Personal Information
- Bio
Editor and director of the Notebook since 1999, Paul was one of the Notebook’s founders in 1994. He came to the Notebook as a public school parent with a long history of involvement in public education and other social justice issues. His children both graduated from Philadelphia public schools. He has been an active Home & School Association member and served as a parent representative on a School Council. Prior to becoming editor, he worked on education issues for the National Coalition of Education Activists and the American Friends Service Committee.
Recent Blog Entries
More by Paul Socolar
Montessori charter renewed, Childs closed
Submitted by Paul Socolar on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 15:08 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
The School Reform Commission today put two once-controversial issues to rest. After a year in which its future was in limbo, the Philadelphia Montessori Charter School won a renewal of its charter through June 2014, subject to meeting several conditions. And SRC approved the closing of the George W. Childs Elementary School building in South Philadelphia, relocating that school to nearby Barratt Middle School.
Comments (2)
10 facts about the latest AYP results
Submitted by Paul Socolar on Fri, 08/20/2010 - 01:35 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
The School District has just released positive news about Philadelphia schools making adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind law. The governor comes to town Friday to celebrate the results. Here is a list of the schools that met all their targets in 2010 along with 10 key stats from a District presentation on the latest results:
Comments (16)
Graduation rate inches upward to 63%
Submitted by Paul Socolar on Thu, 08/19/2010 - 10:03 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
The six-year graduation rate for the School District has climbed to 63 percent, the highest in recent history, according to a preliminary report just released by the District.
Comments (10)
Archie sheds light on bonus situation
Submitted by Paul Socolar on Thu, 08/19/2010 - 09:48 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
Asked to expand on remarks that appeared in a Sunday letter to the editor, SRC Chair Robert L. Archie told reporters Wednesday that Superintendent Arlene Ackerman won't be eligible for another performance bonus from the District until after June of 2011, at the end of her third year with the District.
Comments (8)
Another communications chief out
Submitted by Paul Socolar on Mon, 08/16/2010 - 17:22 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
Before completing two full weeks on the job, Lisa Mastoon, the District's chief public information officer, resigned Friday.
Comments (11)
Black and Latino boys disrespected, task force finds
by Dale Mezzacappa
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Philadelphia Education blogs
These are some education blogs from Philadelphia. We're still building our blog roll, please contact us if you have a blog you think should be on our list.
- The After School Hip Hop Project
- Biology and Blueberries
- Chalk and Talk
- Childwatch!
- Coach G's Teaching Tips
- A Good Day Teaching
- Knowing Henry
- Language & Literacy for All
- Office of Teaching and Unlearning
- Parents United for Public Education
- Parkway Peace and Social Justice Blog
- Philly School Search
- Philadelphia School Stories
- Philadelphia Student Union blog
- Philly Education Justice
- Philly Teacher
- Philly Teacher Talks
- Practical Theory
- Teachers Learning Cooperative/TeacherSPACE
- This Year at Jenks
- A Very Public Education
- A Year in the Life of a Teacher
Notebook Chatter
What makes you so sure that there is ZERO cheating going on?
-- Anonymous responding to Have we reached a tipping point? A skeptic weighs in
Philadelphia blogs
These are some sites from Philadelphia. We're still building our blog roll, please contact us if you have a blog you think should be on our list.
- Brownstoner Philadelphia
- Green Jobs Philly
- Green Sanctuary Earth Institute of Pennsylvania
- It's Our City
- It's Our Money
- Media Mobilizing Project
- Metropolis
- Philadelphia Independent Media Center
- Philly Future
- PhillyNow
- Plan Philly
- 'Round About Now
- Sam's Parlor
- Skyline Online
- A Smoke-Filled Room
- Technically Philly
- Urban Direction
- Voice of Philadelphia
- Young Philly Politics
Education blogs
These are some of our favorite education blogs
Want to see another voice included? Please contact us if you have a blog you think should be on our list.
- Catalyst Notebook
- Center for College Affordability and Productivity
- Charter Blog, The
- Core Knowledge Blog, The
- D-Ed Reckoning
- Defending Public Education in Detroit
- Dewey21C
- Dallas ISD
- District 299: The Chicago Schools Blog
- EarlyStories
- Edspresso
- The Educated Reporter
- Education Week Blogs
- Education for the Aughts: Matthew K. Tabor
- Eduwonk
- EdVox
- Edwize
- Forum for Education and Democracy
- From the newsroom to the classroom...
- Gotham Schools
- High School Soup
- InsideEd
- Inside Pre-K
- Joanne Jacobs
- NYC Educator
- National Schools Board Association Blog
- Paul Tough: Whatever It Takes
- Perimeter Primate
- Quick and the ED, The
- School of Blog
- Schools Matter
- Small Talk
- Smart Solutions K-12
- Spiral Notebook Blog
- Susan Ohanian
- Swift and Change Able
- Teachers Count blog
- This Week in Education
Urban School NewsFrom Catalyst: Stories from other cities
- Changes to 'value-added' measure may have lowered some districts' scores
- After Class -- Commentary: September 1, 2010
- High-performing charters dominate some markets
- In the News: Limited success with turnarounds; value-added evaluation model exploding
- News from around the state and the nation -- August 31, 2010:
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