Class Struggle - Jay Mathews' Education Blog - May 24, 2009

An Attack on Preschool for All

As usual, I have taken the lazy columnist’s approach to the crucial issue of preschools in America. What little I have written about it has been how to find the best pre-Ks and preschools, and what it is about them...

Extra Credit: Unorthodox Approaches to Apathetic Students

Dear Extra Credit: Maria Glod's May 6 article on dual enrollment ["College-School Partnerships Offer Head Start on Higher Education"] made me think that you might enjoy learning about parents who have begun to think outside the box when it comes...

Extra Credit: With All This Weight, What Student Needs an Anchor?

Dear Extra Credit: This is in response to the reader who questioned why more schools with block schedules don't have "anchor days" on Mondays, where students have every class. The short answer: My high-schooler can barely manage her backpack with...

How to Miss School Even When You're in School

My colleague Dan de Vise's wonderful piece Tuesday about the Darnestown, Md., student who never missed a day of school has had a terrific reaction. Like me, readers appreciated Dan's tribute to old-fashioned values, such as dependability and persistence, which...

Jay on the Web: Mathews on KIPP Charter Schools

Jay's latest book, "Work Hard. Be Nice."chronicles a breed of charter schools called the Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP. KIPP has had stunning success at improving the test scores of low-income students by focusing on mentoring, rigorous student...

Scholarship Contests: Easy Money or Scam?

A little while back Jay received a press release for a contest from a group called Upromise that offered a chance for students to win a $10,000 scholarship by submitting a 30-second web video. It turns out these scholarship contests...

At-Risk Need a Mix of Good Teachers, Social Services Help

Karen Kaldenbach, an 18-year-old high school senior in Arlington County, remembers vividly what life was like when she was 11: "I saw Social Services almost as much as I saw my mother, who was always drunk. Her best friends,...