Successful school turnarounds have long been elusive and have depended on finding talented teachers and leaders to engage in the transformation of school cultures and teaching norms. A newly piloted model out of Boston shows some promise for staffing school turnaround and providing career ladder options for experienced teachers. The Teacher Turnaround Teams (T3) program, Read more about Teacher Turnaround Teams in Boston[…]
A new book from Yvette Jackson will restore teachers’ belief in their ability to help all students perform at high intellectual levels. Jackson outlines a simple but radical approach to teaching that builds on students’ strengths in order to develop instruction that is both relevant and motivational. The Pedagogy of Confidence draws from neuroscience, cognitive Read more about The Pedagogy of Confidence[…]
What makes teachers effective, and how do you measure and cultivate it, especially in high-minority, high-poverty schools? At the recent Civil Rights Research Roundtable, convened by the Warren Institute, researchers proposed very different answers – and often viewed their theories of action as mutually exclusive. Two major theories of action emerged at the roundtable, as Read more about Theories of Action for Teacher Effectiveness[…]
A new paper from Public Impact titled Teacher Tenure Reform: Applying Lessons from the Civil Service and Higher Education examines lessons from higher education and the civil service and applies fresh thinking to offer new “elite” and “inclusive” tenure designs that could improve student learning and help grow the size and power of an elite Read more about Teacher Tenure Reform: Two Resources[…]
A new policy brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education calls for a practical set of standards and assessments to measure the quality of teacher performance. “Transforming High Schools: Performance Systems for Powerful Teaching” recommends providing teachers with the quality education and ongoing training needed to greatly improve student outcomes. The brief proposes changes to Read more about Transforming High Schools: Performance Systems for Powerful Teaching[…]
Outdated rules and budget shortfalls could force schools nationwide to dismiss top teachers, with devastating consequences for the neediest students. As school districts across the country grapple with massive budget cuts, thousands of great teachers could lose their jobs despite a track record of success in the classroom, according to an analysis released by The Read more about Thousands of Great Teachers at Risk[…]
Four new education titles top my list for must-reads: A New Culture of Learning, The Influence of Teachers, Too Simple to Fail: A Case for Educational Change, and Teaching the Taboo. For those who are looking forward to what schooling might become, “A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Read more about New Education Titles that Can’t Be Missed[…]
As education budgets across the nation contract in response to the recent financial crisis, many school districts have been forced to lay off a sizeable number of teachers. This raises two important questions: what determines which teachers will be let go, and is the existing policy offer best for students? Legislators in the state of Read more about “Quality-Blind” Teacher Layoffs[…]