Preparing Educators and School Leaders for Effective Arts Integration

Posted on May 29, 2018May 26, 2018 by coreeducation

Research shows the positive impact of arts integration on students’ cognitive skills, engagement and attitudes about learning. How can states support educators and school leaders as they work to integrate the arts into core curricula? The Education Commission of the States has produced a new Preparing Educators and School Leaders for Effective Arts Integration report Read more about Preparing Educators and School Leaders for Effective Arts Integration[…]

Supporting Teachers So They and Their Students Can Thrive

Posted on May 24, 2018May 20, 2018 by coreeducation

Recently in The 74, Erin Figula wrote an opinion piece detailing three ways district leaders and administrators can authentically support teachers. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Increase Access to Meaningful Professional Learning While 84 percent of teachers say they wish they had access to more professional development opportunities, they’re not looking for more one-time Read more about Supporting Teachers So They and Their Students Can Thrive[…]

Introducing a Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning

Posted on May 22, 2018March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

A growing number of educators around the world believe that project based learning (PBL) is an important instructional approach that enables students to master academic skills and content knowledge, develop skills necessary for future success, and build the personal agency needed to tackle life’s and the world’s challenges. Projects are an easy way to engage Read more about Introducing a Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning[…]

New Collaborations and New Approaches to Teacher Preparation

Posted on March 29, 2018March 24, 2018 by coreeducation

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 cutting edge of teacher preparation Read more about New Collaborations and New Approaches to Teacher Preparation[…]

Building Systems Knowledge for Continuous Improvement

Posted on February 12, 2018February 9, 2018 by coreeducation

In California, recent policy shifts have created a high degree of local control with the expectation that school districts will think differently about school and district improvement. However, many districts lack the individual expertise and organizational capacity to support these changes at scale. In large part, this is due to a lack of a shared Read more about Building Systems Knowledge for Continuous Improvement[…]

How School Buildings Affect Teacher Collaboration

Posted on January 22, 2018January 19, 2018 by coreeducation

Writing for Education Next, researchers James P. Spillane and Matthew Shirrell describe the findings of a four-year study of a midwestern suburban district, where they analyzed collaboration patterns among teachers and teased out the impact of teacher proximity to one another, shared workspace, and school design. Their analysis finds that physical proximity predicts staff interactions, Read more about How School Buildings Affect Teacher Collaboration[…]

School Leadership Counts

Posted on November 9, 2017November 4, 2017 by coreeducation

While the importance and impact of school and teacher leadership has been widely understood by policymakers and practitioners, the field has lacked a comprehensive, research-based analysis to identify the specific elements of school and teacher leadership that can increase student achievement. Through a grant from the Carnegie Corporation, the New Teacher Center (NTC) partnered with Read more about School Leadership Counts[…]

Hiding in Plain Sight: Leveraging Curriculum to Improve Student Learning

Posted on October 9, 2017March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

A new report from a group of the nation’s boldest state and district education leaders finds that improving curriculum is a powerful, but underutilized strategy for school improvement. Curriculum has long been a third rail in U.S. education policy, dismissed by policymakers despite related, highly visible efforts to develop college- and career-ready standards, aligned assessments, Read more about Hiding in Plain Sight: Leveraging Curriculum to Improve Student Learning[…]

Using Data to Improve Teacher Prep

Posted on October 2, 2017September 17, 2017 by coreeducation

Every student, no matter where he or she lives, deserves a great teacher. States, educator preparation programs (EPPs), and K–12 leaders must work together to ensure that all teachers are learner ready on day one in the classroom. But too often, these actors do not have access to the necessary information to fully prepare teachers Read more about Using Data to Improve Teacher Prep[…]

New Report Provides Education Leaders with School Interventions that Work

Posted on August 2, 2017July 29, 2017 by coreeducation

As state, district, and school leaders begin work under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to identify and intervene in low-performing schools and among under-achieving groups of students, a new report by the Alliance for Excellent Education offers action steps and research-backed solutions to guide their work. The report, School Interventions That Work: Targeted Support Read more about New Report Provides Education Leaders with School Interventions that Work[…]

Forging Partnerships — A Model for Teacher Leadership Development

Posted on July 28, 2017July 21, 2017 by coreeducation

The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd has produced a new CenterView, focused on teacher leaders as instructional leaders and how districts can enable successful teacher leadership to improve standards-aligned instructional practices. In the current landscape of rigorous standards implementation, teacher leadership is gaining increased attention and interest as a school Read more about Forging Partnerships — A Model for Teacher Leadership Development[…]

Mentors for New Teachers Found to Boost Student Achievement—by a Lot

Posted on July 26, 2017July 21, 2017 by coreeducation

The final results from a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) analysis has found that the New Teacher Center’s teacher induction model increases student learning by up to five months. These third-party evaluation results show that the NTC induction model yields statistically significant gains in student learning. The teacher induction model increases student Read more about Mentors for New Teachers Found to Boost Student Achievement—by a Lot[…]

Rubrics for School Improvement

Posted on July 13, 2017June 30, 2017 by coreeducation

School improvement planning has become more prevalent and important due to increased calls from federal and state governments, state education agencies (SEAs), and the general public for more accountability in education. In many cases, the school principal is responsible for conceptualizing, drafting, and submitting the plan. However, there are very few publicly available tools that Read more about Rubrics for School Improvement[…]

Building and Supporting Improvers

Posted on June 28, 2017June 25, 2017 by coreeducation

In the Carnegie Commons blog, authors Jennifer Russell and Maggie Hannan explore how Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) can build educators’ capacity to use improvement science to learn from practice. Improvement science offers methods to guide disciplined inquiries that generate knowledge to improve practice. Improvement research—the inquiry processes that lie at its core—provides a set of Read more about Building and Supporting Improvers[…]

The Five Essential Building Blocks of a Networked Improvement Community

Posted on June 9, 2017June 2, 2017 by coreeducation

Networked improvement communities (NICs) are gaining importance as a structure for identifying and solving complex educational problems. Tackling these problems requires taking specific steps to make sure the NIC is built to last. In the Carnegie Commons blog, Sarah McKay summarizes an article, “A Framework for the Initiation of Networked Improvement Communities” published in the Read more about The Five Essential Building Blocks of a Networked Improvement Community[…]

Can Teacher Residencies Help With Shortages?

Posted on June 8, 2017June 2, 2017 by coreeducation

At a recent meeting of the American Education Research Association (AERA), The Learning Policy Institute presented findings from a comprehensive study of teacher residencies across the nation. There are currently approximately 50 such programs. The best include the following key characteristics: Strong district/university partnerships Coursework about teaching and learning tightly integrated with clinical practice Full-year Read more about Can Teacher Residencies Help With Shortages?[…]