A crucial question at the nexus of the issues of student achievement and battles between school districts and teachers unions is the issue of teacher pay scale. A helpful study by Jason A. Grissom of Vanderbilt University and Katharine O. Strunk of the University of Southern California has recently delved Read more
The New Teacher Project (TNTP) has recently released a new report, Keeping Irreplaceables in D.C. Public Schools: Lessons in Smart Retention, which holds up the reforms begun in DC public schools by former schools chancellor Michelle Rhee as a model for human capital reform. The main thrust of the reforms Read more
We all know those teachers — the high-fliers, the irreplacables, the inspiring ones. One of our central concerns in education reform should not just be teacher retention, but retention of the “right” teachers. In this Issue Brief, we explore the many ways schools are offering exceptional teachers with opportunities to Read more
A study released yesterday finds that urban schools are systematically neglecting their best teachers, losing tens of thousands every year even as they keep many of their lowest-performing teachers indefinitely-with disastrous consequences for students, schools, and the teaching profession. The study by TNTP documents the real teacher retention crisis in Read more
In a new paper from TeachPlus, public charter school teacher turnover and its effects on student achievement is addressed. According to recent research, the teacher turnover rate at public charter schools is about 25% annually. Teacher turnover has been shown to negatively impact student achievement. Retaining Public Charter Teachers for Read more
The Strategic Data Project (SDP) released two Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs) that highlight specific areas that education leaders should examine to improve the overall effectiveness of their teacher workforce and the performance of their school districts. The first of these SPIs focuses on teacher placement patterns, examining which students are Read more
In a recent article in the Shanker Blog, Esther Quintero discusses how teachers are coping with the increased uncertainty in the education world that is a result of the lack of “coherent education infrastructure” in the U.S. In response to this uncertainty, teachers are becoming more reliant on collaboration and Read more
The US Department of Education kicked off Teacher Appreciation Week by initiating a dialogue on improving teaching profession, as well as the public perception of America’s teachers. A vision document for reforming the teaching profession created by active classroom teachers working temporarily for the U.S. Department of Education was posted Read more
Late last month, TNTP released a new report called Greenhouse Schools. The report seeks to identify “greenhouse schools,” or schools that “are better than others at accelerating student learning by developing and keeping great teachers.” TNTP wants to know what these schools are doing to establish such cultures. After surveying Read more
Scholastic Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHL) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released Primary Sources: America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession, the second landmark report presenting the results of a national survey of more than 10,000 public school teachers in grades pre-K to 12. The survey is a follow-up to the 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
There is ample research on the differences in teacher distribution across schools vis-à-vis teacher demographics and experience, but what about teacher distribution within schools? A paper published by the Urban Institute looks at this issue. By comparing teachers within the same grade level and school in an urban district during Read more
The annual turnover rate in rural Alaskan schools can be as high as 35%, compared with urban rates as low as 5%. A new program in rural Alaska seeks to halt this trend through a new program that pairs rural schools with big-city counterparts. Funded by a federal grant of Read more
Last month, Jack Jennings of the Center on Education Policy wrote an article refuting the contentious AEI paper claiming that public school teachers are overcompensated and under-achieving (see a summary of this study here). Jennings contrasts the methodology of the AEI study with a study from an impartial group, the Read more
The Center for American Progress has released two new reports that attempt to predict the outcomes of traditional defined-benefit pensions for teachers vs. cash-balance plans. Redefining Teacher Pensions: Strategically Defined Benefits for New Teachers and Fiscal Sustainability for All, by Raegan Miller, argues that since teachers are the single most Read more
The Center for American Progress released two reports last week focused on the lack of diversity in the American school system and what might be done about it. The first paper, Teacher Diversity Matters, by Ulrich Boser, reflects on the increasingly diverse public school population and the decreasingly diverse teacher Read more