Between now and January 29, 2013 the team behind the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is soliciting feedback on their ongoing project of creating new K–12 science standards. The first draft of these new science standards was released in May of 2012. Tens of thousands of responses came in, and the NGSS writing team, working Read more about NSTA seeks Feedback for Next Generation Science Standards[…]
Memphis City Schools has partnered with Teachscape to install a city-wide system of video capture systems that will allow for improved teacher professional growth. The city expects to use the system for teacher development, support, as well as evaluation. Each school will have at least one device as part of the district’s long term goal Read more about Video Teacher Evaluations: Memphis Schools say Yes[…]
With new standards, technology-facilitated curriculum, and extensive formative and summative assessment design, the importance of the teacher is at risk of being overlooked. In study after study, the teacher is held up as the most significant variable for student success. In this month’s issue brief, we explore the importance of teachers and their insights for Read more about January Issue Brief: The Importance of Teachers[…]
Teach.com has recently launched what it calls “a first of its kind ranking of the 100 best and most influential education blogs and news sites.” Known as Teach100, and available here, the list, which is updated daily, allows users to “quickly see the education blogs their community is reading, explore topics the blogs are covering, Read more about New Ranking of Education Blogs Available[…]
In addition to ranking states’ educational quality in an annual education report card, Education Week made Code of Conduct their theme for Quality Counts 2013. The report focuses on “the impact of a school’s social and disciplinary environment on students’ ability to learn and on the teachers and administrators tasked with guiding them.” After last year’s Read more about Education Week releases annual Quality Counts Report: MD 1st for 5th year in a row[…]
Principals preparing for Common Core implementation have a new set of action briefs at their disposal. Achieve, in partnership with College Summit, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), has released a series of action briefs on the role of school counselors, secondary school leaders, Read more about Preparing for Common Core with new Action Briefs[…]
The California Department of Education, currently the lightning rod for national education policy, was recently denied a No Child Left Behind waiver by the U.S. Department of Education. A total of 33 states and the District of Columbia have thus far been granted NCLB waivers, with 10 more states’ waiver applications pending. This means that Read more about California’s Request for NCLB Waiver Rejected[…]
The organization created by former DC public schools chair Michelle Rhee, StudentsFirst, has recently released results from their State Policy Report Card. The results, to put it mildly, are poor and are an effort by StudentsFirst to motivate reforms at the state level that StudentsFirst argues that states have been unwilling to make. According the Read more about StudentsFirst gives 48 states C’s or below for Education Policy[…]
MMS Education, an organization that helps for-profit and not-for-profit organizations reach, engage, and measure impact in the PreK-20 education market, published a survey last month that detailed an expected general rise in educators’ use of social media, with an unexpected increase in use of social media sites designed specifically for educators. As educators of all Read more about Survey shows steep rise in educators’ use of social media sites[…]
In April of 2012, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo convened the New NY Education Reform Commission. Their task was to develop “an actionable course of reforms – based on proven models of success from within New York as well as other states and nations – that will provide the level of educational excellence that Read more about New York State Education Commission Proposes Significant Changes[…]
The budgetary compromise reached by the House and Senate on January 1 that puts off major funding decisions until March has been hailed by some, especially those who see it as preventing some of the largest ever across-the-board cuts to government programs and those hoping that it will act as a building block to a Read more about The delayed Fiscal Cliff: Where does Education stand?[…]
10 states, with another 4 more having recently wrapped up litigation, currently face lawsuits regarding increased funding for education. This phenomenon is not new. Lawsuits supported by pro-school funding organizations have been taking place for decades, although the economic recession of the last five years has reignited a long-standing debate about school funding. In 1973, Read more about 10 States Face Education Funding Lawsuits[…]
The American Federation of Teachers, led by President Randi Weingarten, has recently published a report entitled “Raising the Bar: Aligning and Elevating Teacher Preparation and the Teaching Profession.” This report calls for a more rigorous process by which teacher candidates would be certified. The process would consist of the following steps: Teachers demonstrating subject area Read more about AFT calls for Bar Exam for Teacher Candidates[…]
Since 1906, the Carnegie Unit, or credit hour/student hour, has been the standard unit by which student progress and mastery in American secondary schools and colleges have been measured. The Carnegie Unit was originally created in 1906 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a means by which professors could argue for Read more about Re-thinking the credit hour?[…]
The Strategic Data Project (SDP), part of Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research, has teamed with Los Angeles Public Schools (LAUSD) for the last two years and has just released findings based on “analysis of student achievement data to measure teacher effectiveness.” The formal title of the revealing report is The LAUSD Human Capital Diagnostic. Read more about Analysis of achievement data to measure teacher effectiveness[…]
Too often do we in the field of education policy end up discussing only the negatives: red tape, too little funding, changed programs, poor communication, lack of support, etc. In recent years, principals and teachers have often borne the brunt of the criticism, although research into successful schools consistently shows that good principals and teachers Read more about 9 Model Ohio schools: Principals and Teachers are crucial to success[…]