructional material, professional development, and teacher evaluation systems. Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, West Virginia, [...]

The Shadow Scholar

Jason Turner — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:41:19 +0000

We wrote a while back on ‘The Shadow Scholar’, a piece by academic mercenary, Ed Dante (a pseudonym) detailing his career as a ghost writer for hire: I’ve gotten pretty good at interpreting this kind of correspondence. The client had attached a document from her professor with details about the paper. She needed the first section [...]

Less Than Prepared

Jason Turner — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:21:56 +0000

Here’s an interesting new study out from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) examining the preparedness of Texas students for college-level reading. Researchers used the Lexile measure to gauge both student reading level and the demands of entry level college reading in English. Unfortunately, they found that many 11th grade Texas students, particularly among a [...]

The Year of Big Data

Tasha Lattanzio — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:10:41 +0000

The Economist recently published a thought-provoking article on the rapidly increasing accumulation of data. In “Welcome to the yotta world, Ludwig Siegele, explores the role Big Data will play in our future. With the amount of digital data growing exponentially (or rather exaponentially), new vocabulary will become a part of our everyday lexicon. Kilo, mega, [...]

Text Complexity Takes Hold

Jason Turner — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:25:16 +0000

Given the Common Core’s emphasis on text complexity, an increasing number of educators are paying more attention to the complexity of the texts they assign. Here at MetaMetrics, our focus has always been on understanding the relationship between the reader and the text and utilizing a common metric (Lexile) to characterize that relationship. That’s why we’re so [...]

It’s the Teachers

Tasha Lattanzio — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:22:47 +0000

A recent edition of Science Magazine published a thought-provoling piece on our education system called “It’s the Teachers.” (subscription required) Written by John E. Burris, president of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, this editorial contributes to the ongoing conversation on international education trends. Considering the results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) [...]

Policy Brief: Achieving Success in Mathematics

Tasha Lattanzio — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:45:46 +0000

MetaMetrics recently released a policy brief on the mathematical education issues now facing our nation’s students. Written by MetaMetrics President and Co-founder Malbert Smith, and Director of Professional Development, Jason Turner, A Mathematical Problem: How to Help Students Achieve Success in Mathematics Through College and Beyond examines what it means to be college and career [...]

America’s Report Card: Quality Counts 2012

Tasha Lattanzio — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:45:41 +0000

On January 12th, 2012 Education Week released the annual Quality Counts grade report for all 50 states and D.C. Our nation averaged a C. The Quality Counts report card grades on six distinct areas of policy and performance. Unfortunately, with so much recent discussion focused on comparing US students to their international peers, this latest news [...]

To Read or Not to Read…

Tasha Lattanzio — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:12:19 +0000

That is NOT the question according to Walter Dean Myers, the newly appointed National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. During his two-year ambassadorship, Myers will promote the theme: Reading Is Not Optional. We could not agree more. Furthermore, we could not be happier that Myers has been designated the nation’s third Ambassador for Young People’s [...]

U.S. Education: A Fallen Champion

Tasha Lattanzio — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:02:24 +0000

In the academic race, we once reigned supreme. Now chasing the coattails of other countries, America currently ranks 15th, 23rd and 31st in reading, science and math respectively. In a CNN primetime special, Restoring the American Dream: Fixing Education, Fareed Zakaria investigates our failing education system. Zakaria discusses just how lacking the current state of US education is by [...]