forum

What’s a Teacher Worth?
Much more, and much less, than what they get now

The Uniform Salary Schedule
Brad Jupp puts the union label on merit pay in Denver
By Brad Jupp

All Teachers Are Not the Same
Julia Koppich argues that we have the tools for recognizing—and rewarding— the best teachers.
By Julia E. Koppich

Recognizing Differences
Lewis Solmon makes the case for rewarding better teachers with more money.
By Lewis C. Solmon

features

The Moral Imperative
Character Education, soul by soul, at the Hyde Schools
By James Traub

Where Have All the Dollars Gone?
An NCLB lawsuit fizzles
By Brad Bumsted

Retaining Retention
How Chicago changed, but ultimately saved, its controversial program to end social promotions
By Alexander Russo

Teachers and Students Speak
Those closest to the action like the retention policy
By Susan Stone and Robin Tepper Jacob

Skewed Perspective
What we know about teacher preparation at elite education schools
By David Steiner

research

Dollars and Sense
What a Tennessee experiment tells us about merit pay
By Benjamin J. Keys and Thomas S. Dee

check the facts

No Distortion Left Behind
The New York Times education columnist gets it wrong
By Andrew J. Rotherham

Who Got The Raw Deal in Gotham?
The kids or New York Times readers?
By Joe Williams

Gray Lady Wheezing
The AFT hoodwinks the Times
By Martin R. West and William G. Howell

from the editors

Paying Teachers Properly
That the uniform salary “schedule” for teachers is obsolete and dysfunctional is a truth widely accepted but rarely challenged.
By Chester E. Finn Jr.

correspondence

Supplemental services; keeping good teachers
Siobhan Gorman’s “Selling Supplemental Services” (Feature, Fall 2004) was informative and engaging, but, like much of the discussion on the subject, it furthers a theme that school districts are the “bad guys.”

book reviews

Reading, Writing, and Willpower
Doomed to Fail: The Built-In Defects of American Education by Paul A. Zoch
By Diane Ravitch

Book Alert
The New Division of Labor: How Computers Are Creating the Next Job Market, by Frank Levy and Richard J. Murnane; Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap, by Richard Rothstein; Leaving No Child Behind? Options for Kids in Failing Schools, by Frederick M. Hess and Chester E. Finn Jr., eds.; Standards Deviation: How Schools Misunderstand Education Policy, by James P. Spillane

The Softening of American Education
Hard America, Soft America: Competition vs. Coddling and the Battle for the Nation’s Future By Michael Barone
By Nathan Glazer

school life

Field Notes ... 02.12.03
A Day in the Life of an Education Professor Who Came Down from the Ivory Tower to Start a Charter School
By Robert Slater