Last month, Robert Pianta of the Center for American Progress released a report reflecting on new evidence-based approaches to professional development and training of teachers. He notes the lack of a “stockpile” of effective teacher preparation and PD approaches to help states and districts meet the needs of their teachers, Read more
In a recent blog post for The Huffington Post, Jack Jennings of the Center on Education Policy reflects on the current “business” of education reform. Benchmarking, once used only in top performing companies, has tricked its way down to education, the most prominent example being the Common Core State Standards Read more
A recent study released by the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning examines how teachers are beginning to embrace new technologies, such as Twitter, to “take control of their own professional development, finding new ways to learn from each other; to reflect on their own practice, and to develop learning Read more
A recent Huffington Post article describes the new education lobby: ambitious, expansive, and mainly created by hedge fund managers and former government officials. In some ways, it is modeled on large, single-issue lobbying organizations like the NRA and AARP. The newer lobbying groups are focusing on teacher evaluations using student Read more
Education Week is offering a free, live webinar on improving teacher education programs across the country. The live webinar, moderated by Stephen Sawchuk of Education Week, will feature Deans Mari Koerner (Arizona State University) and Deborah Loewenberg Ball, (University of Michigan). From Education Week: University-based teacher education remains the engine Read more
Last month, Jack Jennings of the Center on Education Policy wrote an article refuting the contentious AEI paper claiming that public school teachers are overcompensated and under-achieving (see a summary of this study here). Jennings contrasts the methodology of the AEI study with a study from an impartial group, the Read more
For-profit, online colleges have been ramping up the development and execution of alternative teacher certification programs over the past couple of years. The state of Texas, particularly, has seen a dramatic rise in the number of for-profit alternative certification programs. These programs, lasting from three months to two years, “are Read more
The Center for American Progress has released two new reports that attempt to predict the outcomes of traditional defined-benefit pensions for teachers vs. cash-balance plans. Redefining Teacher Pensions: Strategically Defined Benefits for New Teachers and Fiscal Sustainability for All, by Raegan Miller, argues that since teachers are the single most Read more
The National STEM Video Game Challenge is a competition aiming to stimulate STEM learning by “embracing the popular students’ pastime of playing and making video games.” The competition is sponsored by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media. There are several categories, broken down by school Read more
In a recent blog post for Education Week, educator Nancy Flanagan reflected on a recent encounter she had with a young teacher after a panel discussion. The teacher described her loneliness at her school, which is focused on raising test scores and has an atmosphere of fear and bitterness among Read more
The Fordham Institute released a report focused on teachers in the digital age, particularly on the issue of if, in the near future, traditional teachers could be replaced by full-blown digital instruction delivered online. The authors claim that as digital learning become more widely used, “solid instruction in the basics Read more
The National Education Writers Association (EWA) has released a research brief on teacher effectiveness. Organized around several prevailing questions about teacher effectiveness, the brief seeks to synthesize the available research to help leaders make informed decisions as they develop teacher evaluation systems. The brief reviews over 40 specific research studies Read more
In this week’s School of Thought blog, Andrew Rotherham discusses the disparities in public education across the country. If the goal of the Occupy movement is to improve social mobility, then there is “no better example of how the system is rigged against millions of Americans than the education our Read more
Education Week is offering another free “Spotlight” collection for download, this one focused on professional learning communities (PLCs). Spotlights are a collection of past articles from the publication focused on a particular topic. The 10 articles in this Spotlight offer insights on: –Building effective teacher teams –Starting a new PLC Read more
When Tennessee was one of the first winners named in the federal Race to the Top competition, Secretary Arne Duncan praised the state’s officials for having “the courage, capacity and commitment to turn their ideas into practice that can improve outcomes for students.” Now, it appears that commendation was premature. Read more
The Center for American Progress released two reports last week focused on the lack of diversity in the American school system and what might be done about it. The first paper, Teacher Diversity Matters, by Ulrich Boser, reflects on the increasingly diverse public school population and the decreasingly diverse teacher Read more