forum

Young Einsteins
Should Head Start emphasize academic skills?

Much Too Early
Children must master the language of things before they master the language of words.

SIDEBAR: Head Start by Tyce Palmaffy.

SIDEBAR: More than the Three Rs by Edward Zigler and Sally J. Styfco.
By David Elkind

Much Too Late
Preschool classrooms in which teachers believe it is developmentally inappropriate to teach early literacy are classrooms in which only children who get this help at home will be ready for school.
By Grover J. Whitehurst

features

Early Warning System
How to prevent reading disabilities
By G. Reid Lyon and Jack M. Fletcher

In Praise of Mediocrity
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program
By Tom Loveless and Paul DiPerna

Speaking in Many Tongues
Diversity among Christian schools
By David Sikkink

research

Raising Black Achievement
Vouchers and the Test-Score Gap

Vouchers in New York, Dayton, and D.C.
The privately funded voucher programs in New York City, Dayton, and the District of Columbia are especially conducive to study.
By William G. Howell, Patrick J. Wolf, Paul E. Peterson and David E. Campbell

Vouchers in Charlotte
During the 1999–2000 school year, the private Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) offered partial scholarships to low-income students in Charlotte, North Carolina.
By Jay P. Greene

Significant, but Not Decisive
Research has yielded relatively few definitive findings to guide policymakers on what educational interventions might enhance student achievement.
By Dan Goldhaber

Why Students in Some Countries Do Better
International evidence on the importance of education policy
By Ludger Woessmann

check the facts

Flunking ETS
How Teaching Matters by Harold Wenglinsky, Educational Testing Service
By Michael Podgursky

Defrocking the National Board
The Certification System of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards by Lloyd Bond, Richard Jaeger, Tracy Smith, & John Hattie
By Michael Podgursky

from the editors

Getting a Head Start
Is preschool too early for academic instruction?

correspondence

RAND versus Hanushek, educational McCarthyism, & more
RAND versus Hanushek, educational McCarthyism, & more

book review

Choice Lite
When Schools Compete: A Cautionary Tale by Edward B. Fiske & Helen F. Ladd
By Jennifer L. Hochschild and Mark Harrison

The Charter Movement
Charter Schools in Action: Renewing Public Education by Chester E. Finn Jr., Bruno V. Manno, & Gregg Vanourek
By Bruce Fuller

education matters to me

A Few Good Schools
Why start a charter school in the style of a military college-prep academy? Put simply, Oakland’s public high schools are a disaster.
By Jerry Brown