Jonah Steele is a current high school student, writing on Medium about the current debate over education reform. He laments the fact that students do not seem to have any input, or at least are not taken seriously, in this debate. Mr. Steele states: Regardless of how many times you’ve watched a TED talk pop Read more about A High School Student on Education Reform[…]
In a recent opinion piece in Education Week, David Gamberg, superintendent of both the Southold Union Free School District and the Greenport Union Free School District, reflects on what makes a good school. Below are excerpts from his piece: Words matter. Of course, brick and mortar are only a small part of the story. The Read more about What Defines a Good School?[…]
A recent article from Education Week, by Marc Tucker, criticizes the way states are handling the implementation of ESSA. The hottest item at the recent meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers was ESSA, the new federal education legislation that replaced No Child Left Behind, but the big question on the minds of Read more about ESSA: Time for States to Seize the Initiative[…]
A recent report written by the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders and Learning Forward examines what teachers and educational leaders can learn about professional development from other industries. The education field has long recognized the importance of ongoing professional learning and growth opportunities, and recent policy priorities have underscored the importance of ongoing learning. Read more about Looking Outside: Learning about PD from Other Industries[…]
Great teachers matter-we all know that. But great principals matter nearly as much. When they lead a team of teacher-leaders in instructional excellence, student learning can soar. But then what? Can principals like these take their leadership to the next level and stay connected to teachers and students? In An Excellent Principal for Every School: Read more about Steps to Transform Schools into Leadership Machines[…]
The goal of every teacher evaluation system should be strengthening teacher practice to improve student learning. As states assume more autonomy under the Every Student Succeeds Act, they have a significant opportunity to make progress toward this essential goal by taking stock of their evaluation and support systems and refining them for the better. Teacher Read more about Teacher Evaluation and Support Systems: A Roadmap for Improvement[…]
Sarah Brown Wessling, high school English teacher in Johnston, Iowa and 2010 National Teacher of the Year recently offered advice for teacher leaders in Education Week. An excerpt of her post appears below: As many of our systems work to make space for elevating the profession by calling on the wisdom and expertise of our Read more about Advice for New Teacher Leaders[…]
Learning Forward and the National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future (NCTAF) are pleased to announce that the application process for the Agents for Learning Competition (www.learningforward.org/get-involved/agents-for-learning-competition) is now officially open. The goal of the competition is to engage educator teams in advocating for the best use of federal funding for professional learning under the Read more about “Agents for Learning” Competition to Spur Teacher Engagement in ESSA Implementation[…]
The Shanker Institute recently published commentary on the Beyond PD: Teacher Professional Learning in High-Performing Systems report from the Learning First Alliance and the International Center for Benchmarking in Education at the National Center for Education and the Economy. This blog covered that report here (https://www.coreeducationllc.com/blog2/more-teaching-less-learning/) and here (https://www.coreeducationllc.com/blog2/professional-development-transformed/). As a review, the paper Read more about Beyond Teacher Quality[…]
New Teacher Center has released a new report on all 50 states that takes a look at the support available for new principals and new teachers. The results show only a slight improvement over the past few years. Support From the Start: A 50-State Review of Policies on New Educator Induction and Mentoring examines how Read more about 50 State Report Urges More Support For New Teachers and Principals[…]
Policymakers and practitioners who face a deluge of important decisions affecting thousands of schools can find advice from some of the top education thinkers in the country in JFF’s new brief, Advancing Deeper Learning Under ESSA: Seven Priorities. The piece recommends ways that supporters of deeper learning can make the most of the rapidly changing Read more about Advancing Deeper Learning Under ESSA[…]
The George W. Bush Institute’s Middle School Matters initiative and The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at the University of Texas at Austin (MCPER) recently published the second edition of the “Middle School Matters Field Guide,” a collection of research-based principles, practices, and strategies deemed essential for middle school success. The updated field guide Read more about Middle School Matters Field Guide[…]
Between 2002 and 2013, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) funded over 245 projects focused on social-behavioral competencies or outcomes (e.g., social skills, dropout prevention) through the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). Together, the researchers funded by these groups developed or tested more than 170 Read more about Compendium of Social-Behavioral Research[…]
Effective teacher teams can produce a variety of positive outcomes, from increased student achievement, to improved school climate, to high levels of teacher resilience and retention. But cultivating effective teacher collaboration is more complex than simply assigning a common planning period to a group of teachers. In this month’s issue brief, we explore best practices Read more about April Issue Brief: Teacher Collaboration[…]
For more than a decade, Achieve has issued an annual 50-state report on each state’s adoption of college- and career-ready (CCR) policies as reflected in state standards, graduation requirements, assessments, and accountability systems. Having the right policies is necessary to ensure that students graduate academically prepared for college and careers, but policy alone is insufficient. Read more about States’ Accountability Systems Flawed for College Readiness, Report Finds[…]
In a recent Getting Smart article, Bonnie Lathram and Tyler Nakatsu explore how educators can get started with Deeper Learning. They suggest six entry points: Be a maker As an educator, what artifacts are there that can showcase the “makers” that you and your students are? Bring your own talents to the work you are Read more about Getting Smart: 6 Entry Points for Deeper Learning[…]