In what seems to be an increasing (and welcome!) trend, Harvard economist Dr. Roland G. Fryer Jr. has been attempting to translate his empirical research into results for schools. Dr. Fryer won the prestigious John Bates Clark medal this year in part for his research on 39 New York City charter schools. He hoped to Read more about What Makes a School Successful?[…]
NewSchools Venture Fund has announced the launch NewSchools Catapult, the first endeavor of its new national strategy. Its goal over the next several years is to propel successive waves of education entrepreneurs to launch new schools – the kinds of audacious, life-altering schools that can truly prepare students to pursue their most ambitious dreams. The Read more about NewSchools Venture Fund Launches NewSchools Catapult[…]
On Thursday, May 28, Acting Commissioner Peggy G. Carr, National Center for Education Statistics, released The Condition of Education 2015. The indicators presented in The Condition of Education 2015 provide an update on the state of education in America and include findings on the demographics of American schools, U.S. resources for schooling, and outcomes associated Read more about NCES Releases The Condition of Education 2015[…]
The Center for Education Reform, an organization which supports the role that charter schools have to play in education reform in the U.S., has a new report out addressing individual states’ policies about charter schools. Following is an excerpt from their press release about the report: Of the 42 states and the District of Columbia Read more about Charter School Laws Across States – 2015 Rankings & Scorecard[…]
For the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2015, the Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) will conduct 11 grant competitions in six program areas: Arts in Education, Charter Schools, Investing in Innovation, Opportunity Scholarship, Ready to Learn Television, and Supporting Effective Educator Development. Announcements of these competitions began last month and will Read more about Update on OII’s FY 2015 Grant Competitions[…]
The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank that covers education issues, has a new series of videos out addressing the course of education reform in the United States. Following is an excerpt from their description of the series: Our schools are failing the most vulnerable kids. Everyone’s heard the scary statistics. But the dollars we Read more about Three new videos from AEI Vision Talks[…]
The Equity Project Charter School in New York City is well known for the salary it pays its teachers — $125,000 of public funds available to all public charter schools. The question of course is what that sort of salary for teachers can accomplish. In a new study, Mathematica describes The Equity Project (TEP) charter Read more about The Equity Project: Does Paying Teachers $125,000 Make a Difference?[…]
This new report from TNTP analyzes the impact of lockstep compensation systems, which pay teachers almost exclusively based on years of experience and academic credits, and proposes paying teachers for what really matters: how hard their jobs are and how well they do them. The report shows that paying teachers without regard for their actual Read more about Shortchanged: The Hidden Cost of Lockstep Teacher Pay[…]
Thomas Kane, of the Harvard School of Education and writing for the Brookings Institution, has recently penned an important article describing an aggressive plan for helping American students catch up with their international peers over the next 10 years. Kane produces calculations that reveal that incremental reforms are unlikely to be aggressive enough to allow Read more about Shooting Bottle Rockets at the Moon: Overcoming the Legacy of Incremental Education Reform[…]
In an age of Teach For America, value-added teacher evaluations, and new challenges for teachers such as teaching to Common Core, teacher tenure is as big of an issue as ever. Many studies show that experienced teachers are more proficient, although there is some evidence that teachers can stagnate over time. In addition, the baby Read more about At Charter Schools, Short Careers by Choice[…]
The New York Times recently published an education article that asks, “Do teachers need to have experience?” They asked this question of five different educators who each inhabit different realms of the education field, and as might be expected, they received five unique answers to their question. We have picked out some relevant snippets from Read more about Do Teachers Need to Have Experience?[…]
An example of the ongoing battle in some states about how much autonomy should be given to Charter Schools recently occurred in Maryland. The soon to be opened Frederick Classical Charter School (FCCS) hoped to hire 9 new teachers that fit its model of classical education. In Maryland, however, the local school system is the Read more about When Charter Schools aren’t Given Real Autonomy[…]
Teach For America (TFA) announced the winners of its annual Social Innovation Award, including education advocate-turned-filmmaker Kelly Amis, who was one of the first 500 college graduates to be accepted into this national teacher recruitment program. Amis will receive a $50,000 grant from TFA’s Social Entrepreneurship Initiative to support TEACHED, an innovative series of short Read more about TEACHED films bolstered by $50,000 grant from TFA[…]
A Los Angeles High School is trying to prove that more individual instruction can be provided with larger class sizes. How might they accomplish this? Alliance Tennenbaum Family Technology High School hopes that blended learning, a model which for this school includes a third of their class time in traditional teacher-led instruction, a third working Read more about Los Angeles school Pioneers Blended Learning Model[…]
The Center for Education Reform has just issued its annual Charter School Law Report Card, and most states do not make the grade. The majority of states, according to the report, are only making “satisfactory” progress, and only 13 states have “strong” charter school laws. Among the nation’s 43 states with charter school laws, only Read more about Charters still face Upward Climb[…]
On December 11, 2012, the Education Department announced the 16 winners of the Race to the Top school district grants (RTTD). 61 Finalists had been announced recently out of an original 372 districts that turned in applications in November. A total of $400 million was due to go out, and winners ranged from $10 million Read more about 16 Race to the Top District Winners Announced[…]