A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse identifies practices that can improve the performance of chronically low-performing schools — a process commonly referred to as “turnaround.” The report, Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools, makes four recommendations based on current research into school turnaround efforts: Schools Read more
In a recent blog post, John Merrow reflects on this year’s “Education Nation” summit, an annual conference organized and hosted by NBC News: NBC News put on its third iteration of Education Nation earlier this week and did an even better job this year. I suppose that could be considered Read more
Last week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan addressed an audience at the National Press Club. His remarks were focused on current education reforms and the estimated success of programs already in place. “Today, we are asking much more of ourselves and much more of each other – and everyone is stepping Read more
TNTP, a national nonprofit organization working to ensure that all students get excellent teachers, recently released a first-of-its-kind resource on effective teaching written by and for practicing teachers. The resource, Unlocking Student Effort , is a paper that includes five essays written by the winners of TNTP’s 2012 Fishman Prize Read more
Last week, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) released a new paper focused on the “teacher evaluation binge” that has swept the country. The paper, authored by Sara Meade, Andrew Rotherham, and Rachael Brown, argues that “there are pitfalls in states’ rush to legislate new systems, and there are real tensions Read more
Two state consortia—Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium—have made great strides to develop new assessment systems ready for use in two years. Over the summer, for example, they released sample items and tasks and are putting together teams of educators Read more
The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday 35 grants awarded to improve pay structures, reward great teachers and principals and provide greater professional opportunities to teachers in high poverty schools. Winning applicants comprise districts, partnering districts, states, and nonprofits that together serve nearly 1,000 schools in 150 urban, suburban, and Read more
The teachers’ strike in Chicago has generated considerable interest in the use of test-based measures of teacher effectiveness in personnel decisions. For a clear discussion of the uses, value, and limitations of test-based measures check out the CADLER Conversation on the issue. The National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data Read more
Last week Andrew Rotherham from Time magazine wrote about whether teachers should be able to sell their lesson plans. He talks about kindergarten teacher Deanna Jump, who has made more than one million dollars selling her lesson plans online. That is what teachers are looking for, since the new Common Core Read more
Matthew DiCarlo of the Albert Shanker Institute has developed five recommendations for reporters who write stories on state test scores. But these recommendations are not only useful for reporters – educators also would benefit from understanding the nuances of these numbers that are increasingly used to judge worth. 1. Look Read more
As both the federal government and states face unprecedented challenges in raising standards and increasing outcomes for all students, state education agencies (SEAs) need to take a new approach; one focused less on compliance and more on performance management. For most SEAs this is a daunting and complicated task. A Read more
At 69 percent, the United States ranks twenty-eighth in the percentage of four-year-olds in early childhood education, according to Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators, released earlier this month by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report also finds that the odds of a young person Read more
The National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) has released a paper that explores the growth models available for school and teacher evaluations. The specifics of how growth models should be constructed and used to evaluate schools and teachers is a topic of lively policy debate Read more
Few efforts are as pressing this school year as those of identifying issues and creating new approaches to improve educator quality. In support of these imperatives, (AIR) has released new resources to ensure that leaders have the capabilities and tools needed to successfully improve teaching and learning. The online destinations Read more
Discussions about human capital and school improvement typically center on teachers. Yet the principals who select those teachers are a critical driver of school success. Just as states are beginning to address the weaknesses in their principal pipelines, a new report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) offers Read more
With the Race to the Top-District competition focusing on personalized learning for students, many educators are grappling with the concept of personalization and the many questions surrounding implementation. This month’s issue brief offers resources and food for thought around personalized learning. To access September’s Issue Brief, please click here (http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=a4ae2b1b129b9f8a29d50b80f&id=a42f51f627&e=[UNIQID]). Read more