In order for a school reform effort to succeed, it must be owned by teachers. Those responsible for change must have a voice in creating and directing that change: teachers cannot be viewed as simply the implementers. In Core Education’s April issue brief, we discuss lessons learned from successful implementation Read more
NCTQ’s 2018 State Teacher Policy Best Practices Guide highlights leading state work across 37 different policy areas that impact teacher quality. This resource serves as a guide to all states seeking concrete ideas and examples of how to improve teacher policy. Despite consistent concerns regarding whether states are acting quickly Read more
How can schools begin to address all their students’ individual learning needs? Blended learning is increasingly part of the answer schools consider, but what about a broader rethinking of how schools are organized and staffed? Public Impact and the Clayton Christensen Institute have been taking a close look at eight Read more
This year, the Fordham Foundation hosted a Wonkathon, asking assorted education policy experts whether America’s graduation requirements need to change. Replies were rated and the winners have been announced: 2018 First Place: High school reimagined (and we truly mean reimagined) by Jessica Shopoff, M.Ed., and Chase Eskelsen, M.Ed. To build Read more
Students on the Prichard Committee Student Voice Team recently wrote, “Young people are ready to help lead the charge. Policymakers would be wise to heed our interest and energy and enlist us a full partners in finding solutions.” As the national conversation around student voice swells, these students and millions Read more
One-on-one teacher coaching generates meaningful improvements to both classroom instruction and student achievement, according to a newly published meta-analysis of existing research. But there’s a tricky caveat: Efforts to expand coaching programs on a wider scale might only dilute their value, the authors find. Key takeaways from this study include Read more
The National Association of State Boards of Education has released a policy brief exploring state mentoring policies related to the support of novice teachers and the research on effective mentoring programs. Policy recommendations as well as state exemplar programs are offered. The brief finds that although there is evidence that Read more
The Education Commission of the States is out with policy snapshots of enacted state legislation related to teachers. Each snapshot covers all teacher legislation in 2017 as well as select 2018 introduced legislation and details various state approaches to attracting and retaining a high-quality teacher workforce. Access the snapshots at Read more
According to a new evaluation brief from National Center for Education Evaluation (NCEE), providing educators with performance feedback and offering pay-for-performance bonuses can improve student achievement. The evaluation brief synthesizes two recent NCEE impact studies, which evaluated key strategies that can be funded through the federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) Read more
Michael Hansen, Diana Quintero, and Li Feng of the Brookings Institute recently explored incentive policies that show evidence of attracting minority teachers. Excerpts from their piece appear below: Many education policymakers and practitioners across the country recognize the need to recruit and retain more racial and ethnic minorities into the Read more
A new Statistics in Brief from NCES highlights changes in teacher autonomy, satisfaction, job security, and commitment between 1999–2000 and 2011–12. The report focuses on patterns between perceived level of autonomy and perceptions of job security, satisfaction, and commitment. It relies on a sample of U.S. public school teachers using Read more
In October 2017, American Institutes for Research (AIR) convened a panel of more than 30 teacher educators, researchers, and school and district leaders to present interdisciplinary research study designs that would break ground on new ways to better prepare teachers. These innovative designs, and the conversations they sparked, represent the Read more
The Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development has released a report from leading educators describing the practices and principles that can make a new vision of learning part of the fabric of schools and classrooms across the nation. The Practice Base for How We Learn outlines Read more
Candice McQueen and Charla Hurt recently shared the progress of a Tennessee initiative to engage effective teachers as teacher leaders for The 74. Excerpts of their piece appear below: The idea seemed like common sense: Engage the most effective teachers, ask them to come up with ideas for improving schools, Read more
In Igniting the Learning Engine: How school systems accelerate teacher effectiveness and student growth through Connected Professional Learning (which we blogged about here: https://www.coreeducationllc.com/blog2/igniting-learning-engine/), authors profiled four school systems that, with an intensive focus on improving the quality of instruction through professional learning, have seen above-average results with a relatively Read more
There is no doubt that teachers exert an incredible influence on students and their learning. But what if teachers hold the key to school and district-wide reform as well? In our March Issue Brief, Core Education explores the many ways schools and districts are offering exceptional teachers opportunities to share Read more