A coalition of education organizations has set a goal of 90% graduation by 2020, and the government recently released a report suggesting that the U.S. may in fact get there. The Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm, just released data showing that the four year graduation rate for the 2011-2012 Read more about New IES data show graduation rate improvement[…]
The American Federation of Teachers, to date the recipient of more than $11 million in Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation largesse, will no longer accept Gates funding, Politico has reported, citing increasing criticism from members. This is a real case of “put your money where your mouth is”, or in this particular case, “don’t take Read more about AFT Says It Will No Longer Accept Gates Funding[…]
P-Tech schools, short for Pathways in Technology Early College High School, are the hottest new education commodity, especially in urban areas with progressive political leadership. They essentially are STEM focused public high schools at which students will spend four years, gain a high school diploma and an associate’s degree, receive curriculum and leadership from a Read more about At P-Tech Schools, get a Diploma and a Job[…]
Marc Tucker, a long-time proponent of studying high-performing international education systems as a means of improving American education, provided some recent reflection on Shanghai’s students continuing to score highly in PISA, one of the premier means of comparing international student achievement. Marc Tucker explains how Shanghai is able to both produce high quality beginning teachers Read more about Shanghai’s Teacher Development System[…]
“I’m reaching out to some of America’s leading foundations and corporations on a new initiative to help more young men of color facing especially tough odds to stay on track and reach their full potential.” President Barack Obama, January 28, 2014 President Obama is taking action to launch My Brother’s Keeper – a new initiative Read more about President Obama Launches My Brother’s Keeper Initiative[…]
Florida has joined New York and Ohio as states to publicly release value-added data on teachers’ performance, despite litigation from the Florida teachers’ union and opposition from such notable education heavyweights as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. What is most contentious is that 70% of teachers in Florida do Read more about Florida releases value-added data despite objections[…]
According to a new issue brief by Taylor White of the Carnegie Foundation, many states and districts have begun to alter their original, one-size-fits-all evaluation processes to bring greater quality and efficiency to their evaluation systems. Evaluating Teachers More Strategically: Using Performance Results to Streamline Evaluation Systems explores differentiation strategies in nine districts, two charter Read more about Evaluating Teachers More Strategically: Using Performance Results to Streamline Evaluation Systems[…]
The U.S. Department of Education has launched a new online resource, PROGRESS, to highlight state and local innovative ideas, promising practices, lessons learned, and resources informed by the implementation of K-12 education reforms. These stories will showcase the exciting transformations taking place in classrooms, schools, and systems across the country through the leadership of teachers, Read more about ED Blog Spotlights Current Education Transformations[…]
EdNext Editor-in-Chief Paul E. Peterson penned a recent op-ed in favor of the Common Core State Standards. Peterson highlighted a curious result of an EdNext survey of Americans, in which only 21% of those surveyed gave American schools an “A” or “B” but 49% of those surveyed gave their own schools an “A” or “B”. Read more about Comparing school success creates impetus for reform[…]
A new report released by CompetencyWorks, titled Progress and Proficiency: Redesigning Grading for Competency Education, helps education leaders think through how to design grading policies that communicate academic performance to students and parents. As more schools and districts begin to develop competency-based pathways that allow students to progress based on demonstrated mastery of content knowledge Read more about Progress and Proficiency: Redesigning Grading for Competency Education[…]
On January 13, 2014, Education Secretary Arne Duncan gave an address to the National Assessment Governing Board Education Summit for Parent Leaders. He highlighted the continual need for American parents to demand more from their children’s schools and teachers so that Americans can be prepared to compete in the demanding global business climate of the Read more about Secretary Duncan: Parent Voices for World-Class Education[…]
More than a dozen states are on track to assign A-F letter grades to schools, among the trends highlighted in a first-of-its-kind database published by the Education Commission of the States. The online database shows which indicators states are considering in gauging school performance and how state leaders are publicly reporting on that performance to Read more about ECS database highlights letter grades for schools[…]
U.S. corporations donate an estimated $3 billion to $4 billion a year to K-12 education. A new report argues that’s not enough. The report, published by Harvard Business School, the Boston Consulting Group and the Gates Foundation, aims to prod CEOs to move beyond “checkbook philanthropy” and push more transformative change on the public education Read more about Shedding light on the nexus of business and education[…]
In a recent blog post, Marc Tucker of the National Center on Education and the Economy explains how fundamental changes in the way schools are managed could both attract better teachers and enable them to do their best work. Tucker’s blog post was motivated by the results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Read more about PISA On the Teacher as Professional[…]
A groundbreaking new policy guide provides state lawmakers and education advocates with a blueprint for practical changes to improve teaching quality in America — one of the most critical factors to support student success. The guide recommends research-based policies and state models that have been highly effective in developing and sustaining talented and diverse teaching Read more about Excellent Teachers for Each and Every Child[…]
With Common Core implementation imminent or underway, questions remain about the extent to which state education officials and teachers support Common Core and are working toward its implementation. Even among those who agree on the importance of Common Core, there is disagreement about how quickly tests aligned with Common Core should be implemented. One side, Read more about The Pace of Common Core Implementation[…]