Public Impact has launched a new website, OpportunityCulture.org. The site focuses on “extending the reach of excellent teachers using job redesign and technology.” The site is divided into four main sections: Why This Matters: What research says about the impact excellent teachers have on student learning. Redesigning Schools: More than 20 models that show how Read more about Public Impact Launches New Website[…]
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has released a series of case studies from 28 states highlighting examples of innovative educational initiatives that are playing a crucial role in improving K-12 education across the country. The programs identified in these case studies were funded through the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program (ESEA Title Read more about SETDA Highlights Innovative Initiatives Across the US[…]
The Center for Public Education has released a new report called The Principal Perspective, which examines what impact principals actually have on a school and how they may or may not affect school turnarounds. Existing research, of which there is little, seems to agree on several things: The job of principal has changed dramatically. Principals Read more about The Principal Perspective[…]
On March 27, Education Sector held a panel discussion to discuss the challenges facing states as we head towards 2014. Between now and 2014, states will be facing the challenges of new Common Core standards, new assessments, new accountability systems, new teacher evaluations, new data systems, and for some states, implementing Race to the Top. Read more about Getting to 2014: The Choices and Challenges Ahead[…]
Last month, Common Core.org hosted a panel discussion that focused on those subjects not included in the Common Core State Standards: history, science, and the arts. Panelists included David Coleman, lead writer of the CCSS in English Language Arts; Lynn Munson, President and Executive Director of Common Core; Lewis Huffman, Education Associate for Social Studies Read more about Truant from School: History, Science and Art[…]
TNTP has released its newest resource—the Teacher Talent Toolbox. The Toolbox “is a repository of successful strategies and practical resources that schools, districts, and networks can draw on to create effective human capital policies, with the aim of creating sustained, scalable models for effective instruction.” It is essentially an open-source library of resources that focus Read more about TNTP Releases “Teacher Talent Toolbox”[…]
Last week, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) and Mathematica released a follow-up study to their January report on successful charter management organizations (CMOs). The new report, Learning from Charter School Management Organizations: Strategies for Student Behavior and Teacher Coaching, delves deeper, explaining how five successful CMOs put two successful approaches into practice. This Read more about Report Reveals Promising Practices of High-Impact CMOs[…]
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), the nonprofit research and advocacy group that is the major partner in effecting change in Tennessee’s K-12 public education system, released its annual report on Tennessee’s education reforms earlier this month. SCORE also outlined what it believes are four priority areas the state will need to focus on Read more about SCORE Releases “State of Education in Tennessee” Report[…]
The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) has released a new report focused on parents’ perceptions of assessments: their development, administration, and the use of the resulting data. In For Every Child, Multiple Measures: What Parents and Educators Want from K-12 Assessments, the researchers found that parents, teachers and district administrators hold similar views on their top Read more about For Every Child, Multiple Measures[…]
In his most recent blog post for Time, Andrew Rotherham discusses five things he believes teachers could learn from the US Marine Corps. He begins the article with a reflection on the fighting in Fallujah: “19- and 20-year-old Marines were trusted to make extraordinary split-second decisions in an environment more dangerous and confusing than most Read more about What Teachers Can Learn from the Marines[…]
Mass Insight Education (MIE) has launched a multi-month Turnaround Forum, consisting of weekly blog posts, biweekly email blasts, and monthly issue briefs on topics of importance in the turnaround field. MIE invites all stakeholders interested in school turnarounds to subscribe to the new and improved blog, “In the Zone,” for regular updates on their work. Read more about Mass Insight Education Launches the Turnaround Forum[…]
Last week, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted Senator Michael Bennet (Colorado), Frederick M. Hess, and others to discuss research and development in K-12 education. Senator Bennet has released a proposal for a new R&D project, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED), which was the main focus of the event. “If we don’t Read more about Turbocharging Education R&D[…]
RAND Corp. released a study last month looking at the effect principal turnover rates have on school performance. About 20% of principals new to a school leave within two years, “leaving behind a school that generally continues on a downward academic slide after their departure.” The report was prepared for New Leaders, a nonprofit group Read more about School Principal Turnover Bodes Ill for Schools[…]
In a recent commentary for The Huffington Post, Harvard professor Dr. Thomas Payzant focuses attention on how accountability systems for teachers and leaders can be done better in this country. Not only are high-stakes evaluations stressful for superintendents, as illustrated by the high turnover rates around the country, but for students as well, and they Read more about Professor Speaks out against School Accountability Systems[…]
In a recent article for The Hechinger Report, classroom teacher Eric Shieh reflects on his experiences working with his union to fight budget cuts in his district. As a music teacher in St. Louis, he was appalled by the district’s decision in 2007 to cut student time in the arts by 64% at the middle Read more about Shut Up and Teach?[…]
In a recent opinion piece for Education Week, Arthur Wise of the Center for Teaching Quality writes that current mainstream ideas on how to improve American public schools will result in “at best, a marginal improvement for small numbers of students.” Teacher effectiveness is worthy of increased research, but the proposals for value-added evaluation measures Read more about The “Tyranny” of the Self-Contained Classroom[…]