Tools to Evaluate whether Instructional Materials meet English Learners’ Needs

Posted on July 11, 2019July 6, 2019 by coreeducation

Learning Forward has released a set of instructional tools that will help education practitioners determine if instructional materials meet the needs of English learners. The tools are intended for those developing, procuring, or using instructional materials and for those who want to create better learning conditions and academic outcomes for English learners. One set of Read more about Tools to Evaluate whether Instructional Materials meet English Learners’ Needs[…]

Student-Teacher Race Match in Charter and Traditional Public Schools

Posted on July 9, 2019July 6, 2019 by coreeducation

There’s mounting evidence that, for children of color especially, having one or more teachers of the same race over the course of students’ educational careers seems to make a positive difference. But to what extent, if any, do the benefits of having a same-race teacher vary by type of school? Existing “race-match” studies fail to Read more about Student-Teacher Race Match in Charter and Traditional Public Schools[…]

Mentoring a Student Teacher may Boost your Evaluation Scores

Posted on July 3, 2019June 19, 2019 by coreeducation

Writing for the Annenberg Institute at Brown University’s working paper series, researchers Matthew Ronfeldt, Emanuele Bardelli, Stacey Brockman and Hannah Mullman explore the effects of hosting a student teacher on cooperating teachers’ evaluation scores. Growing evidence suggests that preservice candidates receive better coaching and are more instructionally effective when they are mentored by more instructionally Read more about Mentoring a Student Teacher may Boost your Evaluation Scores[…]

Alignment Matters: A Framework for Advancing Student Learning and Promoting Equity

Posted on June 20, 2019March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

What do high performing schools have in common? Among other things, they have rigorous academic standards, rich curriculum, and high-quality assessments. They also have well-trained educators who have regular access to accurate and useful data. And they have a culture of equity that undergirds their work. All of these reinforce one another to drive student Read more about Alignment Matters: A Framework for Advancing Student Learning and Promoting Equity[…]

Choosing Wisely: How States Can Help Districts Adopt High-Quality Instructional Materials

Posted on June 13, 2019June 8, 2019 by coreeducation

Chiefs for Change, a bipartisan network of state and district education chiefs, released a report showing that many states, tacitly or explicitly, promote the use of low-quality K-12 instructional materials. In the most recent review cycles, some states did not approve even a single highly rated curriculum for school districts to use — despite research Read more about Choosing Wisely: How States Can Help Districts Adopt High-Quality Instructional Materials[…]

Trio of Studies Confirms Benefits from Teachers’ Visits to Students’ Homes

Posted on June 12, 2019June 28, 2020 by coreeducation

When teachers visit families at home and ask, “What are your hopes and dreams for your child,” chronic absenteeism goes down, test scores go up, and teachers change their own mindsets. Studies from Johns Hopkins University and RTI International evaluated Parent Teacher Home Visits model in use in 700 communities in 27 states & D.C. Read more about Trio of Studies Confirms Benefits from Teachers’ Visits to Students’ Homes[…]

Teachers Learning from Teachers: Dynamic Initiative Taps into Educators’ Expertise

Posted on June 11, 2019September 1, 2021 by coreeducation

The Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning at WestEd collaborated with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the Teacher Practice Network (TPN) initiative, which supports a vast national network of teacher leaders who mentor and coach their peers. By providing high-quality standards-aligned resources and ongoing professional learning led by teacher leaders, Read more about Teachers Learning from Teachers: Dynamic Initiative Taps into Educators’ Expertise[…]

Coleman: Applying to college has become an endless chore

Posted on June 6, 2019March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

Recently in The Atlantic, David Coleman, CEO of the College Board, reflected on the hoops that students are jumping through to get admitted to college and recommended a renewed focus on what really matters. Excerpts of his piece appear below: The crazed pursuit of college admissions helps no one thrive. And while the Varsity Blues Read more about Coleman: Applying to college has become an endless chore[…]

Race and Gender Differences in Teacher Evaluation Ratings

Posted on June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 by coreeducation

Over the past decade, Michigan has made changes to a number of laws related to teachers and teaching in the state’s public school system. These changes include new requirements for teacher evaluation, and the use of teacher performance ratings for decisions such as teacher tenure, dismissal and retention. Since 2011, state law has required local Read more about Race and Gender Differences in Teacher Evaluation Ratings[…]

Perceptions of School Leadership

Posted on June 4, 2019June 3, 2019 by coreeducation

Effective principal leadership practices improve school organization, teaching, and student achievement outcomes. These practices include framing and communicating a school’s goals and mission, creating shared expectations of high performance, clarifying roles and objectives, and promoting professional development. However, research demonstrates that teachers tend to rate principals lower on important leadership practices than principals rate themselves, Read more about Perceptions of School Leadership[…]

Teacher Turnover and the Disruption of Teacher Staffing

Posted on May 30, 2019May 30, 2019 by coreeducation

Helen Ladd and Lucy Sorensen, writing for the Brookings blog, recently explored the concerns associated with within-school turnover, focusing on the churn in middle school core subject areas. Excerpts from their piece appear below: We draw on a recent paper in which we examined how middle schools in North Carolina responded to changes in the Read more about Teacher Turnover and the Disruption of Teacher Staffing[…]

Why Equally Talented Students Don’t Get Equal Chances to Succeed

Posted on May 28, 2019March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

The great sorting of the most talented young people into haves and have-nots starts long before college, according to a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) in partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Born to Win, Schooled to Lose: Why Equally Talented Students Don’t Get Equal Chances Read more about Why Equally Talented Students Don’t Get Equal Chances to Succeed[…]

Experienced teachers key in California districts that ‘beat the odds’

Posted on May 23, 2019May 19, 2019 by coreeducation

John Fensterwald, writing for California’s EdSource, recently reviewed a study of 156 California districts that ‘beat the odds’ in student achievement for underserved students and distilled the characteristics of those districts that had the most impact on results. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Research released this week identified 156 California school districts with higher Read more about Experienced teachers key in California districts that ‘beat the odds’[…]

Personalizing Professional Development: How Empowered Teachers Can Take Charge of Professional Learning and Growth

Posted on May 22, 2019May 19, 2019 by coreeducation

McREL’s CEO Bryan Goodwin has teamed up with ASCD authors Pete Hall and Alisa Simeral in this white paper to tackle a question of urgent interest to teachers at all career stages: Can professional learning be better? It can, they argue, if the profession recognizes that PD must begin with teachers’ problems of practice, develop Read more about Personalizing Professional Development: How Empowered Teachers Can Take Charge of Professional Learning and Growth[…]