The folks over at Shanker Blog have been writing recently about how education reform cannot happen in a vacuum. Schools and the people in them are inherently social, so approaching education reform through a social lens makes sense. Here is a piece from one of their recent blogs: For the past few months, we have Read more about Resources on the Social Side of Education Reform[…]
The Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) is pleased to release its new report, Measuring School Climate: Using Existing Data Tools on Climate and Effectiveness to Inform School Organizational Health. An increasing awareness of the relationship between school climate and student outcomes is evident in conversations in the national media about suspensions and safety, and schools Read more about The Baltimore Education Research Consortium Releases New Report[…]
According to a new Alliance for Excellent Education report, supporting great teaching is key to a positive school climate and academic success for at-risk students. With schools implementing higher academic standards that require engaging and effective teaching, a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education in partnership with the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign Read more about School Climate Change[…]
The job of the teacher today is more demanding than ever, and teachers need the support of colleagues and a productive school culture for continuous growth and ongoing resilience in the face of challenges. But a vibrant school culture is an elusive concept. In this month’s issue brief, we explore various commentary, resources, and ideas Read more about September Issue Brief: School Culture[…]
America Achieves’ latest multimedia report in its Spotlight on Promising Practices series is entitled “Great Principals: Developing Every Teacher.” As the title indicates, these stories showcase effective school leadership and its impact on teaching and learning. Watch how at Merrill Middle School in Denver, school leaders have implemented an incredibly thoughtful practice in which educators Read more about Great Principals: Developing Every Teacher[…]
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released a new report arguing that teacher training programs don’t do enough to prepare new teachers for classroom management. Based on syllabi that NCTQ procured from various teacher training programs, they found that a supposedly integrated classroom management curriculum across classes and student teaching is often a Read more about Teachers in Training Don’t Learn Classroom Management[…]
A new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education examines how implementing rigorous and engaging curriculum aligned with college- and career-ready standards fosters positive school climates in which students are motivated to succeed, achievement gaps narrow, and learning and outcomes improve. The report, Climate Change: Providing Equitable Access to a Rigorous and Engaging Curriculum, includes Read more about Climate Change: Rigorous Curriculum for All[…]
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?[…]
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[…]
In an age of Teach For America, value-added teacher evaluations, and new challenges for teachers such as teaching to Common Core, teacher tenure is as big of an issue as ever. Many studies show that experienced teachers are more proficient, although there is some evidence that teachers can stagnate over time. In addition, the baby Read more about At Charter Schools, Short Careers by Choice[…]
Many have made their careers in the field of education by comparing and contrasting the American education system with those around the world. Marc Tucker, of the National Center on Education and the Economy, is one of those. His book, Surpassing Shanghai: An Agenda for American Education Built on the World’s Leading Systems integrates a Read more about The Smartest Kids in the World[…]
A new report by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and spearheaded by a list of who’s who in humanities, social science, and the arts, recommends that the nation take 12 key steps to ensure that humanities and social sciences maintain an important place in American classrooms. “The Heart of the Matter,” issued recently Read more about The Path to Protecting Humanities and Social Sciences[…]
“The results being released today show that we are indeed in a new world. And we as adults need to learn from kids in this instance. We need to learn from students about how they learn, where they learn, and how they seek information. I believe we must harness this information to give all students Read more about From Chalkboards to Tablets: The Speak Up 2012 Report[…]
Well-meaning education reformers are too often content to layer their new proposals atop outdated schools and systems. Unsurprisingly, school improvement efforts have repeatedly failed to deliver the results we had hoped for. Doing radically better will require state, civic, and system leaders to embrace a more coherent and comprehensive push to overhaul antiquated structures, regulations, Read more about A Roadmap for Education Reform: Milwaukee as a Model[…]
To strengthen state implementation of Common Core State Standards and meaningful teacher evaluations, the Aspen Institute and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released a set of recommendations for forging coherence across these efforts at CCSSO’s Implementing the Common Core Standards (ICCS) meeting of 22 states in New Orleans. “Teaching to the Core: Read more about 10 Steps for Integrating Teacher Effectiveness Systems and the Common Core[…]
While models such as Teach for America have taken some flack in recent years for their lack of adequate preparation and lack of a long term model, no one disagrees with the goal of the program: to help struggling students in struggling schools, usually urban ones, find greater academic success. The Blue Engine Program, which Read more about [Blue] Engine for Growth[…]