It is a well-accepted tenet of education research at this point that teacher quality is the biggest school-based factor in student achievement, but how much is teacher quality associated with education background and certification status? This is the question that new research from the Bush Institute seeks to answer. One report in particular stands out: Read more about The Bush Institute releases Teacher Effectiveness Research[…]
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has released the results of its two-year study of the influential, longstanding Carnegie Unit and its impact on education reform in K-12 and higher education. The Carnegie Unit: A Century-Old Standard in a Changing Education Landscape, authored by Carnegie’s Elena Silva, Thomas Toch, and Taylor White, describes Read more about The Carnegie Unit: A Century-Old Standard in a Changing Education Landscape[…]
In a new report, Skills for Success: Supporting and Assessing Key Habits, Mindsets, and Skills in PreK-12, Melissa Tooley and Laura Bornfreund highlight trends and raise important considerations for schools supporting and assessing a more comprehensive set of student “skills for success” and explore how assessments of these skills could be used to inform school Read more about Supporting and Assessing Key Habits, Mindsets, and Skills in PreK-12[…]
A report out recently from The Education Trust follows the true story of a student named Cornelius, from the day he started kindergarten to the day he dropped out of school. He went from learning to love reading as a child to feeling alienated in high school, struggling to complete his work and receiving out-of-school Read more about Education Trust on Helping Marginalized Students[…]
In today’s rapidly changing global economy, “21st century skills” means much more than proficiency in basic academic subjects. One of the most important non-cognitive competencies for student success is conscientiousness, which encompasses traits such as perseverance, self-regulation, resilience, and responsibility. This policy brief provides an overview of conscientiousness and its relationship to student achievement, and Read more about Brief: Understanding Conscientiousness and Its Role in Improved Student Achievement[…]
Taking Stock of Personalized Learning is part of a series of special reports by Education Week that identifies high-priority topics in the K-12 world and examines them in significant depth. This report tackles the issue of personalized learning, one of the hottest topics in education, and a concept that raises all kinds of questions and Read more about Taking Stock of Personalized Learning[…]
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is making significant strides in guiding and supporting the implementation of Student Learning Objectives as part of a teacher and principal evaluation (TPE) system statewide. A new report from CTAC and WestEd prepared through the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center (MACC at WestEd), examines frontline educators’ overall perceptions of TPE and Read more about Real Progress in Maryland: SLOs and Teacher and Principal Evaluation[…]
Chad Aldeman and a Bellwether Education team have collected and synthesized data from 17 states and the District of Columbia that tracked and reported information on their teacher evaluation efforts as of July 2014. Data analysis revealed five major conclusions: Districts are starting to differentiate between poor, fair, and great educator performance, rather than treating Read more about Teacher Evaluations in an Era of Rapid Change[…]
The impact of “Opportunity Culture” schools could be students gaining years of learning, and teachers earning hundreds of thousands more over their careers. In a major policy brief out, Public Impact estimates what a state would gain by implementing “Opportunity Culture” models statewide, using North Carolina as an example for analysis. Opportunity Culture models redesign Read more about Projected Statewide Impact of “Opportunity Culture” School Models[…]
The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) has released a host of information on its new Social and Emotional Learning School website to help teachers, school and district leaders, and state education agencies collaborate in connecting social and emotional learning (SEL) to effective teaching. An interactive graphic is available to help educators learn Read more about New Resources for Integrating Social and Emotional Learning[…]
In recent years a substantial number of policy makers, educators, corporate leaders and other concerned citizens have sought to find ways to narrow academic achievement gaps. Some view this task as a matter of basic fairness and equity – assuring that all students have the opportunity to compete on a level playing field – while Read more about Call for Nominations: Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education[…]
A new report suggests that principal walkthroughs do not improve student performance. For years, one of the key debates about principalship has been their role in “instructional leadership”. In other words, how much should principals be doing to directly impact student instruction and what exactly should they be doing if it is so important? Principal Read more about Principal walkthroughs: Do they help or hurt?[…]
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?[…]
With all 50 states having adopted college- and career-ready standards (CCR) in English language arts/literacy and mathematics, Achieve‘s eighth annual “Closing the Expectations Gap“ report shows how all states are aligning those standards with policies to send clear signals to students about what it means to be academically prepared for life after high school. Achieve Read more about Annual Achieve Report on College and Career Readiness[…]
A new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality indicates that by and large, teacher evaluations are becoming more stringent. The “State of the State” report is entitled, “Connect the Dots: Using evaluations of teacher effectiveness to inform policy and practice.” The report suggests that 35 states and DC require student achievement (often measured Read more about Teacher Evaluation Policies Becoming Increasingly Rigorous[…]