Comments on: RTTT… Yawn

By: PhilLombardo

PhilLombardo — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:16:13 +0000

Yes, changed their laws for the worst. Anyone with experience in a classroom or the testing field will gladly tell you the detrimental effect accountability testing has on students.

By: Dan Willingham

Dan Willingham — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:16:58 +0000

I’m with you: yawn. Nothing will change. States are playacting to the get the money.

By: Greg Forster

Greg Forster — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:39:50 +0000

Who writes the formulas?

By: Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:18:37 +0000

We had better hope they don’t RTTT-ize more of the budget next year. Just think of the opportunities for political patronage. It’s bad enough how they are rewarding political allies (e.g. NY, IL, OH) now with a small sum. Formula funding has the virtue of being relatively politically neutral.

By: Greg Forster

Greg Forster — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:32:31 +0000

Fair enough!

I guess the real question is whether Obama/Duncan (Obuncan?) decide they want to RTTT-ize a much larger portion of DOE spending next year. That’s one of the rumors we’ve heard. If they do, this year’s RTTT will be seen in retrospect as a successful pilot.

By: Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:51:32 +0000

Some states changed their laws this past year but some states changed their laws the year before that and each year before that.

I concede that RTTT has changed the acceptable terms of state and local debates and may indirectly lead to the adoption of some important reforms. But I think there is much less here than people think.

By: Greg Forster

Greg Forster — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:45:32 +0000

But some states did change their laws, yes? Since when does Jay Greene consider it an argument that something had no effect because it failed to have a larger effect?

And if the amount of money is so small, shouldn’t that count as a plus? I mean, measure this in terms of impact divided by dollars.

By: Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:28:24 +0000

I wouldn’t bet on that, Concerned. Kentucky didn’t change their laws to allow charter schools and it is a finalist. New York didn’t change their laws to allow test scores in teacher evaluations and it is a finalit. California did change their law on use of testing in evaluations, but it is not a finalist.

By: concerned

concerned — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:25:09 +0000

A rounding error that may affect state laws for many years to come.

By: Daniel Earley

Daniel Earley — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:09:58 +0000

It’s not too often that I’m reminded of the lofty criteria for granting Most Favored Nation status to China, but alas….