The public school system in Washington, D.C. has hired a reality TV company to produce videos intended to improve the skills of its teachers. So far, 80 videos of 5 to 15 minutes each, have been produced. The videos are “peppered with quick jump cuts, slick screen labels and a Read more
The first wave of petitions calling for technology professional development for all educators were delivered last week to Senator Patty Murray (Washington), and Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (California), Duncan Hunter (California) and George Miller (California) by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). More than one thousand educators are urging Read more
Resource Watch: ‘Pinteresting’ Idea for Teachers – Teaching Now – Education Week Teacher. Grockit, the online test prep company, has recently launched a new social learning site similar to Pinterest, but designed specifically for educators and students, according to The Journal, an education-technology news magazine. On Learnist, users can “pin” Read more
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (or TQ Center) has released new resources focused on how “meaningful professional learning” into the design and implementation of teacher evaluation systems. These resources include: Aligning Teacher Evaluation with Professional Learning, an infographic showing the relationship between the two. Generating Teaching Effectiveness: The Read more
State applications for waivers under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act vary in the degree to which “deeper learning” skills are reflected in the standards, accountability systems, professional development, and teacher evaluations proposed by states, according to a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education (“the Alliance”). The Read more
Education Week is again offering new “Spotlights on Education” for free. Spotlights are collections of recent articles grouped by theme to give readers an in-depth look at education issues. The currently offered Spotlights are: Implementing Online Learning Blended Learning Sports Variety of Approaches Spotlight Turns Toward Virtual Ed Accountability School Read more
The New Teacher Center (NTC) has released a new study, Review of State Policies on Teacher Induction, which summarizes the Center’s analysis of induction and mentoring policies across the country. The paper uses a battery of criteria to highlight leading state policies, and makes policy recommendations that the Center believes Read more
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the Schott Foundation for Public Education recently released a new report, Straight Talk on Teaching Quality: Six Game-Changing Ideas and What to Do About Them. The report, which is more of a guide for improving teaching effectiveness, is based on the plethora of Read more
Education First and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center have released a joint study on the progress of implementation planning for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Forty-seven states have adopted the standards so far. Not only did the study look at curriculum realignment to fit the new standards, 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
Larry Ferlazzo, an Education Week blogger and award-winning classroom teacher, recently addressed concerns from the teaching community on how to create a more supportive work environment. In the wake of high-stakes testing and high-pressure evaluations, morale in the teachers’ lounge appears to have taken a nose dive. One reader asked Read more
A recent study released by the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning examines how teachers are beginning to embrace new technologies, such as Twitter, to “take control of their own professional development, finding new ways to learn from each other; to reflect on their own practice, and to develop learning Read more
In a recent blog post for Education Week, educator Nancy Flanagan reflected on a recent encounter she had with a young teacher after a panel discussion. The teacher described her loneliness at her school, which is focused on raising test scores and has an atmosphere of fear and bitterness among Read more
Education Week is offering another free “Spotlight” collection for download, this one focused on professional learning communities (PLCs). Spotlights are a collection of past articles from the publication focused on a particular topic. The 10 articles in this Spotlight offer insights on: –Building effective teacher teams –Starting a new PLC Read more
ASCD Express is seeking short essays on the theme “Supporting Preservice Teachers.” From ASCD:“The learning trajectory from college education student to classroom teacher—and “master of her own universe”—is pretty compressed. Inevitably, much about education must be learned on the job. But can universities better prepare future teachers? If so, how? Read more
John Merrow recently blogged about a comment made by the Center for Teaching Quality’s Barnett Berry: “Teaching is a team sport,” he told Merrow. Merrow was left wondering—is this true? Baseball is a team sport, with everyone needing to work together for success, while at the same time allowing for Read more