[Copied verbatum from my post on Fireside Learning].
The Newshour this week continues its reports with John Merrow on education, and DC and New Orleans districts. New Orleans before Katrina was one of the poorest districts in the nation, but it also didn't have much of what we recognize as good education practices. DC has long been well funded, but notorious in its waste, and pathetic in its results.

These can likely be viewed in any order, but the most upsetting is probably New Orleans School Chief Pursues Reform, (Feb. 8, 2008) which looks at kids of 15 and 16 who are still in 8th grade, but performing even lower. Booker T Washington High is where they take these street-old but knowledge-young kids to keep them separate from the normal 8th graders. Superintendent Paul Vallas (veteran of Chicago and Philadelphia schools) laments that BTWH is not big enough.
Education Leaders Attempt Reform in D.C. Schools Oct. 01, 2007
Rhee Fights For D.C. School Reform Nov. 19, 2007
Schools in New Orleans Face Tough Road to Rebuild (Nov. 23, 2007)
D.C. Education Leader Faces Resistance Feb. 07, 2008
Schools in D.C. Face a Complex Road to Reform Apr. 02, 2008
New Orleans Education Chief Faces Struggles Apr. 03, 2008
New Orleans School Reforms Target Young Readers Jun. 17, 2008 Some Good News.
D.C. Teachers Struggle to Adapt to School Reforms Jun. 18, 2007

I'll ask you to ask the questions about this. One I have is, can you tell from the videos which schools are going to need new leaders? Is there a certain energy level -physical, not just mental-necessary to transform a school to succeed?