(RNS) — The uproar over Wheaton College's recent decision to begin termination proceedings for a tenured professor was oh-so-predictable.
When Larycia Hawkins sought to show solidarity with her Muslim neighbors by donning a hijab and declaring that Muslims and Christians "worship the same God," the college sought clarification and then placed her on administrative leave while it investigated whether her theology was out of step with the school's statement of faith.
An oft-cited study by Thomas Dee and Brian Jacob in 2010 on the impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on students, teachers, and schools across the country showed how little impact NCLB had on student achievement. The published version included invited comments by, among others, education researcher Helen Ladd. Ladd raised a provocative question (pp. 204-205):
First, the null findings for reading indicate to me that to the extent that higher reading scores are an important goal for the country, NCLB is clearly not the right approach. That raises the obvious follow-up question: what is?
