HGSE in the Media

April 2008

How Can the Achievement Gap Be Closed? A Freakonomics Quorum
"Understanding the reasons why so many black and brown Americans enter adulthood with extremely weak skills and low educational attainments is central to figuring out how to change the future." - Professor Richard Murnane (The New York Times, 04/29/08)

Drawing Lessons
"The studies invoked as proof that involvement in band — or dance or sculpture — spurs higher academic performance actually show nothing of the sort. To the consternation of arts proponents wedded to this way of arguing, the instrumental logic has been challenged by a team of investigators affiliated with Harvard’s Project Zero, an education research group with a focus on the arts." (The New York Times Magazine, 04/27/08)

Cronin Takes Long View of Boston Schools, from Busing to the MCAS
"Joseph Cronin ’56, M.A.T.’57, came to Harvard on April 16 to examine the system’s struggles and successes over the past 76 years, detailed in his new book, Reforming Boston Schools, 1930-2006: Overcoming Corruption and Racial Segregation." (Harvard Gazette, 04/24/08)

Schools CEO Seeks Expert Advice
"Incoming Philadelphia School District CEO Arlene Ackerman [Ed.D.'02] has commissioned a panel of 24 local and national experts to evaluate the district and make recommendations before the next school year…The panel is cochaired by Kent McGuire, dean of Temple University's College of Education since 2003, and [Professor] Robert Peterkin, director of the Urban Superintendents’ Program for the Harvard Graduate School of Education." (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 04/24/08)

Catching Up on Algebra
"Algebra is a pretty big leap in abstraction," said [Assistant Professor] Jon R. Star, an educational psychologist at Harvard University who has studied how students understand math. For many students, Mr. Star said, '‘ideas about x and y just don't make sense.' U.S. schools, he said, have struggled to 'help students make that leap.'" (Education Week, 04/23/08. Free registration required.)

E Pluribus ... A Tale of Three Systems
"One can debate whether a straight line can be drawn between the release of A Nation at Risk in 1983 and the signing of the federal No Child Left Behind Act in 2002. But at least in one respect, these two documents are of a piece. Both assert that the United States faces a serious educational problem, and both maintain that the problem needs to be addressed by the nation as a whole." - Professor Howard Gardner (Education Week, 04/23/08. Free registration required.)

You’ve Gotta Reach ‘Em to Teach ‘Em - Educational Hip-Hop Offers Hope
"In more general terms, the Harvard Graduate School of Education with its Project Zero research is examining the role of the arts in learning with the goal of creating learning experiences that are engaging and exciting for children." (News Release Wire, 04/18/08)

Community Organizing Portrayed as Plus for City Schools
"The study, said Mark R. Warren, a professor at Harvard University’s graduate school of education, marks the 'the most systematic effort to demonstrate that organizing efforts can and do improve student outcomes.'" (Education Week, 04/16/08. Free registration required.)

Black-White Gap Widens Faster for High Achievers
"We need to pay more attention to micro-level dynamics. There may be some issues around teacher expectations tied into race that have something to do with these outcomes. You really have to parse out educational opportunities and see what differences might be there." - Associate Professor John Diamond (Education Week, 04/16/08. Free registration required.)

Focusing On Neuroplasticity At The Learning And The Brain Conference
"Every conference brings together top scientists who are doing cutting-edge research with practitioners who lead the way in connecting research to practice. Neuroscience is creating powerful tools that can greatly improve education." - Professor Kurt Fischer (Medical News Today, 04/15/08)

Program Promotes Family Bonding
"The FAST program is one of the most effective 'family-strengthening intervention programs' in the country and several scientific studies affirm its effectiveness, according to a 2006 study by the Harvard Family Research Project." (mlive.com, 04/13/08)

Professor: Key Education Skills Lacking
"We are way, way over-invested in testing and regulatory schemes, and way, way under-invested in knowledge and skill." - Professor Richard Elmore (The Advocate, 04/11/08)

Film insists U.S. Educational System is in Critical Condition
"Providing students the opportunity to engage in deliberations about the purposes of education is an essential aspect of preparing them to be leaders in the field." - Professor Fernando Reimers (Harvard Gazette, 04/10/08)

Mooney Institute Tries to Blend Unionism, School Reform
"Some people don’t see the potential in unions to substantially change the way they work or the way schools work, and consequently it is hard to make a case that an organization or foundation should fund them." - Professor Susan Moore Johnson (Education Week, 04/09/08. Free registration required.)

After School Can be Key to Student’s Success
"Priscilla Little, associate director of the Harvard Family Research Project, said research has shown that teenagers want new challenges and new relationships. They want to take risks as long as there is an adult who can rein them in. 'They want autonomy — with a leash,' Little said. 'They want opportunity and safety.'" (Providence Journal, 04/08/08)

Meet Newly Appointed Secretary of Education Paul Reville
"We’re trying to attain 21st-century education goals on a 19th-century system." - Lecturer Paul Reville (The Eagle Tribune, 04/06/08)

With Babies, Words for Wisdom
"You have to engage parents in a way that doesn’t make them feel like you're blaming them, but show them that this practice is important for their kids' ability to read and for their school success." - Lecturer Richard Weissbourd (Boston Globe, 04/02/08)