Media & Events

Media Support

• May 8, 2013: Greater Greater Washington

  Test Score Data Has Appropriate Uses and Limitations

  By Elaine Weiss

  Steve Glazerman recently suggested in a blog on Greater Greater Washington that using NAEP to expose reformers' exaggerated claims, as BBA recently did, constitutes "misnaepery." Check out BBA explanation of NAEP's superiority (and other reasons that Glazerman is wrong).

• April 22, 2013: Huffington Post

  Can We Move Past Market-oriented "Reforms" to Policies That Actually Work?

  By Elaine Weiss

  It has been a decade since reformers promised a swift solution to America's most challenging education problems. Instead of results, we have gotten rhetoric, and our children have fallen further behind. It is time we adopt policy solutions that match the depth and complexity of the problems and address them head on.

• April 15, 2013: Huffington Post

  Missing the Point on Cheating -- The Incentives Problem is far Bigger

  By Elaine Weiss

  Recent coverage of the arrest of former Atlanta superintendent Beverly Hall misses a larger pattern. Cheating is just one of many responses to heightened pressure in recent years to deliver the impossible: substantially increased test scores, in short order. Yes, district-level cheating problems have risen in tandem with this pressure, but so have other forms of gaming the system, all of which pose similar detriments to students. A new report from the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education documents the widespread nature of this problem.

• April 14, 2013: Washington Post Answer Sheet

  Study: School reform in 3 major cities brings few benefits, some harm

  By Valerie Strauss

  Many people paying attention to corporate-based school reform in recent years will not be surprised by this, but a new study on the effects of this movement in Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago concludes that little has been accomplished and some harm has been done to students, especially the underprivileged.

+ media support archive

Coverage of BBA Launch

• September 11, 2008: Slate

  The Divide

  By Paul Tough

  In contrast to education "reformers" such as Joel Klein who support increased spending on charter schools, testing, and performance-based rewards, the BBA calls for a redirection of funds towards early-childhood education, health care, and other social supports.

• July 17, 2008: Christian Science Monitor

  Do better schools help the poor?

  By Walt Gardner

  Data suggests that better schools do not address the problem of under achievement.  Instead, resources should be directed towards a broader, bolder approach, incorporating childcare, parental support, and community involvement.

+ more BBA Launch Coverage