Last Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved by a 16-14 vote a bill that keeps education stagnant in the next fiscal year. Unsurprisingly, the 16-14 vote fell along party lines, with Democrats being in favor and Republicans opposed. The bill aims to reverse some of the cuts made to K-12 Read more
Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation have launched Teacher Wall, a social network for teachers. The site functions as a virtual town hall that gives teachers an opportunity to talk about the things that are most important to them-from challenges to “A-ha! moments,” from lessons learned to job Read more
Earlier this month, Richard M. Ingersoll and Henry May published a study through the Consortium for Policy Research in Education that addressed the long-held belief that the country is suffering from a lack of diversity in the teaching profession. They synthesized their findings in a recent article for Phi Delta Read more
A new study published in the current issue of Educational Researcher began with a simple question: Is the well-documented phenomenon of teacher effectiveness increasing substantially over the first two years of teaching due to skill improvement over time, or because weaker teachers choose to leave—making the overall teaching pool look Read more
The time of reckoning has arrived: winners of the Race to the Top competition have entered the season where they must make good on their promises to link teacher evaluation with student performance. This process is not easy, given the volatile debates that are taking place nation-wide surrounding this issue. Read more
This past Tuesday, Missouri decided to strip the Kansas City, MO school district of its accreditation. School board members and the Education Commissioner called the decision “agonizing,” but asserted that given the lack of improvement after two years of lukewarm efforts on the part of the district, removing accreditation was Read more
Recently, Michigan State Senator Phil Pavlov, chair of the state Senate’s education committee, announced that he was preparing legislation that would allow school districts to effectively outsource the teacher hiring process. Under the proposed law, districts could enter into contracts with private, for-profit “instructional services” companies to fill classrooms. Teachers Read more
As the economy continues to falter, many school districts have been faced with staffing challenges. Teacher and staff layoffs abound, but in some cases a round of layoffs is followed by another practice: last-minute hiring. To some degree, late hiring can be considered an inevitability for schools. Administrators don’t always Read more
Education Week is currently offering four free “Spotlight” collections for download. Spotlights are a collection of past articles from the publication focused on a particular topic. The four being offered gratis include collections on professional development, teacher evaluation, implementing common standards, and data-driven decision-making. Here are the highlights from each: Read more
Last week, National Louis University in Chicago collaborated with Groupon to offer an unheard-of deal: a 57% discount on a teacher prep course. The course, “Introduction to the Profession and the Craft of Teaching” was offered for $950 and covers topics such as “trends and debates in the teaching profession” Read more
The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a non-profit advocacy group, is collaborating with Qualcomm, Kajeet for Education, and HTC to launch an initiative designed to “empower pre-service/student teachers with advanced wireless technologies.” The project will promote communication, collaboration, and the availability of resources for first-time teachers. Five universities Read more
The new Common Core Standards for math and language arts are scheduled to be rolled out in the 2014-2015 school year, and 44 states plus the District of Columbia are starting to shape how the Common Core will play out in their education systems. Teacher preparation programs, professional development, and Read more
A recent study published by Karen DeAngelis and Jennifer Presley takes a closer look at new teacher attrition. We have all heard the claim that 50% of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years of teaching, but is this really true? DeAngelis and Presley found some surprising Read more
On August 31, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado wrote an op-ed piece for the Boston Globe, demanding a re-evaluation of teacher compensation in this country. Senator Bennet served as superintendent of Denver Public Schools from 2005 to 2009, and was named by Time as one of the leading educational activists Read more
Last week the Department of Education released the proposed requirements for the new round of Race to the Top (RTT) grants (not to be confused with the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge, which is a separate competition). This year, $200 million is up for grabs, with only Read more
DCPS officials are moving to change the most controversial reform of former Chancellor Michelle Rhee: teacher evaluation. The IMPACT evaluation system requires that teachers be observed five times per year (three times by a school administrator and twice by a “master teacher”) and rated on a scale of 1 to Read more