A new issue of American Teacher is out. From The Washington Monthly, a special report on the Next Big Test: A new wave of school reform is about to break — will it change classrooms for the better? From American Educator, the assault on teachers’ unions: If teachers’ unions really are a problem, why aren’t the states that forbid collective bargaining performing better?; and a model lesson: Pasi Sahlberg on how Finland shows us what equal opportunity looks like. Se Hoon Park on why the Korean school system is not superior. The American education system has never been better, several important measures show — but you’d never know that from reading overheated media reports about “failing” schools and enthusiastic pieces on unproven “reform” efforts. Is there a way to get our brightest students from the best colleges to become grade school or high school teachers? Dumb kids’ class: Mark Bowden on the benefits of being underestimated by the nuns at St. Petronille’s.
