In a recent article, Time blogger Andrew Rotherham argues that not only should parents take care when picking their child’s school, but they should be able to go so far as to pick their child’s teacher as well. He argues that even in good schools, teacher effectiveness is so variable that there is still no Read more about Parents Should Be Allowed to Pick Teachers[…]
A new paper from the Center for American Progress takes a look at the increasingly talked about “wraparound services” for children in low-income communities, and the connections to teacher efficiency. Wraparound services generally refer to non-classroom services such as health care, family involvement programs, and food assistance. There is research on the potential benefits Read more about Lightening the Load: How Community Schools Can Support Effective Teaching[…]
See below for two upcoming opportunities: “Education 2012: What the Election Year Will Mean for Education Policy” Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Time: 9:00-11:00am EST* *This event can be attended in-person for those in the Washington, DC area at the American Enterprise Institute, but it will also be livestreamed for those who wish to participate Read more about The Elections and Education: Discussions of ESEA and NCLB[…]
Earlier this month, the Gates Foundation released its most recent report on the MET Project (Measures of Effective Teaching). The report focuses on the second set of preliminary findings, particularly on classroom observations. Five instruments for classroom observations are studied: the Framework for Teaching (FFT), developed by the Danielson Group; Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), Read more about Gathering Feedback for Teaching[…]
Education First and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center have released a joint study on the progress of implementation planning for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Forty-seven states have adopted the standards so far. Not only did the study look at curriculum realignment to fit the new standards, but also at how teacher Read more about A National Perspective on CCSS Implementation Planning[…]
For the fourth year running, Maryland’s public schools have been ranked number one in the nation by Education Week. In “2012 Quality Counts,” the annual report that ranks state public school systems, Maryland received an overall grade of B+ (raw score: 87.8). The national average grade was a C, with a raw score of 76.5. Read more about Maryland Schools Ranked #1[…]
It’s that time of year again, when the President makes his State of the Union address to Congress. Rather than watching in silence this year, shake things up by playing State of the Union Bingo, brought to you by the Alliance for Excellent Education! We don’t know yet whether President Obama’s 2012 agenda will include Read more about State of the Union Bingo 2012[…]
There is ample research on the differences in teacher distribution across schools vis-à-vis teacher demographics and experience, but what about teacher distribution within schools? A paper published by the Urban Institute looks at this issue. By comparing teachers within the same grade level and school in an urban district during a given year, the authors Read more about Teacher Characteristics and Class Assignments[…]
The US Department of Education recently released progress reports on the 12 Race to the Top winners, outlining their successes and failures in upholding the commitments they made in their grant proposals. So where do the winners now stand? Delaware: ($120 million) Delaware had to delay rolling out their teacher-evaluation system for one year and Read more about RTT Winners Struggle to Meet Commitments[…]
Earlier this month, the US Department of Education released its most recent report on teacher preparation programs and initial credentialing of new teachers across the country. The report compiles data collected from states from 2008-10, and seeks to map out things like the number of students enrolled in teacher prep programs and their demographics, successful Read more about Department of Education Releases Report on Teacher Prep and Credentialing[…]
The National Association for Alternative Certification (NAAC) has issued two calls: one for pilot sites, and one for reviewers. The NAAC is looking to test a new set of standards, called “Quality Indicators,” or QI, developed by NAAC, Project KNOTtT, and The Ohio State University. The QIs are designed to be tools for program assessment Read more about The National Association for Alternative Certification Wants YOU![…]
Last month, Wendy Kopp of Teach for America and Dennis Van Roekel of the National Education Association discussed their thoughts on ways to improve the teaching force in the US in an article that appeared in USa Today. “As [education] leaders…we know from experience that great teachers are made, not born…Unfortunately, not all teachers are Read more about Three Ways to Improve America’s Teachers[…]
Time Magazine has named its picks for the top education activists to watch in 2012. So who are some of these potential movers and shakers (in no particular order)? 1. Catharine Bellinger and Alexis Morin: Two students who founded Students for Education Reform (SFER) in 2009, with the goal of mobilizing college students around the Read more about TIME’s “12 Education Activists for 2012”[…]
The Center for American Progress released a report last week focused on the 12 first-round Race to the Top (RTT) winners’ progress on teacher preparation and accountability systems. RTT winners are required to meet several goals, such as linking student achievement and growth data to their teachers; tie this information into teacher prep programs; publicly Read more about Getting Better at Teacher Preparation and State Accountability[…]
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center), established in 2005 as a joint venture between the American Institutes for Research and its partners, ETS, Vanderbilt University, and the US Department of Education provide a central “collection point” for teacher quality content and resources. Of particular interest among their resources are the State Database Read more about TQ Center Provides Online, Interactive Teacher Evaluation Resources[…]
Roland Fryer and Will Dobbie, researchers at Harvard University, have released a new study that claims “what happens inside New York City charter schools is more important than their ideological affiliations in determining academic success.” The paper, Getting Beneath the Veil of Effective Schools: Evidence from New York City, consists of in-depth case studies at Read more about New Study Attempts to Isolate What Works in Charter Schools[…]