The Weighted Student Formula: Is There a Better Way to Fund Indiana Education?
Indiana Writers Group column for release March 14 and thereafter 655 words by Lisa Snell In Indiana, like most states, school funding is not attached to the child; families cannot easily choose between local public schools based on quality. As a consequence, public schools have no incentive to improve because children have no right of Read the full article…
The Slippery Slope of Curriculum Mandates
Indiana Writers Group column for March 7 and thereafter 730 words By Andrea Neal The Indiana House has forwarded to the Senate a bill requiring that Indiana public schools “include a study of the Holocaust in each high school United States history course.” As curriculum mandates go, this one isn’t too onerous. Any history teacher Read the full article…
Full-Day Kindergarten: Is it Worth the Money?
Indiana Writers Group column for Feb 28 648 words By Lisa Snell Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed a full-day kindergarten plan in his State of the State address and the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that would make full-day kindergarten available to Indiana children this fall. When fully implemented, the price tag could reach $285 Read the full article…
A Chance to Improve Reading Instruction
A Chance to Improve Reading InstructionIndiana Writers Group column for Feb. 21 and thereafter 745 words By Andrea NealIn the 2001-02 school year, Indianapolis Public Schools launched a reading initiative that used a lot more phonics in the early grades. The switch wasn’t easy on teachers. They had to change the way they did things: Read the full article…
Indiana Education: What’s Got to Change
With Indiana Writers Group column for 2/14/07 327 words By Samuel Staley, Ph.D. Five years ago the Indiana Policy Review Foundation commissioned a team of researchers to individually analyze the labor contracts of each of the 294 regular school districts in Indiana. The resulting report, “Public Education Without Romance: The Impact of Collective Bargaining Read the full article…
Public School Funding in Indiana: Are We Spending Enough?
Indiana Writers Group column for release Feb. 14 and thereafter 618 words Editors: This article assesses the current funding system for Indiana’s public schools. It may be used independently or with the introduction by Dr. Sam Staley. These are the first in a group of articles on education reform to be released this legislative session. Read the full article…
