In a recent commentary piece for Education Week, Brad C. Phillips and Jay J. Pfieffer reflect on data and how it is (mis)used in education. “Factions are setting up camp at two extremes: one for those who believe data is the Holy Grail, and the other for those who shun Read more
The Center for American Progress (CAP) has released a report that analyzes how states can use the results of their teacher evaluation systems in a meaningful way. In other words, “what kinds of strategies should they adopt to increase the amount of measured effectiveness in the teacher workforce over time?” Read more
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 Read more
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 Read more
John Tyler of the Center for American Progress released a report last month focused on the challenges of developing evaluation systems for high school teachers, and possible solutions. Tyler believes that special attention should be paid to high school educators for three reasons: 1) high school student performance lags behind Read more
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) released its report State of the States: Trends and Early Lessons on Teacher Evaluation and Effectiveness Policies late last month that offers a closer look at what is being done across the nation with regard to teacher assessments. While admitting that it is Read more
Education writer Andrew Rotherham speculated in Time this week about the current data analysis “trend” that is sweeping the education reform movement. He reflects on Michael Lewis’ 2003 book Moneyball, which “traces the rise of new methods that the Oakland A’s used to identify undervalued baseball players so the team Read more
n the August 31, 2011 issue of Education Week, former educator Ama Nyamekye reflects on the controversy surrounding high-stakes testing. In college, she was active in protesting these types of tests and thought that “good teachers should be left to their own devices.” She writes, “ I was certain that Read more
In an op-ed piece that appeared in the August 28 issue of the New York Daily News, well-known education scholar and author (and self-identified union critic) Frederick M. Hess blasted the recent decision by the New York state appellate court that will allow New York City to release student achievement Read more
The Teachers of the Washington New Millennium Initiative, an institute part of the Center for Teaching Quality, released a report this week focusing on how to create a results-oriented teaching profession. The group’s recommendations are: 1. A two-tiered assessment system with improved national- and state-level standardized tests. Student assessments must Read more
The prospect of designing and implementing teacher and leader evaluations and the data systems necessary to link teachers with the achievement of their students is a daunting task. States and districts are only now confronting technical and logistical hurdles to creating new evaluations, writes Stephen Sawchuck in Education Week. In Read more
There are many things we can’t predict about the future of education, but happily, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has allowed us to look into the future of education statistics. For example, postsecondary enrollment rose by 34 percent between 1994 and 2008; NCES projects that it will increase Read more
The Data Quality Campaign’s (DQC) sixth annual state analysis, Data for Action 2010, reveals that states have made unprecedented progress collecting longitudinal information but have not taken action to ensure data are used to improve student achievement. When the DQC launched in 2005, no state had all 10 Essential Elements Read more
The U.S. Department of Education has launched a web site providing convenient and transparent access to key national and state education data, highlighting the progress being made at every level of the education system and encouraging communities to engage in an informed conversation about their schools. This first version of Read more
U.S. News & World Report and the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) today announce the launch of a landmark survey of more than 1,000 schools of education across the country. Unprecedented in its scope and comprehensiveness, the project will rate the quality of teacher training programs currently producing over Read more
The 15th edition of the Quality Counts Report was released today. Quality Counts 2011 contains in-depth coverage investigating persistent concerns over the halting economic recovery and emerging opportunities for innovation, as state and local officials attempt to move forward despite depleted budgets. It also provides a 50-state update in critical Read more