Jonathan, Thanks for taking time to respond to all of my comments in such depth (and thanks to Brian for fixing the formatting after I commented - I likely did something before that messed it up). I think you're right that we generally agree on most, if not all, of the big issues that you address in your paper. I'll share just one more thought on your first arguments about textbooks and NCLB. Do you think it is possible that if there were suddenly good textbooks (whatever that means) freely available to all teachers, then there would be a possibility of less teaching to the test? In other words, if teachers could provide better educations to students through the use of better textbooks, might more public schools be able to get to the point at which the best public schools have already arrived - where nearly every child easily meets NCLB standards, and the testing is seen merely as a nuisance taking away from educational time? I don't know what I think on that issue, and I don't think heavy teacher reliance on textbooks is good. Still, I the argument can be made that rather than NCLB requirements limiting the usefulness of free textbooks, maybe free textbooks could help schools move beyond NCLB as the point of teaching. Anyway, that's just a thought. There are likely too many "what ifs" in the alternate argument I've suggested.

I look forward to reading the final version; you've written a really interesting paper!

-- HeatherStevenson - 25 Nov 2009