Mathematics education in the U.S. has always been a complicated issue: on the one hand, there is a general consensus that mathematics is a fundamental skill that all students should possess, yet there is also the common – and false – perception that not all students are “good at math” and that it is unfair Read more about Advanced Mathematics for All?[…]
The U.S. Education Department has announced funding for a new AmeriCorps grant program focused on School Turnaround. This action extends the Together for Tomorrow program that focuses on increased community engagement in low-performing schools. Below is the explanation from the Education Department blog: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Wendy Spencer, chief executive officer Read more about Education Department promises $15 million to School Turnaround AmeriCorps program[…]
10 states, with another 4 more having recently wrapped up litigation, currently face lawsuits regarding increased funding for education. This phenomenon is not new. Lawsuits supported by pro-school funding organizations have been taking place for decades, although the economic recession of the last five years has reignited a long-standing debate about school funding. In 1973, Read more about 10 States Face Education Funding Lawsuits[…]
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) demands that “all students have access to qualified teachers, particularly in core academic subjects” and requires that “state and local policies have introduced incentives to attract well-qualified teachers to low-performing and urban schools.” The Institute of Education Sciences/National Center for Education Statistics have recently released comprehensive statistics detailing exactly who Read more about Beginning K–12 Teacher Characteristics and Preparation[…]
The United States Census Bureau has released educational statistics that have been compiled as part of its “How Do We Know?” initiative. The statistics are broken down into three categories: enrollment, cost, and outcomes and displayed in a visually appealing infographic. For enrollment, the Census Bureau focuses on showing the similarities and differences between educational Read more about 2010 Census Statistics and Education: Enrollment, Cost, and Outcomes[…]
At 69 percent, the United States ranks twenty-eighth in the percentage of four-year-olds in early childhood education, according to Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators, released earlier this month by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report also finds that the odds of a young person in the United States continuing Read more about Education at a Glance 2012[…]
Last Wednesday, during his remarks at the National Urban League conference in New Orleans, President Obama announced he would sign an Executive Order to improve outcomes and advance educational opportunities for African Americans. The President has made providing a complete and competitive education for all Americans – from cradle to career – a top priority. Read more about Executive Order Establishes Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans[…]
Rural administrators who want to better prepare and support a culturally diverse teaching force need to vary recruitment strategies, seek partnerships, and promote a culture of collaboration, according to a new study. Those are among a list of suggestions in “Teacher Identity in a Multicultural Rural School: Lessons Learned at Vista Charter,” published in the Read more about Tips for Supporting, Preparing Culturally Diverse Teaching Force[…]
Instructional approaches usually associated with special education are gaining traction as states and districts are faced with implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), reports Education Week. Two strategies, universal design for learning (UDL) and response to intervention (RTI), have been frequently cited in NCLB waiver requests for CCSS implementation in the section about how Read more about Special Education Approaches Go Mainstream[…]
As states begin to implement the Common Core, there has been an increased focus on English Language Learners, or ELLs, in the classroom. An estimated 25% of children in America live in households where a language other than English is spoken. How can “regular” classroom teachers support the needs of these students? A new report Read more about Preparing Teachers to Meet the Needs of ELLs[…]
Finland, with its high-achieving public schools, has been held up as a standard for the US as we slog down the path of education reform. However, are there things we can’t learn from Finland’s model? Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn About Educational Change in Finland?, recently wrote an article Read more about What the U.S. Can’t Learn from Finland[…]
From the 1970s through the 1990s, Wake County Public Schools in North Carolina was known for its academic performance and dedication to racial integration of its schools. However, since 2000, when the courts ruled race could no longer be a criterion in determining which school students attend, Wake county has had to look for other Read more about District Seeks Alternative Methods of Integration[…]
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 a given year, the authors Read more about Teacher Characteristics and Class Assignments[…]
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 the teaching staff subsumed by Read more about Six Ideas about Professional Growth for Teachers[…]
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 population. Using the 2008 Schools Read more about Teacher Diversity Matters[…]
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 individual statistics and honors. But Read more about Is Teaching a Team Sport?[…]