The Save our Schools March and National Call to Action wrapped up in Washington, DC this weekend. The event consisted of a two-day conference and followed by a march and rally in the nation’s capital. The event, hosted by a grassroots teacher advocacy group called Save Our Schools, was staged Read more
In a Higher Ed Watch article last week, Jon Oberg discussed the recent recommendations from the American Educational Research Association on how to fix the problems with the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA). ESRA, originally signed into law in 2002, is three years overdue for reauthorization, and much of this Read more
The Center for American Progress has released a report examining the role of state education agencies, their leaders, and their potential impact on education reform. In the past, state education agencies (SEAs) have been small offices in the background, mostly tasked with administering state and federal education laws, allocating federal Read more
New Jersey’s state Board of Education recently voted to relax the requirements for hiring superintendents in its most troubled school districts, opening these jobs to non-educators for the first time. The new regulations will take effect immediately in the 57 school districts that have schools labeled as “failing” due to Read more
On Friday the new IMPACT teacher evaluation results were announced by D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson. All told, 413 DCPS teachers and staff have been given separation notices, but not all of the firings were directly related to IMPACT. The controversial evaluation system identified 288 DCPS teachers and staff Read more
In an article in the most recent edition of Education Outlook, Fairfax County Schools Superintendant Jack Dale shares his vision for the “21st century teacher-leader.” He claims the current system of negotiated contracts, 10-month work, various pay schemes, etc. are moving the teaching profession “toward an hourly, blue-collar, piecemeal work Read more
In her report Inside IMPACT, Reporter Susan Headden takes a close look at D.C.’s teacher evaluation system. IMPACT was developed by former Chancellor Michelle Rhee to address the gulf between the high rate of “satisfactory” teacher evaluations and student NAEP scores that were among the lowest in the nation. IMPACT Read more
Districts and states are facing huge budget shortfalls and are being forced to cut education spending. If the face of this economic climate Education Resource Strategies (ERS) set out to reveal the most effective ways to cut costs while maintaining results. They find that billions of education dollars are trapped Read more
District-led, dramatic change efforts in failing schools-including turnarounds and school closures-often face strong resistance from families and communities. Resistance may be based on district-community tensions, failed past school improvement efforts, or a lack of understanding about what is possible in schools. In this new presentation by Public Impact, nine strategies Read more
The U.S. Department of Education and Asia Society released a report last week entitled, “Improving Teacher Quality Around the World: The International Summit on the Teaching Profession,” addressing lessons shared during the two-day event held in New York City in March. The summit marked the first-ever convening of education ministers, Read more
In a typical year (without a stimulus bill), the federal Department of Education has about $20 million in discretionary funds. In 2009, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave away over $373 million to education, the Walton Foundation gave approximately $134 million, and the Broad Foundation about $39 million. Education Read more
Although much of the impetus for new approaches to teacher evaluation comes from policymakers at the state and national levels, the design of any particular teacher evaluation system falls to the roughly 16,000 school districts and 5,000 independent public charter schools in the country. A new report from the Brookings Read more
In Customized Schooling (Harvard Education Press, 2011), editors Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), and Bruno V. Manno, senior adviser, K-12 Education Reform Initiative at the Walton Family Foundation, lead a group of education experts to look at “how providers might Read more
Hot off the Brookings Institution press is Terry Moe’s magnum opus on teacher unions, Special Interest – Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools. At more than 500 pages, it is deeply informative, profoundly insightful, fundamentally depressing, and yet ultimately somewhat hopeful about our children’s educational futures due to the combined forces Read more
A $99 million teacher bonus program that Washington legislators designed to lure good teachers into high-poverty schools has not worked as intended, according to a new analysis from the University of Washington Bothell’s Center on Reinventing Public Education. Washington State provides $5,000 bonuses to those teachers who undergo and pass Read more
A new paper from Public Impact titled Teacher Tenure Reform: Applying Lessons from the Civil Service and Higher Education examines lessons from higher education and the civil service and applies fresh thinking to offer new “elite” and “inclusive” tenure designs that could improve student learning and help grow the size Read more