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Richard Lee Colvin, editor of The Hechinger Report, recently spoke with Stephen Smith of American RadioWorks about some of 2010’s most interesting education stories — as well as what to be on the lookout for in 2011.
Among the stories from 2010 that Colvin highlighted:
- the national conversation around the use of value-added data, especially as related to teacher evaluations;
- the massive state budget cuts, despite the federal stimulus, that have affected education spending; and
- Waiting for ‘Superman,’ which didn’t have the box-office success that its producers presumably hoped for — but that helped heat up the education-reform conversation.
Colvin said that state budget cuts will continue to be a big story in 2011. He predicts the following will grab headlines in 2011, too:
- Race to the Top winners will be implementing ambitious reform plans, which almost certainly won’t be easy to do in tough economic times;
- new technologies, including digital media, will open up more possibilities for individualizing instruction; and
- the “parent trigger” law in California, which outgoing Gov. Schwarzenegger has championed, might well spread to other states.
You can listen to Colvin’s conversation with Smith here.
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