Who wrote the narrative, the frame through which we view the world of public education? Today the (often unstated) assumptions seem firmly in place: “America is losing the education race, test scores can be trusted, and teachers are the key to learning.” Once you accept all that, it’s logical to fire teachers whose students do Read more about Who created education’s narrative?[…]
In the overwhelming majority of American classrooms, pupils are divided roughly equally among teachers of the same grade in the same school. Parceling them out uniformly is viewed as fair to teachers-and doing otherwise might be seen as unfair. Parents might wonder, too. But what if more students were assigned to the most effective teachers, Read more about Right-sizing the Classroom: Making the Most of Great Teachers[…]
To ensure that America has the most competitive global workforce, President Barack Obama articulated a goal that, by 2020, every American should continue their educational training after high school so that the United States will increase its proportion of college graduates. This ambitious policy objective will require our postsecondary education system to embrace changes and Read more about Competency-Based Degree Programs[…]
A new report from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado Boulder argues that the U.S. should consider adopting a European-style accountability system, where schools self-evaluate and then receive feedback from trained site visitors. The U.S. test-based accountability model holds schools and teachers accountable for student outcomes with little attention to school Read more about School-centered accountability vs. Test-based accountability[…]
With all 50 states having adopted college- and career-ready standards (CCR) in English language arts/literacy and mathematics, Achieve‘s eighth annual “Closing the Expectations Gap“ report shows how all states are aligning those standards with policies to send clear signals to students about what it means to be academically prepared for life after high school. Achieve Read more about Annual Achieve Report on College and Career Readiness[…]
Principals are key to improving teaching and learning in schools, but how can school district central offices give principals the support they need? Three tools designed by education researchers at the University of Washington are meant to help. Two focus on the redesign of central offices in ways that foster effective leadership in schools. The Read more about Three New Tools to Help Districts Strengthen School Leadership[…]
Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post has posted an article by a prominent Finnish education policy expert, Pasi Sahlberg, which argues persuasively that the American focus on teacher effectiveness is missing some key components. Without a shift in thinking about how to reform American education, Sahlberg, who admits some of the large differences between the Read more about Finnish Educator Refutes U.S. Approach to Education Reform[…]
Much has been made of the discrepancies between American students and foreign students in terms of their performance on key tests of academic performance. There has also been an ongoing argument between two sides of American education policy about whether the results that show American students falling behind are a condemnation of American education or Read more about U.S. States in a Global Context: Results from the NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study[…]
With Common Core (CCSS) in various stages of implementation in 46 states, one might expect the majority of teachers to be making changes that align with the standards, even if testing for CCSS will not start until next year. A new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which supports Common Core, considers this expectation. Read more about Teachers Are Supposed to Assign Harder Books, but They Aren’t Doing It Yet[…]
As usual, Marc Tucker offers some incisive commentary on how to improve American schools. What is not so typical about his recent blog post, “The American System for Improving Our Schools,” is that his formula for improvement does not involve any new teaching methods, grant proposals, or changes to teacher preparation. Marc Tucker wants education Read more about The American System For Improving Our Schools[…]
As forty-six states and the District of Columbia implement the Common Core State standards, questions abound regarding implementation, including the implications for curriculum and pedagogy. In Common Core in the Schools: A First Look at Reading Assignments, researchers analyze what texts English teachers assign their students and the instructional techniques they used in the classroom. Read more about Common Core in the Schools: A First Look at Reading Assignments[…]
Amidst all of the recent turmoil about Common Core, with some states changing the name of the standards, others considering pulling them, and others having already taken steps to pull back from the testing consortia, Kentucky stands out as a model state which has moved beyond any other state in piloting Common Core reform. We Read more about What Every Child Can Learn from Kentucky[…]
Teacher pay can often be the elephant in the room when it comes to discussion of the success of American education. Many believe that increasing teacher pay, or at least providing possibilities for teachers to earn more, would encourage more high-quality candidates to enter the profession and drive up the reputation of teachers. Others argue Read more about Opportunity Culture[…]
Thousands of pages have been written this month alone on the failings of America’s education system and what to do about it. Diane Ravitch’s new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, tries to debunk some of the pessimism of those, like Paul Peterson, who Read more about How Bad is U.S. Education?[…]
This blog typically covers topics related to helping students finish their K-12 education successfully, but what about after that? Can American students, once they are college-ready, afford that college tuition? Anya Kamenetz of Third Way offers 6 straightforward ideas for how the cost of a bachelor’s degree could be $10,000. That is the cost for Read more about How a Bachelor’s Degree could Cost $10,000[…]
The state of Arizona has taken a novel approach amidst the Common Core wars. The state will not abandon the new standards; they will simply not call them by the same name. Instead of Common Core, they will now be known as “Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards.’’ The idea of changing the name by Read more about Common Core name changes, standards remain[…]