The Top Five Posts of 2024
Where are they now?
It’s been quite a year at The Education Daly. Fifteen newsletters. More than triple the number of subscribers we had in January. Circulation now in the multiple dozens.
Thank you to everyone for reading, sending me ideas, fielding my annoying requests for input, and gently telling me the things I got wrong. I truly appreciate it.
As we wrap 2024, let’s count down the five most popular posts along with a few late-breaking updates:
#5: Why Are Teachers Missing So Much School?
I opened this two-part series by marveling that more than 40 percent of Chicago teachers met the official definition for chronic absenteeism, yet no major media outlet had written a single story about the issue in at least four years.
Ears at the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board were hot. This fall, it published a blistering piece arguing that “showing up is the least we should expect from our very well-compensated public-school educators.” It earned them an equally blistering response from the Chicago Teachers Union.
It’s good news that this issue is finally getting the public attention it deserves. Nationally, Michael Bloomberg and The New York Times’s Brent Staples sounded the alarm. The next logical step is for states to begin reporting this data for all schools. Today, hardly anyone does. It’s a miss.
#4: The Rise and Fall of Finland Mania
Lordy, did I get lot of emails and texts about this one. People swearing they never bought the Finland hype. People telling me about big name leaders in education who are still out there selling Finland as the top education country in the world despite its large and sustained decline. People trying to convince me that Finland actually is the top education country. People promising to get me a better deal on auto insurance if I bundle-and-save.
This month saw the release of new international math test scores. And? Finland’s performance dropped in both fourth and eighth grades. Its students still do just fine, but among European countries it has been surpassed in eighth grade by England, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Lithuania, Turkey, and Hungary.
Therein, friends, is the silver lining. The next time there is an opportunity to take a government-funded junket to learn about an international education miracle, we will have more appealing options. Dublin, here we come!
#3: How Did Teacher Evaluation Become a Thing?
This three-part series was a personal therapy session. I was a huge believer in the potential better teacher evaluations to improve instruction. For a short period beginning around 2007, the issue caught fire. Dozens of laws were passed. Huge sums of money were spent. But very little came of it, largely because of missteps that boosters like me need to acknowledge and own.
Where does this issue stand now? Dormant, for the most part. Texas is doing some interesting things to fund additional compensation for teachers in districts that build credible systems for identifying their best teachers. Rick Hanushek pointed out this fall that our $190 billion in COVID relief spending might have yielded better results if it made some attempt to leverage the power of great teachers.
For the most part, though, we’re back to treating teachers as interchangeable parts.
#2: Urban School Drama Has Come to the Suburbs
Second most-read piece of the year. I did not see this one coming. What started as a casual observation that a number of urbane, leafy suburbs like Evanston are experiencing more education turmoil has turned into an nonstop news feed.
In just over two months, things have gone from bad to worse. Evanston is surveying parents on their preferred budget cuts. I’m betting that their response will be “none of the above.” All of the incumbent school board members are heading for the hills. A school is closing mid-year. Enrollment is dropping further.
Evanston is far from alone. This show may be coming soon to an esteemed college town near you.
#1: We’re Living Through an Education Depression
Overwhelming response to this piece. It had the highest number of readers by quite a margin. It also generated the most new subscribers. I argued that our prolonged period of shrinking outcomes and opportunities for young people qualifies as a depression.
Our predicament has only deepened. As referenced above, international test results came out this month. They were “devastating” for the U.S. That’s not my term - it comes from our top testing official. The progress we made since 1995 has been wiped out.
In a positive development, nearly every news article acknowledged that our downturn began before the pandemic. It was common until recently to ignore that pattern and to write off all negative academic news to COVID. Baby steps.
Soon, we’ll have a new Secretary of Education and detailed math and reading test results for all 50 states. Let’s hope that 2025 is the year we get serious about reversing what has become a decade-long funk.
We’ll be back in January with a fresh newsletter about who-knows-what. Below are some of the questions on my mind. If you have suggestions, please send them my way.
Is literacy guru Lucy Calkins a misunderstood scapegoat for America’s reading challenges or a fraud?
Why did the massive federal allocation of money to schools for COVID relief barely move the needle on learning and what does it mean for the future of school funding?
Which families are leaving urban districts in droves - and where are they going?
Until next time, please enjoy the holiday season - and truly, thank you.
Thanks for writing!! I’m so happy I discovered your writing this year.