Education Week - January 15, 2014 - 23

ONLINE www.edweek.org/go/commentary
COMMENTARIES
Find out which online Commentaries were the most
popular with readers in 2013 in a Top 10 list compiled
by Education Week's Web editors. From a Newtown
mother's moving tribute to teachers to essays on
assessment practices and grading policies, the list
offers a diverse and provocative range of views.
www.edweek.org/go/2013-commentaries
Read an online-only Commentary urging passage
of education research legislation. "Congress Must
Advance the Ed. Sciences Reform
Act," by Michele McLaughlin and Wes
Hoover (Jan. 2, 2014), makes the case
for moving beyond partisan gridlock.
www.edweek.org/go/edscience
iStockphoto/ildogesto
BookMarks is back after its hiatus. Catch up
on new posts about books on school violence
and the developing "New Adult" literary
genre.
www.edweek.org/go/new-adult
It's a new year, and Education Week's opinion bloggers
have plenty to say. Check out all your favorite blogs.
www.edweek.org/blogs
| WEB COMMENT |
"The country's investment in medical research has shown huge
dividends. Investment in education research might too."
- Mark Dynarski, responding to the Commentary
"Congress Must Advance the Ed. Sciences Reform Act"
To read the Commentary and respond, go to www.edweek.org/go/edscience.
BLOGS
Walt Gardner's Reality Check considers the downside
of feel-good teacher movies. "People want to believe in
miracles because they offer hope. Movies play on this need.
But I think we do a terrible disservice to teachers who are
compared to the heroes on the big screen," Gardner writes.
www.edweek.org/go/teacher-movies
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Cultivating Hope
In Struggling
Smaller Cities
Syracuse,
N.Y., fits the
profile of
"
places where
public
education
deteriorated
as the city's
economic
engine
sputtered."
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20
has linked school reform and scholarships
to urban revival. The aim is a smarter
workforce to lure business and industry,
a healthier residential real estate market,
less demand for social services that serve
the needy, and lower crime rates. "This will
make the city and the county more attractive
to people who want to buy homes and
raise their children in a safe environment,"
Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler told
me.
Say Yes, in other words, sold Syracuse on
the notion that better public schools could
retain the dwindling middle class and attract
more such people, while enfranchising
families that had lost hope. Say Yes' effort
in Syracuse differs from similar programs
in the extent of its ambitions.
Among the lessons from Syracuse
are these: Collaboration by school
systems with other entities
can capture opportunities for
real change; improved public
education has the potential
to give a community greater
appeal; and, regardless of
outside help, the school system
itself must be willing and able to
address its deficiencies.
Khalus/iStockphoto
EDUCATION WEEK | January 15, 2014 | www.edweek.org/go/commentary | 23
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The Syracuse experience shows that
school reform is a protracted undertaking
requiring patience for the long haul on a
train that transverses treacherous terrain
toward a destination that appears to keep
fading into the distance.
The tuition scholarships already ensure
that many more of Syracuse's high school
graduates go on to higher education. In
other positive signs, downtown construction
in the city has increased and juvenile
crime has ebbed since Say Yes moved into
Syracuse.
But still only half the students get high
school diplomas in four years and, according
to state education department figures,
fewer than 10 percent of students in 3rd
through 8th grade in Syracuse met or exceeded
standards in English and math in
April 2013 testing, as compared with statewide
averages of 31 percent on the new,
more challenging curriculum based on the
Common Core State Standards.
Now, five years after Say Yes' arrival,
which coincided with the onset of a lingering
recession that has threatened to upend
good intentions, fiscally stressed Syracuse
is inching along.
The promise of better days
remains, drawing President
Barack Obama to Syracuse
last August to proclaim in
a speech: "We're hoping
more cities follow your
example because what
you're doing is critical not
just to Syracuse's future, but
to America's future." n
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Education Week - January 15, 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - January 15, 2014
