There hasn’t been an indictment, and there isn’t any hard evidence yet, but Michelle Rhee may soon find herself in the middle of a major cheating scandal.

StudentsFirst founder and former chancellor of the Washington D.C. public schools, Ms. Rhee is known for her tough-love, results-only, no-excuses approach to educational reform. She’s been on the cover of Time magazine and is the author of Radical: Fighting to Put Students First. Ms. Rhee is hugely famous — and contentious, and controversial.

And today, in a scathing article by respected education reporter John Merrow, Ms. Rhee is being accused of knowing about a large-scale cheating scandal and not doing enough to investigate it.

In “Michelle Rhee’s Reign of Error,” Mr. Merrow discusses a leaked confidential memorandum he received written by an independent investigator. The report first highlights wrong-to-right erasure data from one school in the district. Whereas the average student had 1.7 wrong-to-right erasures on the reading test, students from Aiton Elementary School had 5.7 erasures. An article last year in the USA Today, which first uncovered the wrong-to-right phenomenon, indicated that the chances of such a discrepancy in erasures are “greater than the odds of winning the Powerball.” After focusing on Aiton, the memo added, “Aiton is NOT the only school in this situation.”

There’s something going on here. I’m usually skeptical about conspiracy theories, and I know that there are plenty of people out there that would do anything to bring Ms. Rhee down. But the combination of the USA Today article and Mr. Merrow’s post is pretty damning.

Here’s what hit me most: Mr. Merrow implicates not only Ms. Rhee but the entire results-only movement in hurting children. The usual argument is that No Child Left Behind has made school boring and pressure-packed. It goes something like, There’s no more time for art or independent reading. Everything is geared toward the test. There’s no joy anymore.

That assertion may be true. But Mr. Merrow concludes his article with something even more troubling. Ms. Rhee, in her crusade to put students first, actually created an environment that centered on adults. After all, during her tenure, millions of dollars of bonuses went to teachers and principals whose students performed well.

Success meant more money for the adults, not the children. In fact, children who falsely improved were taken out of intervention programs they’d qualified for based on their previous (and accurate) test scores. Yes, according to Mr. Merrow, students were directly cheated.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal nailed it:

“When test results are falsified and students who have not mastered the necessary material are promoted, our students are harmed, parents lose sight of their child’s true progress, and taxpayers are cheated.”

I want to believe in education reform, and I gravitate toward people who work hard and are unabashed in their passion toward success. We cannot accept mediocrity. But as more and more evidence piles up against Ms. Rhee, I can no longer pretend that something quite sinister did not occur in Washington D.C. under her leadership.

Update, April 16: As I expected, this story is now being picked up by major media outlets. Here are a few articles to check out:

• Huffington Post
• Washington Post
• USA Today
• Atlanta Journal Constitution

I welcome your thoughts! 

 College is expensive, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll get a job after graduating. Those facts together have led some teachers to question the value of college for all students.

Of course, it’s also true that the same teachers who are challenging college did, in fact, earn a college degree and are reaping the rewards of a college education.

And likely advocate college for their own children.

But in case there’s any doubt, check out this unemployment rate graph from Business Insider:

Blue = Unemployment rate of high school graduates
Red = Unemployment rate of college graduates & higher

(Um, 2008 was not a good year.)

So in addition to all the other reasons all students should go to college, not being unemployed is pretty high up the list. If I read the graph correctly, the unemployment rate among high school graduates is double that of college graduates. (I wonder what happens if you don’t graduate from high school.)

For another sobering article about college, check out Iserotope Extras! 

 If you’re a loyal Iserotope reader, you’re serious. You don’t want to miss any articles.

You likely follow Iserotope via Facebook or Twitter or Google+ or RSS feed or Instagram or email.

That’s great. But what if you find yourself in the middle of an article and don’t have time to finish? Or what if you want to save an article for later?

Most people email articles to themselves, and that’s OK. Perfectly great, good work.

But I have something better: Pocket.

Pocket is my favorite save-it-for-later service (even more than my previous favorite, Readability). You can save articles, videos, and images and read them later on your computer, tablet, or computer.

New to Iserotope: At the end of every post, you’ll see that there is a Pocket button. Try it out. You won’t be disappointed. And while you’re there, you might as well share the post with your friends, right?

Is there anyone out there who already uses Pocket? If so, let me know! 

 There’s never a dull moment at Iserotope.

Today, for all of you Instagram lovers out there, I announce that you can now follow Iserotope on Instagram.

You can follow Iserotope right now, right from your computer. Just click on this link or on the “View on Instagram” button on the ride sidebar.

It’s all very exciting.

If you go to my profile, you’ll see photos dedicated to reading, teaching, and technology, plus maybe a few that are off-topic.

Important: If you want to find Iserotope on your phone, it gets a little trickier. My username on Instagram is iseroma, not iserotope. But you’re all smart people.

* * *
With this new Instagram news, there are at least six ways to connect with Iserotope to ensure that you don’t miss a thing: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, RSS Feed, Instagram, and Via email (enter your email address on the right sidebar).

I hope you enjoy the new Iserotope feature, and please let me know your thoughts and suggestions. 

 A few years back, something switched.

Up until then, my students — many of whom were the first in their families to go to college — would enter senior year aspiring to get accepted into a four-year university. They would complete applications, write personal statements, look for scholarships, and fill out financial aid forms. In the Spring, many students would receive good news from UC Santa Barbara or San Jose State or Dominican University. And that was that.

In short, my students believed, as The Atlantic reported today, that “going to college is perhaps the single best financial decision a young adult can make.” Even if college meant a little (or a lot of) debt, getting a four-year degree was the right thing to do.

This is no longer always the case.

With college tuition rising, particularly at state public schools, many of my advisees began openly questioning the value of college. The military became a popular option; three of my 2012 graduates, including the school’s valedictorian, joined the armed forces. (The valedictorian quickly dropped out of the Naval Academy and will attend UC Davis in the Fall.) Others eligible for San Francisco State chose City College instead. A few decided to find a job immediately.

Part of the trend, of course, is based on economics. After all, why wait to make money when you can start making money now? With the unemployment rate fairly high, even for college graduates, that line of thinking makes sense. Better maybe to pursue a two-year technical degree to prepare for a medium-skilled career as an X Ray technician. Four years is a long time for an 18-year-old who just spent an eternity (of the same length) in high school.

Like many teachers, I shun that perspective and believe that college should be the goal for all students. But The Atlantic article included a graph that put things into perspective, that really demonstrated how much of a risk going to college is, particularly if you’re not wealthy.

Is this what my students have been telling me — that if they’re not completely sure they’ll graduate, that if they lack confidence in their academic skills, that if they think college might be too much for them, then maybe they shouldn’t take the financial risk?

For many people, a graph like that may lead to the conclusion that maybe college is not meant for everyone. I usually hear it like this: “Is it right for us to tell them that the only way to achieve happiness is by earning a bachelor’s degree? I mean, what if they don’t graduate and are saddled with debt?”

Here’s a corollary: “Just because I have a college degree, is it my place to demand it of someone else?”

The answer to both of those questions is undeniably yes — despite all the risks. But The Atlantic article also reminds us that we must provide our students, particularly our first-generation college students, a full understanding of what college looks like, of what it entails. 

 Yes, I know: Justin Bieber has close to 36 million followers on Twitter, so maybe I shouldn’t be overjoyed that Iserotope reached the century mark yesterday.

But I’m definitely happy about it!

And now there are 101 105 even more followers! Take a look at the sidebar!

I appreciate everyone who follows the blog, whether that’s on Twitter or Facebook or Google+ or by email or via RSS feed.

And I appreciate the conversations we’ve had. Keep the comments coming! (They’re my favorite.)

The Iserotope community might still be small, but it’s a deep and committed group of people who care about young people and the quality of their education. 

 Many people have written about the two-part series on Harper High School in Chicago. It’s excellent, particularly the second hour. Please listen, even though it might take some time, especially to the last two or three segments. You’ll get good insight into a school community trying to keep its students safe from violence.

What are your thoughts? Please let me know. 

 I’ve spent most of my teaching career working with students who will be the first in their families to graduate from college. It turns out that just about half of first-generation college students end up graduating, which means two things: (1) There needs to be more rigorous preparation in high school, (2) There needs to be additional support in college. I’m happy what some schools are doing to track their graduates through the college years.

Find out more at  Iserotope Extras, or see the original post at economix.blogs.nytimes.com. 

 What am I supposed to do now? Is this the end of Iserotope Extras?

Today, Yahoo! bought Snip.it, my favorite curating and digital scrapbooking service. Snip.it hosted Iserotope Extras, one of the most popular features of this blog, where I shared some of my favorite articles about education.

I know this is silly, but I’m a little bit sad. And a bit angry.

Sad: Snip.it was great. It was beautiful, it was easy, and it helped deepen the conversation about teaching, reading, and technology. My friends and other loyal Iserotope readers routinely referenced articles I’d collected.

Angry: Everything is gone. If you go to Iserotope Extras now, you’ll get Snip.it’s farewell letter. Snip.it is allowing users to export their articles to HTML or download them to PDF, but I’m nervous about whether my collections will import correctly to another service.

I know this is a typical thing for startups, particularly those whose products are free. One minute they’re there, and the next minute they’re either gone or sold.

One more thing, though. I’m appreciative. Snip.it not only helped me share articles, but it was extremely supportive of Iserotope and The Kindle Classroom Project. Thank you, Snip.it, for donating the Kindle and the subscription to The New Yorker.

As far as next steps, I’d like to rebuild Iserotope Extras and find another home for all my articles. Maybe the answer is Annotary or Bundlr, two semifinalists when I chose Snip.it. Or maybe I’ll move to Scoop.it or Learnist or something similar. There are plenty of options, but not too many great ones. If you have ideas, please let me know! 

 Hey, loyal Iserotope readers! Want to support The Kindle Classroom Project but can’t or don’t want to donate a Kindle, contribute money, or purchase a book?

Or maybe you’ve already donated plenty of your hard-earned cash and would rather let someone else empty their pocketbooks for a change?

Don’t worry: Here are many free and easy ways to help out. Try a few of them. Or try them all. Don’t be shy!

1. Tell your friends about The Kindle Classroom Project.
Word of mouth is the best way to get the word out. Say you’re with your friends, talking about the fiscal cliff or Kim Kardashian’s baby. What better time to say something like: “And you know what? My friend Mark collects used Kindles to promote reading! You should check out his blog!”

2. Share The Kindle Classroom page to kind, generous people.
Do you email? Use Facebook? Are you a tweeter or a Google plusser? However you share stuff online, please do so! The easiest way to share is to go to The Kindle Classroom page or the Contribute page and use the social sharing buttons at the top. Come on, it’ll be fun! If you’d like to use the direct link (for emailing and texting), here it is: iserotope.com/donate-kindle.

3. Subscribe to Iserotope via email, RSS feed, Twitter, and/or Facebook.
My goal this year is to move Iserotope away from my personal Facebook wall and share my posts only with those who want to read them. So if you like Iserotope, you should subscribe! Everything you need to subscribe is over on the right sidebar. (Just look for Snoopy in the Giants hat, though he’s hard to see.) By subscribing, you benefit The Kindle Classroom Project because the blog’s network gets larger and more powerful.

4. Share posts you like.
I can’t tell you how many Kindles have been donated because a friend decided to share a post on Facebook wall or tweet it out. If you like a post, click on a social sharing button (Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter) right underneath the headline. It won’t take two seconds, plus it’ll make the post rank higher on Google. It’s even more powerful than liking a post on Facebook. Case in point: If you search “donate kindle” in Google, this post comes up on the first page, ranked #8. Not bad!

5. Write comments.
I’ve saved the best for last. When I began Iserotope, I wanted to create a place not just to reflect and share my thoughts, but also to create a community where teachers and people who care about education could come together to exchange ideas. Last year, a small, caring community of smart, committed people began to form. I’d like this group to grow, and I’d like Iserotope to be a forum about reading, teaching, and technology. Therefore, I hope that you will feel comfortable leaving comments. Please do!

Thank you very much for reading this post and for supporting Iserotope and The Kindle Classroom Project. If you’d like, feel free to leave me a comment about which of these five things you did! (It’s possible to do all five, right? )