Office of Policy and Research

Seminar on Pedagogy and Research on Assessment in Finland

Seminar on Pedagogy and Research on Teacher Education in Finland

London and New York are different in many ways - but they share some important educational characteristics: they are both hugely culturally diverse, highly unequal and with profound educational challenges. Over the last decade the London Miracle has transformed schools in London. London schools now outperform England's schools generally. Are there lessons of the London Miracle for schools, teachers and learning in New York?

What would a national education policy look like that mobilized all government agencies and policy tools rather than just schools alone? The editors of three groundbreaking volumes about the role of school and non-school factors in education discuss the latest research and its implications for education policy for the coming decade.

In his speech at Teachers College, Whitty encouraged intellectuals to hold their ground as the most legitimate critics and deepest thinkers about policy and pedagogy, despite attempts by some politicians and public officials to denigrate their usefulness. “Education researchers can help in challenging [the prevailing] narrative and changing the terms of the debate by reinforcing messages, not just about what works, but also about what doesn’t work and why it doesn’t work,” he said, adding that the IOE and TC “could learn huge amounts from each other, and I hope we can find ways to get that sort of collaboration underway.”

Education officials in England and the United States should step up their sharing of research and policy reform ideas across the Atlantic—especially in the areas of school choice and accountability. That was the thrust of a speech delivered by Geoffrey Whitty, Director of the Institute of Education (IOE) at the University of London, at Teachers College on November 8. Both countries are embroiled in well-publicized debates about education reform as they have fallen sharply in global rankings of education quality and performance. If they are to regain their status as world leaders in economic growth, both will need to address the inequities in their education systems, Whitty told an audience in TC’s Milbank Chapel.

Christopher Cross, noted author and expert on the federal role in education, delivers a talk on the updated edition of his critically acclaimed, best-selling book, Political Education: National Policy Comes of Age (new edition from Teachers College Press, 2010; first edition, 2004). In it Christopher Cross reflects on recent education policy developments, including the impact of the Obama administration, "Race to the Top," and the controversy over No Child Left Behind's reauthorization. Christopher T. Cross is chairman of Cross & Joftus, an educational consulting firm. He was previously a senior fellow at the Center for Education Policy and a distinguished senior fellow at the Education Commission of the States. He served in both the executive and legislative branches, as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education, the Republican staff director of the House Committee on Education and Labor, and a deputy assistant secretary in the old Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

New York City Public Schools, Testing, Standards, Gains, Grading Schools