Dynarski’s column in the NY Times is always a must-read. Here, she talks about simple and cheap ways, such as text messages, to change student outcomes.
This is the real issue:
Why aren’t schools, districts and states rushing to set up these measures? Maybe because the programs have no natural constituency. They are not labor- or capital-intensive, so they don’t create lots of jobs or lucrative contracts. They don’t create a big, expensive initiative that a politician can point to in a stump speech. They just do their job, effectively and cheaply.
