In Real Clear Education, Kristin Cubbage reflects on what it means to be a Multi-Classroom Leader, a role her school has adopted in conjunction with Public Impact. She writes: When I became a multi-classroom leader in 2013, the position was new to our school, district and state—new to the nation, in fact. I have vivid Read more about The Role of a Multi-Classroom Leader[…]
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[…]
Learning Forward and the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) recently released a white paper on the role that teacher agency plays in creating successful professional learning opportunities. The white paper, Moving from Compliance to Agency: What Teachers Need to Make Professional Learning Work, defines teacher agency as “the capacity of teachers to Read more about What Teachers Need to Make Professional Learning Work[…]
Teachers often know best when it comes to helping their students achieve academic success, but districts and schools are not set up to capitalize on the wisdom of teachers. In this month’s issue brief from Core Education, we explore ideas related to increasing teacher professionalism, including changed teacher roles, teacher-powered schools, and ideas borrowed from Read more about March Issue Brief: Teacher Professionalism[…]
A new OECD report, Supporting Teacher Professionalism, based on the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), examines the nature and extent of support for teacher professionalism across 34 countries. Teacher professionalism is defined as the knowledge, skills, and practices that teachers must have in order to be effective educators. The report focuses on lower secondary Read more about Supporting Teacher Professionalism[…]
Over a the past several months Real Clear Education has been spotlighting schools and teachers participating in the Opportunity Culture initiative, a movement launched in 2011 by education policy and consulting firm Public Impact. Opportunity Culture models are aimed at improving the quality of education by extending the reach of excellent teachers and their teams, encouraging teacher Read more about When Top Students Drop: Why Even Good Schools Need to Grow[…]
One of the main differences between the U.S. education system and the systems that outperform it in student achievement is the amount of time teachers spend in the classroom in front of students versus the time spent in professional development activities. This chart, “Teaching Hours,” shows time spent actually teaching within the classroom, and does Read more about More Teaching, Less Learning?[…]
In the world of ed-tech, STEM, and international comparisons, it can be easy to overlook art, music, and drama teachers; career and technical education instructors; and athletic coaches. Yet, as Peter Hofman argues persuasively, these are the very teachers who the most adept at “stimulating student performance and the complex tasks of evaluating substantive demonstrations Read more about Overlooked Educators Key to Deeper Learning[…]
In 2016-17, the Opportunity Culture initiative included more than 110 schools, 1250 teachers, and 34,000 students in 17 sites across 7 states. According to the Public Impact website, Opportunity Culture schools are defined by the following characteristics: Teachers lead the way. Each Opportunity Culture school creates a team of teachers and administrators who decide what Read more about Opportunity Culture Initiative Update[…]
The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) released a new code of ethics recently for educators. The effort was supported by Educational Testing Service, University of Phoenix College of Education and the National Network of State Teachers of the year. Phillip Rogers, executive director of NASDTEC, said one purpose of Read more about New Code of Ethics for Educators[…]
The Common Core State Standards began in 2009 as a state-led effort to measure the nation’s students against a shared benchmark. At first, the standards received broad acceptance. But as the standards rolled out–and as they continue to roll out–the Common Core has become a political football. With all of the political posturing, it’s easy Read more about Teacher Leadership: The Pathway to Common Core Success[…]
A new Education Week special report explores the growing interest among many educators and school leaders in altering the conventional understandings around what teachers do. In particular, it looks at the ways districts, schools, and teachers themselves are transforming teachers’ positions—and the types of supports available to them—in order to drive organizational change, build capacity, Read more about Ed Week Special Report on Transforming Teachers’ Roles[…]
In the final installment of Marc Tucker’s blog series on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, Gene Wilhoit, the former Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, discusses the need to transform how we recruit, train, and develop our teachers and the consequences of failing to do so. Wilhoit and Read more about Gene Wilhoit: Transforming how we recruit, train, and develop teachers[…]
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[…]
Education reformers are working diligently to design new teacher performance-based compensation systems and career pathways that reward high-quality teaching and offer opportunities for advancement without leaving the classroom. In this month’s issue brief, we explore various resources, research reports, and ideas related to teacher compensation to provide food for thought about this important topic. How Read more about January Issue Brief: Teacher Compensation[…]