Author Archives: Don Soifer
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D.C.’s Parents Deserve Data on School Safety
November 10, 2012- Don Soifer The Washington Post “Is my child’s school safe? Is it a good school?” These are the first questions most parents, and especially most urban parents, want to know at the start of a school year. In the District of Columbia, [Read More...] -
Authorizing High-Quality Blended Learning Charters – 8 Rules
October 23, 2012- Don Soifer Presentation to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers Blended learning seems to be gaining strong momentum across American public education, but it poses some distinct challenges for charter school authorizers if they remain locked into their old ways of [Read More...] -
Charter School Solutions For Military Families
June 20, 2012- Don Soifer Presentation, National Charter School Conference Lexington’s Don Soifer gave the following presentation at the National Charter Schools Conference in Minneapolis. He discusses the benefits of innovative charter school solutions for children of active duty military families living on or near [Read More...] -
In Arizona, segregation for the children?
June 3, 2012- Don Soifer East Valley Tribune (Arizona) Arizona’s system for educating English Learners has undergone substantial restructuring in the past 12 years, including new funding levels and formulas. While this has resulted in changes to some long-languishing but important indicators of success for [Read More...] -
New Rankings Find Renewables a Small but Growing U.S. Energy Source
May 14, 2012- Don Soifer California, Colorado and Massachusetts are the states that have been friendliest to renewable energy in recent years, according to a new analysis on EnergyTrends.org. But each of the states earned only a B on the index, while 16 states [Read More...] -
English Language Learners and NAEP: Progress Through Inclusion
March 14, 2012- Don Soifer Executive Summary March 2012 Two important developments have impacted English Language Learners (ELLs) in U.S. public schools during the past decade. The first is that their performance on standardized tests has become a meaningful factor in mainstream school accountability systems, [Read More...] -
Sensible Improvements Made to Virginia Charter School Laws
March 13, 2012- Don Soifer Virginia’s General Assembly finalized a number of sensible improvements to the state’s charter school laws in the closing hours of its 2012 legislative session. The changes seem unlikely to shift the statewide charter school landscape overnight in any dramatic fashion. [Read More...] -
Virginia Can Grow Quality Charter Schools
February 12, 2012- Don Soifer Richmond Times Dispatch In the coming weeks, Virginia lawmakers will decide whether to change the state’s education laws to allow a new movement of high-quality public charter schools to open their doors. Virginia has allowed charters since 1998, but despite [Read More...] -
Indiana Education Leaders Reach for the Brass Ring
January 6, 2012- Don Soifer Indiana, a state where both student performance and minority achievement gaps approximate the national average, has been taking significant steps toward a promising educational future. With a scholarship tax credit program for low-income students in place since 2009, Indiana’s voucher [Read More...] -
Keeping It Real – Chicago Teachers Union Style
October 18, 2011- Don Soifer Issue Brief As Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the leadership of the Chicago Public Schools have pressed to lengthen their school day by 90 minutes, the response from its teachers union has raised some eyebrows for its shrillness, in a [Read More...]