There’s lots of talk about getting more teacher voices into public discussions about education. As there should be. What we don’t talk about as often, however, is this: Just because someone puts a microphone in front of you doesn’t mean you’re ready to represent your profession – or even yourself – in a public forum. Read more about How to Make the Most of an Opportunity for Teacher Voice[…]
For years, education leaders have sought to pinpoint how teachers become effective in order to better leverage teachers’ impact on student learning and improve student outcomes. Teacher leadership is receiving increased attention as a potential lever for improved instruction, recruitment and retention of effective teachers, and improved student outcomes. This is the driving force behind Read more about Teacher Leadership Roles and the Effect on Instruction[…]
A recent report from New America: Ed-Central blog, titled Beyond Boundaries, looks at states’ role in the teacher evaluation process. New teacher evaluation systems are an increasingly common aspect of teachers’ daily lives. To ensure that all students have access to quality teaching, the vast majority of states have adopted new, more rigorous teacher evaluation Read more about New Report calls for States to Shift Teacher Evaluations Toward Support[…]
As districts face the recurring problem of ensuring every student has access to a high-quality teacher, a growing number have begun to proactively form deep, mutually beneficial partnerships with teacher preparation programs to produce teacher candidates who match their specific needs. These partnerships, when done well, take significant time and resources on behalf of both Read more about New Report by Education First: Ensuring High Quality Teacher Talent[…]
A recent report, written by the Center for American Progress, guides the reader through a teacher’s career trajectory, beginning at recruitment and selection and continuing throughout his or her career in order to provide policymakers and the public with a forward-thinking document that proposes how to elevate and modernize the teaching profession. In this report, Read more about Transforming and Elevating the Teaching Profession[…]
Education Week author Marc Tucker describes what NCEE has learned about the design of the instructional systems used by top-performing countries and suggest ways in which U.S. states can adapt those lessons for use in their own state system under the Every Student Succeeds Act. He defines “instructional system” as a system that combines standards Read more about Building a Powerful State Instructional System for All Students[…]
A recent blog by Third Way examines several issues in education policy and reveals the outdated logic and arguments that are being used to debate modern issues. This stagnation in conversation not only threatens our ability to move forward with the best policies for our nation’s students, but it also has had the unintended consequence Read more about The New Normal in K-12 Education[…]
A recent article by Education Next examines the correlation between poverty and mediocre test scores in the United States. At a time when the national conversation is focused on lagging upward mobility and yawning income inequality, it is no surprise that many educators point to poverty as the explanation for American students’ mediocre test scores Read more about Poverty Cannot Explain America’s Mediocre Test Scores[…]
A recent article in Education Week, written by Evie Blad, examines how select California school districts, collectively known as CORE districts, are measuring school effectiveness with criteria that extends beyond academic success. As discussions about school accountability begin to focus more intently on factors beyond standardized-test scores, educators and policymakers nationwide are closely watching these Read more about Going Beyond Academics in Assessing School Effectiveness[…]
Under the newly enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states now face the challenge of creating school accountability systems that can vastly improve upon the model required by No Child Left Behind. To help spur creative thinking about how they might do so, and also to inform the Department of Education as it develops its Read more about ESSA Accountability Design Competition Submissions[…]
Policy implementation is perhaps the most difficult element of education reform. But what if policy development and implementation were flipped? What if policy design began with an implementation perspective? In a blog post in Education Week, Jal Mehta explores this concept: The idea of Human-Centered Systems Design is that if we want to design policies Read more about The Case for Human-Centered Systems Design[…]
A recent article by Kaylan Connally from EdCentral examines the implications for states’ evaluation systems moving forward and how ESSA may influence other state teacher quality efforts. ESSA will affect the way teacher preparation, teacher equity, teacher growth and advancement are handled by states. Teacher Preparation – Through ESSA Title II formula funds, states can Read more about How Will ESSA Influence States’ Teacher Quality Efforts?[…]
A new working paper from Transforming Education highlights important findings regarding non-cognitive skills, specifically self-control and social competence in students. The paper is organized around nine “headlines;” these are conclusions that the authors suggest are justified by the research literature. These headlines concern the relationship of non-cognitive skills to academics, careers, and general well-being. The Read more about Recent Paper highlights Non-Cognitive Skills[…]
In the last several years, state policymakers have enacted a dizzying array of new policies on education issues ranging from assessment and accountability to cursive-handwriting and citizenship exams. Within states, education policy-making isn’t led by one person or entity, but many — state legislatures, state education agencies, state and local boards of education, the governor, Read more about Aspen Institute Releases Checklist for Education Policymakers[…]
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recently released the 2015 report on State Teacher Policy. The report summarizes how the states are doing in developing policies that improve the teaching profession. The 2015 State Teacher Policy Yearbook provides a 360-degree analysis of every state law, rule, and regulation that shapes the teaching profession—from teacher Read more about NCTQ releases the 2015 State Teacher Policy Yearbook[…]
A new resource, from the Aspen Institute’s Education & Society Program, challenges state chiefs and their leadership teams to consider their local context and capacity in determining essential, possible, and unsuitable roles for their agency and to make staffing and funding decisions that reflect this context. This discussion guide helps state leaders consider what roles Read more about Setting Roles and Responsibilities of the State Education Agency[…]