In an article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, author Carrie R. Leana argues that education reforms have yet to identify a major component to boosting student achievement: teacher collaboration. She calls these patterns of teacher interaction “social capital,” the quantity and quality of which can measurably affect school improvement. Leana asserts that the Read more about The Missing Link in School Reform[…]
Syracuse University has launched a new simulation training program for school administrators. The project uses live-action simulations that present more contemporary situations faced by administrators: non-traditional family structures, abusive home situations, substance-abuse issues, morally-charged issues such as sex education, depression, and confrontations with teachers who have more experience than the administrator. The program is supported Read more about Principals Hone Their “People Skills” with New Simulations[…]
New Jersey’s state Board of Education recently voted to relax the requirements for hiring superintendents in its most troubled school districts, opening these jobs to non-educators for the first time. The new regulations will take effect immediately in the 57 school districts that have schools labeled as “failing” due to low student test scores. Only Read more about New Jersey Board of Education Relaxes Qualifications for Superintendents[…]
A recent report released by Public Impact, in collaboration with the University of Virginia’s Partnership for Leaders in Education, studied the potential impact on school turnarounds of importing leadership talent from non-education industries. The authors explore lessons about when and how organizations in other sectors import leadership, including what it takes to lure people away Read more about Importing Leaders for School Turnarounds[…]
The Christian Science Monitor reported on July 5 that at least 178 teachers and principals in Atlanta Public Schools cheated to raise student scores on standardized tests, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). So far 82 teachers and principals have confessed to changing student answers and conspiring to cover-up the scandal. Since the Read more about America’s Biggest Academic Cheating Scandal Unfolds in Atlanta[…]
Education|Evolving Founder Ted Kolderie has encouraged a strong look at the current management of schools. He explains, “Our deal with teachers has been that we don’t give you professional authority, and you don’t give us accountability. Cut a new deal: in exchange for real accountability we’ll give you real authority.” The premise is that when Read more about Education/Evolving’s National Inventory of Schools with Teacher Autonomy[…]
Public Impact’s School Turnaround website contains many useful resources on developing leaders for School Turnaround efforts. You can download each of the resources described below at http://www.schoolturnarounds.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=4&Itemid=10 Using Competencies to Improve School Turnaround Principal Success This paper, produced for the University of Virginia’s School Turnaround Specialist Program, describes how using competencies that predict performance can Read more about Resources: Successful Leadership for School Turnaround[…]
At this writing, 44 states and thousands of districts are crafting summer and fall plans to support system-wide transition to the Common Core Standards. A high priority in every plan is to ensure principals are prepared to successfully lead their schools through this transition, and to ensure principals are equipped to support teachers, students and Read more about Developing Leadership for the New Common Core[…]
Nearly four in 10 teachers report that they are interested in combining their classroom work with other roles or responsibilities in their school or district, including 46 percent of teachers with five or fewer years of experience. Across the country, interest is increasing in alternative approaches to school staffing that provide more flexible work roles Read more about Beyond Classroom Walls: Developing Innovative Work Roles for Teachers[…]
The New Teacher Project (TNTP) announces the launch of The School Leader’s Toolbox, a new collection of resources used by the nation’s top charter schools to recruit, manage and support a high-performing teacher workforce. Effective strategies for building and managing teacher talent are singularly important in light of decades of research showing that teachers have Read more about The School Leader’s Toolbox[…]
Principals arguably play the most important role in ensuring that excellent teaching occurs in their school. Principals’ Approaches to Developing Teacher Quality: Constraints and Opportunities in Hiring, Assigning, Evaluating and Developing Teachers by The Center for American Progress and The Education Trust provides key findings from a study of 30 principals working in charter and Read more about Principals’ Approaches to Developing Teacher Quality[…]