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Item(s) found: 232
New teachers get mentors
Date CapturedSaturday August 25 2007, 9:59 AM
Star-Gazette reports, "Teachers were paired with mentors who teach the same subjects, and together they will work on the new teacher's portfolio of accomplishments, including community involvement, and help model lesson plans, Hochreiter [Elmira schools deputy superintendent] said. These portfolios will be presented to school administrators at the end of each year and serve as a record of the teacher's work toward tenure, he said."
Take it from a teacher: We need merit pay
Date CapturedThursday August 23 2007, 9:00 AM
NY Daily News op-ed contributor and NYC teacher ARIEL SACKS opines, "When Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Bloomberg talk about performance pay, let's not blindly defend the status quo. Let's start developing a performance pay plan that makes sense to educators, students - and the age in which we live."
Implementing the No Child Left Behind Teacher Requirements
Date CapturedThursday August 23 2007, 8:38 AM
This CEP report by Jennifer McMurrer examines how states and school districts have implemented the No Child Left Behind Act's teacher quality requirements. The report finds that, according to state and district officials, the NCLB highly qualified teacher requirements have had minimal or no impact on student achievement and have not had a major impact on teacher effectiveness. The report also discusses state and district implementation of the federal requirements to equitably distribute experienced, highly qualified teachers among higher and lower poverty schools.
California lawsuit filed over teacher labeling
Date CapturedTuesday August 21 2007, 6:48 PM
Bay City News Service reports, "According to Public Advocates, more than 10,000 intern teachers are labeled as 'highly qualified' each year in California. Nationally the number is more than 100,000. In addition to California ACORN the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the activist group Californians for Justice as well as a number of individual students and parents. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court In San Francisco."
Reform No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedSunday August 19 2007, 2:48 PM
Buffalo News op-ed contributor Murray B. Light, former editor of The Buffalo News opines, "One aspect of Miller’s proposed changes that most certainly will be opposed by the education unions would in effect be merit pay, something all these unions have vigorously fought, much to my surprise and displeasure. I favor merit pay for worthy teachers and have never understood the union opposition. Aware of the union stance, Miller does not allude to merit pay as such, instead saying that he would propose pay for performance, paying more to teachers based on how much their students improve and if their students were on a path that could lead to proficiency within a few years. Again, that makes eminent good sense. But it is unlikely to gain favor and be included in a renewal measure."
Tell parents who good teachers are
Date CapturedFriday August 17 2007, 9:45 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution opines, "Despite the rhetoric about the importance of improving schools in Georgia, no one in authority — not the governor, not the state school superintendent or local school boards — wants to acknowledge the elephant in the classroom, which is teacher quality. The leadership remains silent for fear of being trampled by outraged teachers and education lobbies protesting that there's no fair way to measure teacher performance. The conspiracy of silence is abetted by the state's colleges of education, which deny any responsibility for the skill of their graduates and avoid any discussion of quality out of fear that they'll be implicated and their profitable franchise jeopardized. After all, programs such as Teach for America have already demonstrated that bright college graduates can become excellent and effective teachers without ever stepping foot in a college of education."
The Determinants of Teacher Attrition in Upstate New York
Date CapturedWednesday August 15 2007, 1:19 PM
A Monthly Column by EFAP Director John Yinger. Yinger writes, "School quality depends, among other things, on a school’s ability to attract and retain high-quality teachers. A recent paper by two of my colleagues and me examines one dimension of this topic, teacher attrition, using data for all teachers who started teaching in Upstate New York between 1985 and 1998."
'No Child' Needs to Expand Beyond Tests, Chair Says
Date CapturedTuesday July 31 2007, 9:19 AM
Washington Post reports, "Teacher unions, a powerful force in Democratic politics, strongly support the use of so-called multiple measures, but they are expected to oppose another Miller proposal: paying teachers based in part on how their students perform."
EYE$ ON SIZE
Date CapturedWednesday July 18 2007, 7:44 AM
NY Post Chuck Bennett reports, "Parents and advocates will be able to look at how the money is used in every targeted school — a move they had been loudly demanding for some time. Still, leaders of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, the coalition of school and parent groups that initiated the suit against the state, were cautious in giving their thumbs up to the latest proposal, noting they still want to comb through the fine print. In all, the New York City school system will receive $1 billion extra in city and state funding for the 2007-08 school year. "
New school plan for aid, smaller classes
Date CapturedWednesday July 18 2007, 7:21 AM
NY Daily News reports, "More than $133 million will go to 688 schools that historically received less funding per student than similar schools. The rest will be steered to various citywide programs to improve teacher quality and reduce class size."
How Hard Can It Be to Teach? The Challenges Go Well Beyond the Classroom
Date CapturedWednesday July 11 2007, 5:53 AM
NY Times DAVID M. HERSZENHORN writes, "The daily work in schools is so hard that most educators in the system do not distinguish between the chancellor’s office and the mayor, the labor unions and state government, the teachers’ contract and the federal No Child Left Behind law when they complain, frequently, that the 'system' is against them. Forces above and beyond school level often make the work in classrooms more difficult. And the work in classrooms is difficult enough."
Educational equality slips from hands of students
Date CapturedTuesday July 10 2007, 9:07 AM
Louisiana Weekly Guest Commentary by U. S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, "The Student Bill of Rights will guarantee that all students have access to: * High quality teachers and school administrators * Rigorous academic curricula and methods of instruction * Small class sizes * Quality facilities, textbooks, instructional materials and supplies * Up-to-date library resources * Up-to-date computer technology * Quality guidance counseling
Suburbs need not fear school vouchers
Date CapturedSunday July 08 2007, 9:10 PM
Christian Science Monitor contributor Walt Gardner, former teacher and lecturer opines, "Emboldened by their ability to prevail in the courts, suburbanites aren't likely to relinquish their hold on maintaining local schools for themselves. They've worked too hard and too long to establish residency in communities where existing schools have garnered well-deserved reputations for educational quality. After all, they have as much of a right for their children to benefit from top-flight schools as parents from the inner cities do for their children."
Merit pay for teachers
Date CapturedSunday July 08 2007, 11:52 AM
Daily Freeman opines, "BELEAGUERED taxpayers might gasp at the notion of giving teachers more money, but what if was tied into a merit pay system? It's working in other professions and it could have a positive impact on student performance under carefully detailed guidelines if connected to teachers' compensation."
Many Teachers Dubious of Merit Pay
Date CapturedWednesday July 04 2007, 2:39 PM
AP reports, "Merit pay tied to student test scores seems all the rage in some educational circles, but many teachers think it's an idea whose time hasn't come. It's a concept that is gaining ground in state capitals and in Washington, nevertheless. Members of Congress, for instance, are considering adding funding bonuses for teachers who raise student achievement as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for review this year. Proponents say such a system would reward effective teachers and attract strong new recruits to the profession. But teachers attending the annual convention of the National Education Association seem dubious -- even if it could put more money in their pockets."
Merit pay good idea for teachers
Date CapturedSunday June 24 2007, 12:44 PM
Buffalo News contributor Murray B. Light, former editor of The Buffalo News opines, "I am a wholehearted supporter of merit pay for any individual who consistently has proven to be an aboveaverage performer. It worked for me in the newsroom and there’s no reason to question its ability to bring results in the classrooms of our nation. It is indeed encouraging to see that the leadership in the teachers’ unions is beginning to see the pluses in awarding those teachers who deserve additional dollars in their paychecks. Not all teachers are at the same level and those who are above the average should be compensated accordingly. It makes eminent good sense, motivating teachers and consequently improving the education process."
20,000 'CLASS' ACTS
Date CapturedTuesday June 19 2007, 9:07 AM
NY Post reports, "Nearly 20,000 candidates applied for 1,725 teaching-fellow slots at city schools this year, the Department of Education announced yesterday. The 19,846 applications equaled a 17 percent jump over last year's response to the program, which recruits teachers and other professionals from nonteaching backgrounds. They are given special training and offered subsidies to study for master's degrees. The program focuses on subjects with a shortage of qualified teachers, such as math, science, special education and English as a second language."
Raising the bar at SUNY
Date CapturedSunday June 03 2007, 9:51 AM
Times Union opines, "More full-time faculty will make it possible to lure more top-flight academics to campuses throughout New York. As as the quality of the faculty rises, so will the number of top-achieving students seeking to enroll. In short, quality breeds quality."
Testing students & teachers; An $80 million system to scrutinize student performance is scrutinized
Date CapturedSaturday June 02 2007, 8:54 AM
NY Daily News opines, "The critics are naysaying. Randi Weingarten, president of a teachers union whose members' strengths and weaknesses will be placed on view: 'How much teaching time is this eating up?' The head of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing: 'We've reduced schooling to preparing for bubble tests.' Kids in struggling schools and knee-jerk critics of education reform: When will they ever learn?"
TESTS SYSTEM E-ASIER
Date CapturedThursday May 31 2007, 8:49 AM
NY Post reports, "In a sense, it is like the Police Department's CompStat crime analysis tool for the classroom. And the data makes it easier for administrators to keep an eye on how teachers are performing, Klein said. For instance, if a disproportionate number of students get the same question wrong, that could be an indicator that a teacher needs coaching. Students and parents will also be given special accounts to go online and access individual results. All test results - whether taken on paper or on computer - will be online within five days. The system was designed by McGraw-Hill Companies and Scantron. It will eventually be incorporated into an even larger, $80 million database being developed by IBM that tracks results on all standardized tests. Teachers can create their own periodic assessment tests but can still track them on the database. They can also choose from a menu of ready-to-go assessment tests. Previous tests were 'one size fits all,' Klein said.
ELIOT'S COLLEGE TRY
Date CapturedWednesday May 30 2007, 9:01 AM
NY Post op-ed contributor THOMAS W. CARROLL, a graduate of SUNY-Albany and president of the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability opines on considerations, "Creating a new school of education focused less on education theory and more on proven teaching techniques. Right now, the best urban schools in the state - including those run by KIPP Achievement First and Uncommon Schools - have to retrain and 'reprogram' teachers who've graduated from even the 'best' ed schools. Why not let these successful schools design from scratch an ed school that gets it right the first time?"
Community School lessens dropout crisis
Date CapturedWednesday May 23 2007, 8:17 AM
Ithaca Journal guest columnist Gerry Friedman, retired as principal of the TST Community School opines, "Everybody knows that 'one size fits all' does not. That is as true in education as in other aspects of our lives. The TST Community School was established as an alternative to a student's regular high school. It is successful because it has a cadre of highly qualified, experienced, outstanding teachers and staff who specialize in working with students who have not been successful in other schools. The cost is reasonable when the aid is considered. The school has been successful for many years. If school districts are to successfully work on reducing their dropout rate, allowing students to attend the Community School should be a major part of the plan."
Study Finds College-Prep Courses in High School Leave Many Students Lagging
Date CapturedWednesday May 16 2007, 7:20 AM
NY Times KAREN W. ARENSON reports, "Only a quarter of high school students who take a full set of college-preparatory courses — four years of English and three each of mathematics, science and social studies — are well prepared for college, according to a study of last year’s high school graduates released yesterday by ACT, the Iowa testing organization."
Rigor at Risk: Reaffirming Quality in the High School Curriculum
Date CapturedWednesday May 16 2007, 7:10 AM
The Rigor at Risk report suggests that some students progress toward college readiness in high school, but many lose momentum during their last two years there. There are action steps that states and schools can take to improve the rigor of high school core courses: 1. Specify the number and kinds of courses that students need to take to graduate from high school ready for college and work. 2. Align high school course outcomes with state standards that are driven by the requirements of postsecondary education and work. 3. Hire qualified teachers and provide training or professional development support to help them improve the quality of the courses they teach. 4. Expand access for all students to high-quality, vertically aligned core courses. 5. Measure results at the course level.
GIVING UP ON SCHOOL REFORM?
Date CapturedTuesday May 15 2007, 8:03 AM
NY Post Op-Ed contributor Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood, co-chair of East Brooklyn Congregations and of the Metro NY Industrial Areas Foundation opines, "The impact on the teaching corps in poor-performing schools is obvious. Newer and younger teachers have a very high attrition rate. Assigned to schools no other teacher chooses to go to, surrounded by teachers as new and inexperienced as themselves, younger teachers tend to have less support, less mentoring and less success. A large percentage leaves within three years. The effect on the students is also great. They don't benefit from the wisdom and professionalism that years of trial and error can bring a teacher. Instead, they see the newest and least equipped teachers year after year. Turnover in their schools is much higher than in other schools. Their morale and performance suffer. The financial impact is also serious. Because the better schools have higher numbers of veteran teachers, they have bigger budgets than poorly performing schools. Funding formulas announced by Chancellor Klein last week begin to correct this unequal funding. But the success of the city's most challenged schools depends not just on more funds but also on the gradual redistribution of more experienced teachers into every city school. Without a corps of veteran teachers, no amount of money can make students and schools succeed."
Teacher Quality: Inspiring Excellence and Strengthening Innovation - Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Date CapturedSaturday May 12 2007, 10:15 PM
See linked site for details on viewing and participants.
Community colleges and teacher preparation: Roles, Issues and Opportunities
Date CapturedFriday May 11 2007, 9:03 AM
May 2007 ECS issue paper by Tricia Coulter PhD and Bruce Vandal PhD highlight recommendations includings: (1) Teacher preparation should be viewed as a four-year process that includes content and pedagogical training throughout the four-years; (2) Program and course development should be a collaborative process including representation from universities, community colleges and the K-12 sector; (3) Each state department of education should encourage ongoing collaboration and communication among legislators, community colleges, universities and the K-12 sector on how community college teacher preparation can be used to improve the quality of teacher preparation and ameliorate teacher shortages; and (4) Policymakers and institution leaders should consider providing resources to community colleges and K-12 school districts to support customized training for teachers through contracts and/or partnerships between community colleges and school districts.
Evaluating 'No Child Left Behind'
Date CapturedFriday May 11 2007, 8:35 AM
The Nation contributor Linda Darling-Hammond, the Charles E. Ducommon Professor of Education at Stanford University writes, "Perhaps the most adverse unintended consequence of NCLB is that it creates incentives for schools to rid themselves of students who are not doing well, producing higher scores at the expense of vulnerable students' education. Studies have found that sanctioning schools based on average student scores leads schools to retain students in grade so that grade-level scores will look better (although these students ultimately do less well and drop out at higher rates), exclude low-scoring students from admissions and encourage such students to transfer or drop out. Recent studies in Massachusetts, New York and Texas show how schools have raised test scores while 'losing' large numbers of low-scoring students."
New math for schools
Date CapturedThursday May 10 2007, 9:14 AM
NY Daily News opines, "A new system for tracking student performance as well as schoolwide results will be critical to ensuring all this new dough is put to good use. And the arrival of the money only heightens the importance of using the new data to identify the teachers who foster the least learning, to deny tenure to rookies who don't make the grade and to halt programs that don't work. And, ideally, were the teachers union not an obstacle, the top instructors would get top rewards."
When school workers are arrested, parents deserve real answers
Date CapturedSunday May 06 2007, 9:22 AM
The Journal News reports, "When school district employees are removed from a classroom, put on paid leave and have criminal charges filed against them, residents of a school community might have a few questions about what is going on in their schools."
Newburgh School District to vote on $204M budget
Date CapturedFriday May 04 2007, 9:02 AM
Times Herald-Record reports, "The Newburgh District plans to use 'Excellence' dough to: Hire 27 elementary teachers, 25 secondary teachers, three special education teachers, one social worker and three teaching assistants. Establish and expand Extended School Year and Expanded School Day programs. Establish a high school program for grades 9-12 and create grades K-8 programs in at least two elementary schools."
The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher
Date CapturedFriday April 27 2007, 8:39 AM
Study finds, "Over the past two decades, teachers’ satisfaction with their careers has increased. According to the findings of this year’s MetLife Survey, over half (56%) are very satisfied with their careers. This is a striking contrast to the findings reported in the 1986 Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher: Restructuring the Teaching Profession when as few as 33% of teachers reported career satisfaction. One reason to measure teacher satisfaction is as an indication of whether or not a teacher will remain in the profession. Although analyses of this year’s MetLife Survey data indicate that teacher satisfaction is one of the predictors of whether a teacher intends to switch careers, it is not the only one. Evidence of this can be found in the number of teachers who plan to leave teaching in the next five years. One-quarter of teachers (27%) say they are likely to leave teaching. Despite the fact that teachers’ career satisfaction has increased by over 20 points since 1986, the number of teachers at-risk for changing careers has stayed the same. These results indicate that retaining high-quality teachers in the profession is as much of an issue today as it was two decades ago."
Districts want strings detached from aid
Date CapturedFriday April 27 2007, 8:24 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal reports, "Under the new spending rules, the district must use the aid to implement full-day kindergarten, restructure middle and high schools, reduce class size, extend the school day or improve teacher and principal quality. The districts could spend up to 15 percent implementing a research-based program of their own as well."
Class Dismissed
Date CapturedWednesday April 25 2007, 11:42 AM
Village Voice Mara Altman reports, "The UFT and the DOE each claim no knowledge of the origin of rubber rooms. One longtime employee says they have existed since at least the late 1960s, but in a different form. Teachers at that time who were accused of wrongdoing were reassigned to their district office where they were put to work—filing, typing up reports, and organizing data. Today, teachers simply rot."
Billionaires Start $60 Million Schools Effort
Date CapturedWednesday April 25 2007, 10:10 AM
NY Times DAVID M. HERSZENHORN reports, "The project will not endorse candidates — indeed, it is illegal to do so as a charitable group — but will instead focus on three main areas: a call for stronger, more consistent curriculum standards nationwide; lengthening the school day and year; and improving teacher quality through merit pay and other measures. While the effort is shying away from some of the most polarizing topics in education, like vouchers, charter schools and racial integration, there is still room for it to spark vigorous debate. Advocating merit pay to reward high-quality teaching could force Democratic candidates to take a stand typically opposed by the teachers unions who are their strong supporters. Pushing for stronger, more uniform standards, on the other hand, could force Republican candidates to discuss the potential merits of a national curriculum, a concept advocates for states’ rights deeply oppose and one that President Bush has not embraced."
State targets districts to boost performance
Date CapturedWednesday April 25 2007, 9:30 AM
Times Herald-Record reports, "The contracts require the districts to spend a big chunk of their state aid on programs that boost student academic performance. The booster programs are targeted at full-day prekindergarten and kindergarten, reducing class size, lenghtening school days, improving the quality of teachers and principals and restructuring middle and high schools. Additional accountability measures will permit parents and the community to see where and how the money is spent and what the results are, the state said."
Rush to slash class size will hurt our schools
Date CapturedMonday April 23 2007, 9:00 AM
NY Daily News Op-ed contributor Michael Rebell, executive director of the Campaign for Educational Equity, at Teachers College, Columbia University opines, "A mandated average class-size reduction plan is likely to be applied across the board to virtually all schools in the system, while it is clear that we should, at least at first, target the students with the greatest education deficits. Let's not forget that it was for them that the CFE case was waged and won, and that the Court of Appeals invalidated the old funding system to ensure that funding follows need. When they meet tomorrow, the Board of Regents should approve regulations that allow class-size reductions to be limited to low-performing schools and to follow improvements in teacher quality and the availability of adequate space."
Blowing the whistle
Date CapturedThursday April 12 2007, 8:44 AM
NY Daily News opines, "Weingarten's purposes are particularly transparent in that city laws already protect whistleblowers who report gross mismanagement or abuse of authority, and a special investigator is tasked with investigating school complaints. New York State law also protects whistleblowing teachers. Regardless, the Council Education Committee yesterday voted 14 to 1 in favor of Weingarten's bill. Among those in support was Chairman Robert Jackson, who allowed that he doesn't really know what's covered under existing law but "wholeheartedly supports" Weingarten's bill anyway. If it sounds good for kids, that's good enough for Jackson. But the people it's really good for are teachers who are worried about being subject to hard data analysis of student progress."
Don't rush school accountability measures
Date CapturedTuesday April 10 2007, 9:33 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opines, "The contracts for excellence don't mean much if districts are offered enticing new piles of categorical aid — money for such things as class size reduction and teacher quality — but aren't told with clarity how their progress will be assessed. The narrow windows are yet another consequence of a budget process that starts too late. If Spitzer and the Legislature had cut a deal on schools early in the session, the regulations for the contracts could have been properly prepared and vetted by now. In the absence of that, the state should take pains to work with districts on accountability measures that not only are fair but are given a public airing. "
$20,000 stipend proposed for new teachers
Date CapturedTuesday April 10 2007, 9:25 AM
Ithaca Journal reports, "The program's goal is to address a decline of qualified math and science job candidates at technology companies such as Advion. Recent graduates will be asked to pass two proficiency tests to receive the stipend for the next five years. At the end of the five years, teachers have the opportunity to pass the tests again to extend the stipend. Candidates would face a standardized test in their field, as well as a pedagogical test."
Govs Call for More Control Over NCLB
Date CapturedSunday April 08 2007, 6:31 PM
Infozine reports, "The NGA's [National Governors Association] recommendations include allowing states to decide the most appropriate way to test students; not requiring any new tests; differentiating consequences for schools that fail to make progress by a little or a lot; rewarding schools that perform well; and giving states grants to voluntarily benchmark themselves to international standards. Some suggestions reflect the battles individual states have had with the federal government over the law, such as alternate tests for students with disabilities, or allowing English learners more time to learn the language. Arizona and Virginia have clashed with the U.S. Department of Education for not giving the states more time to teach their foreign students English before testing them in reading. The governors also want fewer restrictions to consider a teacher 'highly qualified.'"
P-16 Implementation and Evaluation of the Regents Teaching Policy: Second Annual Report on Teacher Supply and Demand
Date CapturedThursday April 05 2007, 10:38 AM
What does the data on teacher supply and demand reveal about teacher shortages? What strategies should be used to eliminate those shortages and ensure that all students have certified and highly qualified teachers?
Squeeze out the lemons
Date CapturedMonday April 02 2007, 9:29 AM
NY Daily News opines, "It would be nuts to oppose a system driven by hard data on how well kids learn. But foes of the reforms are demanding that Klein and Mayor Bloomberg slam on the brakes. They have invented a parents revolt and staged noisy protests, fronted by United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and her allies at ACORN and the Working Families Party. Last week, they got more than half the City Council to call for a halt - with some pols even pining for the days when schools were run by corrupt, mismanaged, patronage-driven boards. All this sound and fury is part of a campaign in support of a system that failed kids year after year and let everyone in a school dodge responsibility for promoting students who didn't learn. It was the children who suffered. Anyone who'd perpetuate such a system, who'd put a stop to reforms aimed at truly putting the children first, can't have the kids' best interest at heart. If you are confused by all the noise, ask yourself this: Who could possibly be against getting rid of bad teachers, and why?"
SCHOOL WARS: NOTHING TO FEAR
Date CapturedFriday March 30 2007, 8:19 AM
NY Post Adam Brodsky opines, "RUN for your lives, kiddies! Mad Chancellor Klein is about to launch School Reorganization No. 3! That's the hysterical message from labor and left-wing groups opposed to Joel Klein's latest school reforms. Wednesday, more than two dozen Chicken Little members of the City Council actually announced legislation to slow Klein down - lest the sky tumble down on Gotham's young'uns. Some state lawmakers are set to sound similar alarms on Monday. Please. The kids will be fine, reforms and all. At worst, their schools won't be any more awful than they've been for the past few decades. Anyway, the Big Reorg isn't really all that big. Some of Klein's ideas are so commonsensical, anyone opposing them couldn't possibly have kids in mind. Others merely hold promise - or seem little more than spine-stiffening exercises. It's hard to see cause for fear - while there may be grounds for hope."
Citywide class size cuts would hurt the poor
Date CapturedWednesday March 21 2007, 8:19 AM
NY Daily Guest Op-Ed writes, "While research shows that - all things being equal - smaller classes are good for student achievement, particularly in the lower grades, not everything is ever equal. The truth, therefore, is far more complicated. You see, reducing class size requires the system to hire many more teachers. In a small school district, that's no big problem. But here in the nation's largest school system, which already employs some 80,000 teachers, hiring more teachers means delving deeper into a labor pool that is already stretched thin. If New York City were to reduce class size across the board, many parents would see their children placed with less-qualified teachers. Not exactly what they were promised."
Take 'em to school, Mike
Date CapturedMonday March 19 2007, 8:59 AM
NY Daily News opines, "The drumbeat of opposition to school reform grows ever louder under the skillful orchestration of teachers union President Randi Weingarten. It's time for Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein to fight back with facts."
Process for firing teachers is sought
Date CapturedTuesday March 13 2007, 7:23 AM
AP MICHAEL GORMLEY reports, "Before a teacher is fired for incompetence or misconduct such as having sex with a student, local taxpayers will pay on average nearly $129,000 to prove it, including $60,160 to the accused. The state School Boards Association said on Monday that's too much in tax dollars and in damage done to kids with a bad teacher -- even though cases involve just hundreds from among 229,000 public school teachers statewide."
School Boards Seek Teacher Discipline Reforms
Date CapturedMonday March 12 2007, 2:58 PM
NYSSBA at a news conference proposed five reforms to the process aimed at reducing children’s exposure to individuals whose behavior makes them unsuitable for teaching or who simply are incompetent teachers. “These reforms still protect the rights of the accused but expedite the process for reaching a just resolution,” said Timothy G. Kremer, NYSSBA executive director. Changes to the part of the Education Law that governs discipline of tenured professionals, Section 3020-a, were last enacted in 1994.
ACCOUNTABILITY for ALL
Date CapturedMonday March 12 2007, 2:41 PM
5 Ways to Reform the Teacher Discipline Process, New York State School Boards Association (2007).
Public schools are doing quite well
Date CapturedMonday March 12 2007, 10:29 AM
Buffalo News Lionel S. Lewis writes, "There are clearly numerous burdens or distractions in the lives of a great many students that keep them from their studies and learning, from learning basic facts and absorbing societal norms and values. In light of this, the achievements of the public schools and their teachers seem remarkable. The public schools have been slow in complying with the requirements set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act, and it is too soon to assess if its sticks and carrots can work to improve them. The schools have been doing quite well, and they probably couldn’t “do a much better job” no matter how many more resources were made available. In short, a principal goal of the No Child Left Behind Act of 'improving teacher quality' would appear not to be a pressing problem, because a basic premise that too many teachers are incompetent and underqualified is clearly a slander."
Inside Public Education 2007
Date CapturedFriday March 09 2007, 10:56 AM
Inside Public Education reports the results of a survey conducted by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion and funded by the Dyson Foundation. Residents of Dutchess and Ulster Counties in New York were interviewed about the public schools in their communities. They shared their opinions, experiences, and insights about what they consider to be the best and the worst of public education in the school district where they live.
Marist poll finds little support for school property taxes
Date CapturedFriday March 09 2007, 7:18 AM
Times Herald reports, "Other highlights of the findings, which were released today: 59 percent of Ulster residents rate local education as good or excellent, compared with 72 percent in Dutchess. 20 percent overall found the best thing about their district is the teachers. 12 percent find the size of schools the worst thing about their local system. One in 10 mentioned taxes. Only 41 percent think school districts negotiate contracts well. 55 percent believe their district is controlled by a small group of people with their own agenda. Many of those polled want more money for science labs, computers, the arts and libraries. Voters supported a school budget because they thought it was fiscally sound. Voters opposed a school budget because they thought it was wasteful and irresponsible. 54 percent of voters do not think increased funding means better schools; 46 percent think it does. 61 percent think any funding alternatives should not include vouchers for private or parochial schools."
SCHOOL SCI OF RELIEF; CITY WIDE LESSON PLAN
Date CapturedWednesday March 07 2007, 8:03 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports on new citywide science curriculum, "An expert applauded the plan, but cautioned that it won't cure all the city's ills. 'It's a good idea if it's well managed,' said New York University science education professor Pamela Fraser-Abder. 'What is even more critical than having an enforced curriculum is having elementary teachers trained to teach science.' 'Until we get to the stage where people really feel comfortable teaching science, regardless of what structures we put in place, it will not work as well as it could.'"
Big brother is looming; $80M computer to track kids and educators in detail
Date CapturedTuesday March 06 2007, 7:18 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, "The system will combine existing data on kids - from a child's gender and race to whether he or she needs special education services to the name of his or her third-grade teacher - with new data to be generated from annual state exams and interim tests given to kids every four to six weeks. The interim tests measure whether kids havemastered specific skills, such as multiplying fractions or distinguishing fact from opinion, at different times of the year. Teachers will be able to see an entire classroom of results at once. Principals will be able to see an entire school. Parents eventually will have access to their own kids' data plus summary facts about their child's school, the results of parent, student and teacher surveys and details about how their school scored on annual reviews."
2007 is 'a banner year for education'
Date CapturedThursday March 01 2007, 12:33 PM
Deseret Morning News reports, "[Utah]Public education received record funding this year with lawmakers aiming at increasing teacher compensation to help recruit and retain quality educators."
A Bad Report Card
Date CapturedTuesday February 27 2007, 9:23 AM
NY Times opines, "Congress, which is preparing to reauthorize both the No Child Left Behind Act and the Higher Education Act, needs to take a hard look at these scores and move forcefully to demand far-reaching structural changes. It should start by getting the board that oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing to create rigorous national standards for crucial subjects. It should also require the states to raise the bar for teacher qualifications and end the odious practice of supplying the neediest students with the least qualified teachers. This process would also include requiring teachers colleges, which get federal aid, to turn out higher quality graduates and to supply many more teachers in vital areas like math and science. If there’s any doubt about why these reforms are needed, all Congress has to do is read the latest national report card."
School sex abuse: State report troubling
Date CapturedTuesday February 27 2007, 8:44 AM
Ithaca Journal opines, "Children deserve to attend schools that are safe and allow them to grow as students. They shouldn't be subjected to improper advances from the very people who are supposed to be educators and role models."
Tracking bad behavior will help students' parents: Misconduct data will show school trends
Date CapturedTuesday February 27 2007, 8:34 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opines, "One of the lingering problems with education is that the public has little sense of continuity, the way that a strong pre-kindergarten program, for example, leads in a quantifiable way to better scores in second, third and fourth grade. Or, on the negative side, how intermittent stories of teacher misbehavior reveal not isolated events but an increasing problem."
'SLIMY TEACHER' WOE WORSENS
Date CapturedSaturday February 24 2007, 9:09 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "The number of teachers in New York facing "moral character" inquiries for having had sex with students or brushes with the law has nearly doubled in the last five years, according to the state Education Department." (READ REPORT on Education New York online at http://www.educationnewyork.com/SearchPublic.aspx?btnSubmit=Go&txtSearch=NYS+Education+Department/)
Report to the Professional Standards and Practices Board by the Office of Teaching Initiatives
Date CapturedFriday February 23 2007, 7:38 PM
New York State Education Department -- A five year analysis (2001-2002 through 2005-2006) of Moral Character Cases.
Stop Pandering on Education
Date CapturedWednesday February 14 2007, 10:52 AM
Newsweek Jonathan Alter writes, "It's time to move from identifying failing schools to identifying failing teachers. Sounds obvious, but it hasn't happened in American education."
Study raises doubts on K-8
Date CapturedTuesday January 16 2007, 9:17 AM
Baltimore Sun reports, "Johns Hopkins University researchers have concluded that expanding elementary schools to sixth, seventh and eighth grades does not help adolescents do better academically - a finding that raises questions about changes in Baltimore and other urban districts."
Empower, support Rochester city teachers to give students their best effort
Date CapturedTuesday January 16 2007, 6:26 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle contributor Adam Urbanski, president, Rochester Teachers Association opines, "What is to be done? Here are some suggestions based on the collective wisdom of city teachers: Improve school safety and student discipline. There can be no effective teaching or learning in an atmosphere of fear, disorder and chaos. The perception of city schools as unsafe and disorderly is the major reason why families and 'highly qualified' teachers avoid them. Stop ignoring the needs of city kids. Too many city kids do not get the services they so desperately need. There are not enough alternative programs for students who cannot function effectively in the regular settings. Treat teachers as professionals. Growing numbers of city teachers complain that their administrators treat them with disrespect and disregard. The most important dynamic in education is what occurs between teacher and student. All else, and everyone else, must serve to support this. So, if the administrators' role is to serve and support teaching and learning, teachers should have a yearly opportunity to affirm their administrator's leadership or to fail to affirm it. And logical consequences should ensue. Let teachers teach. City teachers are saddled with prepackaged instructional programs that micro-manage teaching and rob teachers of much of their professional prerogative. 'Highly qualified' teachers do not want to be educational sales clerks who are not trusted to make instructional decisions for their own students."
Shortchanged
Date CapturedTuesday January 16 2007, 5:38 AM
NY Post DAVID ANDREATTA reports, "City middle schools are caught in a "pattern of neglect" that is magnified in the poorest neighborhoods, a study to be released today charges. The study, by the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, an organization of parent advocacy groups, found middle schools are plagued by substandard teachers and an unequal distribution of resources and course offerings."
Panel Urges ‘Marshall Plan’ to Improve New York City Middle Schools
Date CapturedTuesday January 16 2007, 3:18 AM
NY Times ELISSA GOOTMAN reports, "A coalition of community groups is calling for the city Department of Education to develop a 'Marshall Plan for middle-grade schools,' saying that all too often, the sixth through eighth grades become 'pathways to failure.' In a report scheduled to be released at a news conference today, the coalition calls for a rigorous curriculum with advanced course offerings in all middle schools, classes of no more than 20 students each, and the creation of a new position within the department: a deputy chancellor who would focus on 'ensuring proper coordination and alignment' among middle schools, high schools, college and the working world."
High-Quality Teachers
Date CapturedSunday January 14 2007, 3:10 PM
When asked why some larger districts in the county have a higher percentage of qualified teachers, Fashano said there are not as many job openings at rural schools, and prospective employees apply to larger districts first and then smaller ones second. Fashano said teacher candidates in Jamestown go through a ‘pretty extensive interview process’ and must teach a lesson in front of a committee. ‘'We found that if you spend more time up front and getting good quality candidates, your turnover rate becomes less,’ he said. Maria Neira, New York State United Teachers union vice president, said the Chautauqua County region is ahead of other parts of the state when it comes to teacher quality for a number of reasons. ‘One of the reasons is because you have a stable teaching force,’ she said. ‘You do not have a high turnover rate and the conditions tend to be better.'’’
For Teachers, Being 'Highly Qualified' Is a Subjective Matter
Date CapturedSaturday January 13 2007, 10:22 AM
Washington Post reports, "Legal loopholes and uneven implementation by states and the U.S. Department of Education have diluted the law's impact on the teaching workforce, some education experts say. They say that meeting the standards of quality is more about shuffling paper than achieving two vital goals: ensuring that teachers are prepared to help students succeed and reducing the teacher talent gap between rich and poor schools."
No Child law a tough act
Date CapturedSaturday January 13 2007, 9:10 AM
Jacksonville.com reports, "[Nassau County, Florida school]Officials said No Child Left Behind, which President Bush signed into law Jan. 8, 2002, has had a definite impact on school districts across the country, not just locally. It makes every school district accountable for students' annual progress, measures all students' progress in reading and mathematics, and requires students to be tested annually as a way of ensuring they are proficient in academic subjects when they graduate. But it also requires school districts to dissect teacher certifications annually for the subjects they teach, provide teacher training, and provide supplementary tutoring for students needing more help. Districts must take money out of their federal fund allocation to do it, shifting resources they count on to serve the vast majority of students."
U.S. Department of Education Seeks Nominations for American Stars of Teaching
Date CapturedWednesday January 10 2007, 6:22 PM
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking nominations for its fourth annual American Stars of Teaching project, which recognizes exemplary teachers who raise student achievement, use innovative classroom strategies and make a difference in their students' lives, Secretary Margaret Spellings announced today.
Adding up teachers
Date CapturedWednesday January 10 2007, 6:24 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opines, "The state's teacher data give high marks to most local suburban districts and a lower grade to the City School District. Rochester officials said Tuesday the information is flawed and that the district has more "highly qualified'' teachers than they're getting credit for. For example, the numbers show 44 percent of the city's reading teachers are below the standard. The city says they're all highly qualified. Let's get the numbers right, but with the knowledge that, even when they are right, they don't tell the whole story. Only a good teacher-child-parent relationship can fill in the gaps."
Frozen Assets: Rethinking Teacher Contracts Could Free Billions for School Reform
Date CapturedTuesday January 09 2007, 6:57 AM
Education Sector report written by Marguerite Rosa . Many common provisions of teacher contracts require school districts to spend substantial sums to implement policies which research has shown have a weak or inconsistent relationship with student learning. This report examines eight such provisions: Increases in teacher salaries based on years of experience; Increases in teacher salaries based on educational credentials and experiences; Professional development days; Number of paid sick and personal days; Class-size limitations; Use of teachers’ aides; Generous health and insurance benefits; and Generous retirement benefits.
Teacher quality issues remain
Date CapturedTuesday January 09 2007, 6:26 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "School districts across the state are increasing the percentages of highly qualified teachers. However, a study by the state Education Department released Monday shows that in most core subjects, Rochester has the lowest percentage of 'highly qualified' teachers of large urban districts in the state. Overall, 89 percent of core courses in the Rochester School District in the 2005-06 school year were taught by 'highly qualified' teachers — meaning they have mastered the subjects they teach — according to the Education Department. "
New York Risks Losing Fed Bucks for Education
Date CapturedTuesday January 09 2007, 4:56 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "More New York state public-school teachers than ever are "highly qualified" - but the state could lose millions in federal education aid unless all of its teachers meet the standard by July. State Education Commissioner Richard Mills acknowledged that the deadline, set by the No Child Left Behind law, would be tough to meet, in spite of significant progress over the last year."
Grades up for New York City teachers
Date CapturedTuesday January 09 2007, 4:34 AM
NY Daily News reports, "City education officials credited the jump to the lead teacher program - in which veterans train new hires - as well as the Partnership for Teaching Excellence, a training program with NYU and CUNY. Teachers union President Randi Weingarten credited salary increases, but added, 'In order to increase teacher quality even more, we must lower class size, vigilantly promote safety and create a more cooperative relationship between teachers and principals.'"
NEW DATA SHOW: NEW YORK STATE RAISES PERCENT OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS IN EVERY SUBJECT EXCEPT ARTS
Date CapturedMonday January 08 2007, 3:30 PM
NYSED PRESS RELEASE: The gap narrowed especially at the elementary school level, from a 16 percent gap in 2004-05 to a 7 percent gap in 2005-06. In middle and high school, the gap narrowed by 1.7 percent, to a 15.5 percent gap. New York City especially improved, with more highly qualified teachers in every subject. Despite the improvement, several of the Big 5 Cities still have relatively high percentages of teachers in some subjects who are not considered highly qualified under the federal rules of the No Child Left Behind Act
Hamstrung by policies, Buffalo looks for more bright, young teachers
Date CapturedMonday January 08 2007, 10:22 AM
Buffalo News reports, "Rumore [Buffalo Teachers Federation President] said teachers generally give the district lots of lead time before retiring, and he criticized Williams' emphasis on the notification clause. He said teachers are often reluctant to come to Buffalo - or to stay - because of large class sizes, lack of resources and staff to help students with learning, behavioral or emotional difficulties and what he describes as overregimentation of teachers. 'They're taking all the joy out of teaching,' Rumore said. He said the district's residency policy also discourages teaching candidates."
From the Desk of Jean C. Stevens, Interim Deputy Commissioner
Date CapturedMonday January 08 2007, 9:07 AM
New York State Education Department (NYSED) Public Announcement of District/School Data: During the week of January 8, the Department will release to the media and the public a list of public schools and districts in improvement status for the 2006-07 school year and the percentage of core courses taught by teachers who were highly qualified in 2005-06 in each public school district and charter school. Providers of NCLB Supplemental Educational Services: The next application period to become a New York State-approved supplemental educational services provider begins January 19, 2007. On behalf of the Board of Regents, the Department notifies districts of location, public schools, and nonpublic schools in the same geographic area of any actions that the Board of Regents has taken related to charter schools as well as the receipt of any new proposed charter applications, proposed renewal applications, or proposed revisions. The notified districts of location, public schools, and nonpublic schools are encouraged to comment on the proposed action and solicit comments from the community through a public hearing on the proposed action. (Read more announcements here)
Grading Spitzer's new school ideas
Date CapturedSunday January 07 2007, 7:47 AM
Times Herald-Record reports, "It's time for a new start for schools and students, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said last week. The changes include: More money — but more accountability and better results come with the bucks. Proven programs — smaller class sizes, a longer school day and longer school year, more after-school programs and improved teacher quality, especially in the neediest schools. Pre-kindergarten programs for all 4-year-olds in the state. More charter schools. A Commission on Public Higher Education to recommend improvements in the higher ed system. Here is some reaction:"
Online database opens a window for parents to compare schools
Date CapturedThursday January 04 2007, 5:53 AM
USA TODAY Greg Toppo reports, "A website by the National Council on Teacher Quality (www.nctq.org/cb), scheduled to launch today, promises to shine a light on teachers' working conditions. It gathers the minutiae of union collective-bargaining agreements and state policies for the nation's 50 largest school districts into a consumer-friendly database that allows anyone to compare districts. Together, the 50 districts educate 8 million children — about one in six public school children in the USA — and employ nearly half a million teachers."
Spitzer promises no taxes, more ‘investment’
Date CapturedWednesday January 03 2007, 2:55 PM
AP reports, "Most of Spitzer's address underscored his campaign promises, including a $6 billion property tax cut over three years and billions of dollars more for schools. Wednesday's proposals include: --Longer school days and school years, after-school programs and better teachers as well as greater accountability for school spending. 'There will be no more excuses for failure,' Spitzer said. 'The debate will no longer be about money, but about performance; the goal will no longer be adequacy, but excellence; the timetable will no longer be tomorrow, but today.'"
Baltimore, Maryland classroom aides on move
Date CapturedWednesday January 03 2007, 8:02 AM
Sun Reporter reports, "As the Baltimore school system scrambles to meet a provision of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, it is transferring more than 150 classroom assistants to different schools next week. Assistants considered qualified under the law are being moved to high-poverty schools, while those considered not qualified are moving to schools serving wealthier children. The transfers are prompting outrage among many of the assistants and the teachers and others who work with them. They say the system didn't plan adequately and now is disrupting the lives of the assistants and the relationships they have built with children."
A New Year for School Reform
Date CapturedSunday December 31 2006, 9:46 AM
NY Times opined, "With the easy achievement gains already behind us, the next level of progress will require rigorous systemic change. The states, for example, will need to adopt rigorous examinations that track the federal test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, more closely. They will have to crack down on state teachers colleges that turn out poor graduates, and devise ways — including differential pay — to persuade highly qualified teachers to work in failing schools that they have historically avoided. To move forward, the country must also find new ways to support and transform failing schools, beyond labeling them failures and presuming that the stigma will inspire better performance."
Florida Palm Beach County teacher’s union, FEA oppose pay for performance plan
Date CapturedSunday December 31 2006, 9:04 AM
Boca Raton News reports, "School districts will be granted funding to award the top 25 percent of teachers in the district a minimum reward of 5 percent of the annual salary. School districts are not required by law to participate in STAR, although they are required to have performance pay plans in place, so the $147.5 million allocation will be divided among those districts that have approved plans. If a school district opts not to participate with STAR, the district must fund the plan."
Teachers’ Union Chief Falters in a Pop Quiz on Fractions
Date CapturedThursday December 28 2006, 3:32 AM
NY Times DAVID M. HERSZENHORN reports, "In contract negotiations, Randi Weingarten, the president of the New York City teachers’ union, typically does math in percentages, not fractions — as in 7.1 percent pay raises over two years in a deal that she brokered last month. And with teachers receiving large raises in the last three contracts, many teachers would say they like the way she counts. But Ms. Weingarten, the standard bearer for more than 80,0000 teachers, was left flummoxed by a question about fractions yesterday when she was on “The Brian Lehrer Show” on WNYC radio, to discuss a recent report calling for a reinvention of American public schools. “What is 1/3 plus ¼?” the guest host, Mike Pesca, asked. 'What is 1/3 and ¼?' Ms. Weingarten stalled. 'I would actually have to do it on paper.'"
Change in the air for California schools
Date CapturedWednesday December 27 2006, 8:27 AM
AP reports, "Scott [Sen. Jack Scott, chairman of the Senate Education Committee] said the state's first priority in considering changes should be teacher quality. It should ensure that all students have access to the best teachers, rather than having them concentrated in wealthier schools that already have high achievement rates, as they are now. 'I'm working very hard on this matter because it may be the key civil rights issue of the 21st century: What are we doing to address the unequal quality of teaching?" he said. "Here we have the students in the low-performing schools, many of them are English-language learners, they come from poverty homes, and yet we haven't distributed our teachers in such a way that the best teachers are teaching in those schools.'"
Bumping in Schools
Date CapturedWednesday December 27 2006, 3:41 AM
NY Times opines, "The United States has a long and shameful history of dumping its least effective, least qualified teachers into the schools that serve the neediest children. The No Child Left Behind Act requires the states to end this practice. But the states are unlikely to truly improve teacher quality — or spread qualified teachers more equitably throughout the schools — until they pay more attention to how teachers are trained, hired, evaluated and assigned. To get control of the assignment process, districts will need to abandon union rules that basically guarantee senior teachers the right to change schools whenever they want — even if the principal of the receiving school does not want them — by bumping a less senior teacher out of his or her job."
Teachers knock Florida bonus mandate
Date CapturedSaturday December 23 2006, 9:47 AM
Florida Times Union reports, "The Special Teachers Are Rewarded program, passed by the Florida Legislature this year, is the state-suggested method for doing that. STAR not only includes standards for measuring teacher performance, it also provides the money to pay that top 25 percent a bonus of 5 percent of their salary. School districts, however, can create their own pay-for-performance plan and not use STAR, but if they do, the districts must pay the performance bonuses themselves."
Report Says Poor Students Shortchanged
Date CapturedThursday December 21 2006, 3:45 AM
AP reports, "'We cannot close the education achievement gap in this country without addressing the funding gap which keeps our low-income and minority children at a disadvantage,'' Kennedy [Sen. Ted Kennedy] said in a statement Wednesday. 'States must take responsibility for ensuring access to resources for all our children, but the federal government has to do its part as well.'' Like the government, states also are failing to allocate their own school dollars in a way that targets the neediest students, the report says."
Official: Massachusetts should embrace merit pay format for teachers
Date CapturedSaturday December 16 2006, 11:19 AM
Sentinel and Enterprise reports, "Merit pay, or the concept of paying teachers more whose students perform better academically than others, continues to be an extremely controversial topic, as the two-hour discussion proved. Audience members and panelists challenged the idea of being able to measure a teacher's effectiveness by student test scores. Others complained that the term is compared loosely to so-called differential pay, which they said suggests teachers being paid different amounts for different job responsibilities."
Schools deserve much more
Date CapturedSaturday December 16 2006, 10:04 AM
San Jose Mercury News writes, "No Child Left Behind's testing requirements are concentrated in elementary and middle school. With the law already under siege, it's unlikely that Congress will expand testing in high schools. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings acknowledged that during a meeting with the San Jose Mercury News editorial board this week. However, there is more that the federal government could do to promote fundamental changes in high schools. It could create incentives for teachers willing to work in the toughest schools and fully fund extended days and Saturday schools in low-income areas. It could fund programs to entice engineers to teach math and science part time to ease the impending teacher shortage."
Time to ante up for schools
Date CapturedFriday December 15 2006, 7:53 AM
Daily Herald reports, "[Utah] Gov. Huntsman's $10.7 billion budget proposal offers public education a generous -- and much needed -- Christmas present. The governor wants to put $3.4 billion -- nearly a third of the state budget -- into public education. He would increase the weighted pupil unit (the formula for school funding) by a record 7 percent. He would allocate $28.7 million for additional teachers to reduce class sizes in kindergarten through third grade. And he would throw in another $22 million to attract and retain qualified teachers."
Ideas to aid black youths
Date CapturedThursday December 14 2006, 8:33 AM
Baltimore Sun Reporter writes, "To push more black male students toward success, Maryland should turn to academic solutions such as single-sex classrooms and street-level fixes such as pairing ex-convicts with young men in the neighborhood, a panel of education experts told the state school board yesterday. A task force of 45 educators, business leaders and union officials met for two years to prepare a report intended to address a persistent problem in academic achievement for black males in the state."
Study: Higher Teacher Pay Would Improve the Education System
Date CapturedWednesday December 13 2006, 10:32 AM
NPR Larry Abramson reports, "A new study by education researchers concludes that the best way to improve the quality of teaching is to pay teachers more. And to pay good teachers even more. Critics aren't so sure, notably teacher's unions. They warn that merit-pay systems are notoriously subjective and unreliable."
Spitzer’s school plan will benefit all
Date CapturedWednesday December 13 2006, 10:15 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal contributor Billy Easton, executive director of Alliance for Quality Education writes, "Throughout his campaign, Spitzer consistently articulated an education plan based on proven strategies. The elements of his plan will get many more children prepared to succeed as adults. He starts with pre-kindergarten, which increases graduation rates and employment success and reduces crime. He supports smaller classes, which show long-term increases in test scores, graduation rates and college preparedness. Training and recruiting skilled teachers is another Spitzer education priority that is backed by extensive research. He supports producing strong principals to lead our schools. And he advocates helping kids who are falling through the cracks by partnering with community-based organizations (such as after-school programs), expanding literacy programs and improving vocational education. This is a refreshing vision designed to actually address the needs of every child. It is not difficult to imagine it cannot all be done on the cheap. What is the price tag Spitzer has identified to pay for all of this? $8.5 billion. This is for a multiyear statewide solution, not a New York City focused plan."
Reform of Taylor Law to heat up Albany
Date CapturedMonday December 11 2006, 9:15 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "While the unions' proposals to tilt the field in their direction is on the table, most of what local governments want has failed to gather much support. Among their proposals: Abolish what is known as the Triborough Amendment, which keeps the provisions of expired contracts — including step raises — in place even when the contract has expired. Do away with binding arbitration for police and fire contracts, where a state-appointed panel has the final say over raises and other contract matters when police and fire unions can't reach a deal with their employers. Abolish teacher tenure, instead hiring teachers for five-year renewable contracts, and make it easier to discipline or dismiss ones who don't perform."
Why the Achievement Gap Persists
Date CapturedFriday December 08 2006, 3:41 AM
NY Times opined, "It’s impossible to brand No Child Left Behind as a failure, because its agenda has never been carried out. The law was supposed to remake schools that serve poor and minority students by breaking with the age-old practice of staffing those schools with poorly trained and poorly educated teachers. States were supposed to provide students with highly qualified teachers in all core courses by the beginning of the current academic year. That didn’t happen."
Connecticut Report: Add new preschool seats, bolster teaching skills
Date CapturedWednesday December 06 2006, 4:42 PM
AP reports, "The report advises better outreach to poor families without access to good early childhood education programs, and to others that might not understand the value of preschool. It also calls for more equitable funding for programs that currently receive state reimbursement, more support for school readiness councils in local communities, and better tracking of how children perform during and after preschool to ensure that programs are effective."
'Resegregation' of Metro schools cited at high court
Date CapturedTuesday December 05 2006, 8:50 AM
The Tennessean reports, "Smrekar [associate professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University] said Metro Nashville's schools have become drastically unbalanced since the race-based requirements were abandoned. Metro Nashville has about 72,000 students, 37.8 percent of which are white, 46.5 percent black, 12.1 Hispanic, 3.4 percent Asian and less than 1 percent Native American or Pacific Islander. 'Nashville has more single-race schools in the district because they have removed race as an element in assigning students,' she said. 'Without a race-conscious policy, you get resegregation.' Since the end of desegregation, the district is home not only to more single-race schools, but also to more schools with a high poverty rate. And with a high poverty rate comes inequality, Smrekar said."
Teaching - the solution is as simple as that
Date CapturedFriday December 01 2006, 7:53 AM
Community Press contributor and testing coordinator in the Princeton City School District writes, "The good news - we have control over teaching quality as opposed to controlling poverty, ethnicity, culture or environment. At Princeton, more time and effort has gone into hiring top notch teachers than ever before. They are interviewed extensively and complete a battery of screening tests. We screen for people with demonstrated competency in working with groups from very diverse backgrounds that can be flexible in meeting the needs of our students. More time and money has been spent on training and retraining than ever before. Why all the extra effort with hiring, training and teacher collaboration? Because we believe those efforts are critical to our ability to provide the very best teachers for our students. The very best teachers are those who understand the need to continue their professional learning, and who are willing to implement research-based practices to do whatever it takes to help their students be successful."
Manual Rivera: 'We can't give up on kids'
Date CapturedFriday December 01 2006, 7:29 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "Rivera, whose presence in education has spanned three decades, also discussed the trends of middle school students who are several years behind in reading, the district's high school dropouts and the rising culture of violence in schools. 'We can't give up on kids, so if teachers are telling me they're not sure if a second- or third-grader has any potential, then maybe it's the teacher that needs to go,' said Rivera, who recently became co-chair of an education task force for Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer."
Utah School board seeks 'a carrot'
Date CapturedFriday December 01 2006, 7:16 AM
Deseret Morning News reports, "The board is seeking a $50 million bill to create a 'Utah Educator Quality' plan that would offer differential teacher pay, require school bosses to stay up to date, and encourage people to become teachers and keep them in the profession."
At Ease: Hey! Leave those teachers alone
Date CapturedWednesday November 29 2006, 9:34 AM
Gaylord Herald Times writes, "Teacher accountability and performance cannot be completely and accurately measured by student performance, for a litany of reasons which I don't have the space to get into. But there's a lot going on in those 16 other hours of the day that affect test results."
Education Leaders Speak on Schools
Date CapturedWednesday November 29 2006, 8:32 AM
Columbia Spectator reports, "Klein [New York City schools chancellor] focused on charter schools that have been successful in bringing students who were behind up to grade level, describing as politically driven the state-wide charter school cap that prevents New York City from opening any more charter schools. 'I'm a big fan of charter schools,' he said. "They are built on accountability." He also stressed the importance of good teachers over small class size, citing his own experience at Columbia as an example. 'There were people here at Columbia who were wasting my time,' he said. 'One of the reasons those classes were so small is because everyone else had realized that those teachers were a waste of time.'"
Do Board-Certified Teachers Lift Test Scores?
Date CapturedThursday November 23 2006, 4:00 PM
NPR Larry Abramson reports, "Many teachers say that board certification has reawakened their commitment to teaching, even kept them from leaving the profession. But some districts remain skeptical, because they're not sure they'll get the only benefit that matters in education today: improved test scores. That finding is back up by recent research from William Sanders, who works for the computer software company SAS. 'There's very little difference in effectiveness based upon the National Board Certification Status,' Sanders says."
Arizona charter school's big gift puts focus on teacher quality
Date CapturedThursday November 23 2006, 10:54 AM
The Arizona Republic reports, "A charter school in Scottsdale will soon benefit from a nearly half-million dollar windfall, one that aims to boost the schools' teacher salaries to $100,000 to help retain highly skilled teachers. The private donation for the BASIS Scottsdale school is raising eyebrows among educators in the Valley, where starting teacher salaries hover at about $31,000 and administrators bemoan the ongoing struggle of attracting and holding on to top-notch teachers to bolster student achievement. Such donations are especially critical in a state that consistently ranks near the bottom in education funding when compared to other states, education advocates say."
Troubled Schools Try New Lures for Better Teachers
Date CapturedThursday November 23 2006, 10:40 AM
NPR Larry Abramson reports, "Superintendents around the country have long insisted they need to be able to transfer the best teachers to troubled schools. Union contracts often prohibit that kind of action. But in right-to-work states like North Carolina, it is an option."
Schumer: Add math, science teachers
Date CapturedThursday November 23 2006, 7:38 AM
The Daily Star reports, "U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he’s sponsoring legislation that would help even the playing field and get more teachers with math and science backgrounds into schools across the country. The program would pay certain "master teachers" an additional $10,000 to $11,000. "
Preschool Is School, Sometimes: Making early childhood education matter
Date CapturedTuesday November 21 2006, 9:45 AM
Education Next contributor Robert C. Pianta, professor of education at the Curry School of Education and director of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, the University of Virginia writes, "Recent work suggests that direct training methods, such as mentoring and coaching and constructive feedback based on observation of teachers, can improve early education practice and children’s performance."
SCHOOL SANITY: COURT OPTS FOR RESTRAINT
Date CapturedTuesday November 21 2006, 6:44 AM
NY Post contributor E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy writes, "It will take a determined governor to prevent legislators and the usual special-interest groups from using CFE as an excuse to promote Albany's traditional education 'solution' - lots more money, no reform. But thanks to the Court of Appeals, these issues at least will be contested in the right forum. In one of his more beneficial legacies, Pataki stocked New York's highest court with judges who were unwilling to micromanage policy. They've now kicked the ball back to the Legislature, once and for all. CFE and its allies must turn their attention to direct lobbying of the people's elected representatives - which is just the way it should be."
"Photo Finish: Which Teachers Are Better? Certification Status Isn't Going to Tell Us
Date CapturedMonday November 20 2006, 7:47 PM
Economists Thomas J. Kane of Harvard University, Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia Business School, and Douglas O. Staiger of Dartmouth College, in Education Next, 2007 No. 1 answer the question of whether certification ensures highly effective teachers in the classroom. Researchers write, "The results of our study of New York City public school teachers confirm a simple truth: some teachers are considerably better than others at helping students learn. For example, elementary-school students who have a teacher who performs in the top quartile of all elementary-school teachers learn 33 percent of a standard deviation more (substantially more) in math in a year than students who have a teacher who performs in the bottom quartile. Yet as we embrace this piece of conventional wisdom, we must discard another: the widespread sentiment that there are large differences in effectiveness between traditionally certified teachers and uncertified or alternatively certified teachers. The greatest potential for school districts to improve student achievement seems to rest not in regulating minimum qualifications for new teachers but in selectively retaining those teachers who are most effective during their first years of teaching. "
Children Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools
Date CapturedFriday November 10 2006, 8:34 AM
The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was signed into law on Dec. 3, 2004, by President George W. Bush. The provisions of the Act became effective on July 1, 2005, with the exception of some of the elements pertaining to the definition of a “highly qualified teacher” that took effect upon the signing of the Act. The final regulations were published on August 14, 2006. This is one in a series of documents, prepared by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the U.S. Department of Education that covers a variety of high-interest topics and brings together the regulatory requirements related to those topics to support constituents in preparing to implement the new regulations. This document addresses significant changes from preexisting regulations to the final regulatory requirements regarding children enrolled by their parents in private schools.
New York City teachers deal not so sweet
Date CapturedFriday November 10 2006, 4:38 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Klein [New York City schools chancellor] has been critical of provisions in the teachers contract that he says protect incompetent teachers. He has called for the ability to alter the length of the school day and for the ability to pay some teachers more than others. He even boasted at a recent event that he was creating a 'new labor-management paradigm' in the school system. But the 24-month contract that teachers seem likely to approve in a formal ratification vote next month - the last teachers contract over which Klein is likely to have any influence - contained virtually none of reforms he has advocated."
New York City Mayor Bloomberg Could be Big Winner in UFT Deal
Date CapturedWednesday November 08 2006, 5:51 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "Sensitive issues championed publicly by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, like establishing pay differentials for teachers based on competence and more instructional time for students, were not part of the latest deal - although the city won significant concessions on those fronts in the last contract."
Teens who feel 'connected' to school are less likely to get into trouble
Date CapturedMonday November 06 2006, 6:04 AM
The Journal News reports, "A connected school was one where students felt safe, where students felt that teachers listened to them, where students believed that everyone was treated fairly, where conflict resolution and expectations were clear, where discipline was fair and consistent, and where there was an emphasis on academic achievement."
Author of No Child Left Behind defends its impact
Date CapturedFriday November 03 2006, 7:46 AM
The Brownsville Herald reports, "Kress, the author of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, points to 13 years of progress since the accountability system was built into the education system and a handful of other statistics to prove his point."
A higher bar for future teachers
Date CapturedTuesday October 31 2006, 7:15 AM
Boston Globe contributor Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and president emeritus of Teachers College, Columbia University opined, "Teaching is a profession. It requires deep content knowledge, a familiarity with ways to teach that knowledge effectively, and an understanding of how young people learn and grow. Future teachers should complete a traditional arts and sciences bachelor's degree in a content area such as math, history or English, and then undertake a year of graduate study to learn how to communicate their subject in ways that promote student learning. Scholarships will also be necessary to encourage our most talented students to choose teaching careers over high -profile, better-paying professions."
Teacher Incentive Fund
Date CapturedSunday October 22 2006, 9:37 AM
US Department of Education -- The goals of this program include: improving student achievement by increasing teacher and principal effectiveness; reforming teacher and principal compensation systems so that teachers and principals are rewarded for increases in student achievement; increasing the number of effective teachers teaching poor, minority, and disadvantaged students in hard-to-staff subjects; and creating sustainable performance-based compensation systems.
Today's teachers face unique diversity challenge
Date CapturedFriday October 20 2006, 9:21 AM
Sun-Times News contributor Bryan Scherer, certified business and English teacher writes, "I think schools can do more to create a culturally diverse learning environment by matching teacher with student. Hiring more ethnic teachers to make those connections with minority students is a win-win. It would also benefit kids to hire teachers that have life experience, instead of selecting the same status quo new hire; typically, it's the 24-year-old that is starting his or her first job, and comes cheap."
Imagine the best schools in the world ... no exceptions, no excuses
Date CapturedWednesday October 18 2006, 7:39 AM
Delawareonline contributors Marvin N. Schoenhals, Vision 2015 and Chairman/President of WSFS Financial Corporation and Valerie A. Woodruff, Delaware's Secretary of Education write, "Over the past 11 months, our 28-member Steering Committee has worked very hard. We have come to grips with the strengths and challenges of Delaware's public school system. We have searched the world for the best practices of school systems that are succeeding. Our plan, Vision 2015, results from an unprecedented level of research, analysis, discussion, debate, and decision-making. To support the Steering Committee, we engaged nearly 80 individuals in work groups, and involved another 400 citizens in more than 50 meetings throughout Delaware. And we engaged two top-flight firms -- The Boston Consulting Group and Cambridge Leadership Associates -- to keep us focused and moving forward. We really did our homework. And we did a lot of it."
Florida Board of Education approves first merit pay plan
Date CapturedTuesday October 17 2006, 9:09 PM
AP reports, "Under the Special Teachers Are Rewarded, or STAR, program, a school district must develop a performance-pay plan that includes an evaluation component focused on the improvement of student learning."
California Law Blocks Transfer of 'Lemon' Teachers
Date CapturedMonday October 16 2006, 4:16 PM
Infozine reports, "If a teacher doesn't measure up, should he or she jump over other applicants for a job at a different school? Not anymore, at least not in California's neediest schools. A new state law bars school districts from forcing principals at low-scoring schools to hire teachers who transfer from elsewhere in the district."
'No Child Left Behind" law gets review
Date CapturedMonday October 16 2006, 3:30 PM
Sacramento Bee reports, "The law is scheduled to be reauthorized by Congress next year, and educators are starting to strategize on how to lobby lawmakers to change it. 'As we begin the conversation about reauthorization, one thing we thought really important was that, to the extent possible, California speak with one voice,' said Rick Miller, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, which organized the meetings this week for teachers, administrators and parents to weigh in."
Despite a Doctorate and Top Students, Unqualified to Teach
Date CapturedWednesday October 11 2006, 3:40 AM
NY Times reports, "Under California law, a teacher must successfully complete a certification program to fulfill the mandate of No Child Left Behind that there be a “highly qualified” instructor in every classroom. Marilyn Errett, an administrator with the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing, said California did offer a fast-track route for experienced teachers in the core subjects of English, science and math, as well as a path that combined a teaching internship with 100 hours of college course work."
Florida's Gov. Bush joins New York City mayor to push education changes
Date CapturedTuesday October 10 2006, 10:44 PM
AP reports, "Bush and Bloomberg are also campaigning for measures that connect teacher pay with performance, with rewards for progress. Bush noted that Florida will begin rewarding its teachers next year with merit bonuses, and Bloomberg said New York City is considering the idea."
Teacher standards
Date CapturedTuesday October 10 2006, 5:44 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opined, "A new study of teacher readiness across America found startling weaknesses in getting the best and brightest into the profession, preparing them well and paying them accordingly. If New York bucks that trend, and lets it be known that it does, that could help bring families and businesses here. But the state has to do a better job laying out the facts."
Improving minority education means knowing law, New Jersey parents told
Date CapturedMonday October 09 2006, 1:38 PM
The Record (New Jersey) reports, "The statute [Title 18A], for instance, lists classes that must be taught in all districts. It outlines professional qualifications for teachers and lists the powers of the state and local school boards. In short, it's a blueprint for public education in New Jersey."
Fighting for dollars and sense
Date CapturedMonday October 09 2006, 5:45 AM
Newsday JOHN HILDEBRAND reports, "Lower courts already have ruled that the city shortchanges its students in that amount - for example, by employing thousands of uncertified teachers. Supporters hope a ruling in favor of city schools would also reap more money for needy districts elsewhere in the state, including Long Island. They base their hope on a political calculation: They assume that if the court orders the governor and legislature to distribute the money, that individual lawmakers then would demand that other needy districts also benefit from the windfall."
President Bush's Radio Address
Date CapturedSaturday October 07 2006, 12:57 PM
Office of the Press Secretary, October 7, 2006: "As we work to keep our classrooms safe, we must also ensure that the children studying there get a good education. I believe every child can learn. So when I came to Washington, I worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, and I was proud to sign it into law. The theory behind this law is straightforward: We expect every school in America to teach every student to read, write, add, and subtract."
$11.6 Million in Grants Awarded for Highly Qualified Special Education Teachers, Early Intervention Personnel
Date CapturedThursday October 05 2006, 5:52 PM
The money will also be used to train specialists in early intervention and other aspects of services for students with disabilities, recognizing that the earlier children can be identified as being in need of services, the greater the likelihood they can reach their education potential.
Ohio National Board Certified Teachers to Meet for First-Ever Education Policy Summit
Date CapturedMonday October 02 2006, 3:42 PM
PRNewswire reports, "For the first time ever, hundreds of the state's top teachers will join Ohio policymakers and educational leaders for a daylong policy summit to discuss the most critical issues facing educators today--closing achievement gaps and staffing high-needs schools. 'We're looking for concrete, workable recommendations that will foster the conditions for high-quality teaching and learning for all students,' said OEA President Gary Allen."
Is the Feds' Lesson Plan Working? YES: Expectations + Rigor = Promising Results
Date CapturedFriday September 29 2006, 12:19 AM
Op-ed by Secretary Margaret Spellings, in the San Francisco Chronicle on September 26, 2006, "Going forward, we are working closely with states to help them comply with NCLB. States that follow the 'bright lines' of the law—assessing students regularly, disaggregating data, hiring highly qualified teachers and informing parents about their options—may qualify for flexibility in measuring and reporting their results. We prefer collaboration to confrontation. Many states, including California, clearly have room to improve. But the bottom line remains the same. No Child Left Behind has added a fourth 'R' to reading, writing and 'rithmetic—results. We are beginning to see those results. And soon the world will, too."
The Invisible Face of CFE: New York’s Small City School Districts in Crisis
Date CapturedThursday September 28 2006, 7:47 AM
Prepared by Robert Biggerstaff, New York State Association of Small City School Districts' and written by Charles A. Winters, former Newburgh administrator, study concludes students in small New York state urban settings suffer as much or more than children in New York City from chronic underfunding. Small-city districts have comparable poverty levels, draw from a less wealthy tax base and students fail just as much, if not more, than New York City children.
Report stresses woes of schools in smaller New York state cities
Date CapturedThursday September 28 2006, 5:54 AM
Times Herald-Record reports, "Released yesterday by the New York State Association of Small City School Districts, the study says students in urban settings like Newburgh, Middletown and Kingston are suffering as much — or more — as kids in New York City from chronic underfunding."
Giving Kids the Chaff: How to Find and Keep the Teachers We Need
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 9:08 AM
Marie Gryphon, director of educational programs at the Institute for Humane Studies and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute concludes, "Teacher quality can be improved dramatically when hiring managers understand the attributes that make for good teachers and are given the right incentives to make good hiring decisions. Many of the current public policy proposals to improve educational quality in American public schools, such as merit pay and hiring bonuses for teachers with subjectspecific expertise, attempt to create the same economic stimuli that are naturally present in competitive markets. Allowing families to choose their schools, and giving schools the freedom and market incentives to make wise personnel decisions, will reward good schools and good teachers, providing more students with the high-quality education they deserve."
How about that: back to basics
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 7:03 AM
Chicago Tribune opined, "Most important: Teachers have to be qualified to teach math effectively and agile enough to employ the methods that work best for the individual student."
Save the kids caught in the middle
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 4:24 AM
NY Daily News opined on middle schools, "Klein [chancellor] is all too aware of the middle-school miasma. It is one of the reasons why he is establishing school-by-school accountability measures, pushing to expand the number of charter schools and seeking to empower principals. If anything, these dismal test results should give him more muscle in a fight to stop teachers and principals from treating kids as if they naturally become dull at the age of 12."
15 State & National Groups Launch Coalition to Recruit 1,000 New Teachers of Color for Florida's Schools
Date CapturedSunday September 24 2006, 12:13 AM
Miami, FL (PRWEB) writes, "Florida faces a severe teacher shortage crisis, with a need for tens of thousands of new teachers every year. Additionally, the percentage of teachers of color in Florida is not representative of the percentage of students of color. Fifty two percent of the state’s students are Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian or multiracial but only 25 percent of teachers are individuals of color."
Area New York BOCES play key role in ensuring no child is left behind
Date CapturedWednesday September 20 2006, 6:18 AM
The Journal News reports on changes at BOCES, "The biggest changes began about five years ago, when the federal education law dubbed 'No Child Left Behind' took effect. The law, among other things, required that schools provide highly qualified teachers, demanded that states create English and math accountability tests for all children from third through eighth grades and insisted that special-needs students be given the same academic tests as other students."
Educating School Teachers
Date CapturedMonday September 18 2006, 6:47 PM
Study author Arthur Levine, who recently left the presidency of Teachers College, Columbia University to become president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation concludes "that a majority of teacher education graduates are prepared in university-based programs that suffer from low admission and graduation standards. Their faculties, curriculums and research are disconnected from school practice and practitioners. There are wide variations in program quality, with the majority of teachers prepared in lower quality programs. Both state and accreditation standards for maintaining quality are ineffective."
Missouri teachers’ credentials checked
Date CapturedMonday September 18 2006, 11:35 AM
The Kansas City Star reports, "Last month, the department essentially flunked Missouri and several other states over the mandate, putting them at risk of having school aid withheld. Kansas earned high marks for satisfying all six criteria. The big challenge in Missouri is proving compliance among veteran educators who earned their certification before a 1988 state requirement that teaching candidates pass a subject-matter test before earning a license."
Teaching Math, Singapore Style
Date CapturedMonday September 18 2006, 3:26 AM
NY Times opined, "The countries that outperform the United States in math and science education have some things in common. They set national priorities for what public school children should learn and when. They also spend a lot of energy ensuring that every school has a high-quality curriculum that is harnessed to clearly articulated national goals. This country, by contrast, has a wildly uneven system of standards and tests that varies from place to place. We are also notoriously susceptible to educational fads."
Start of school year is always a big thrill
Date CapturedSunday September 17 2006, 10:40 AM
Buffalo News contributor and teacher MARGIE HERBERGER writes, "It was late August and I was excited. Every table in my study, dining room and living room was littered with pads, notebooks and texts about teaching. I fluttered from one to the other like a crazed butterfly, alighting on one pile, finding a paper, making a note and moving on to the next pile. What was I doing? Planning. I'm an English teacher, September was coming and I couldn't wait."
Issue of school reform tackled at recent Kentucky retreat
Date CapturedFriday September 15 2006, 12:35 AM
The Kentucky Standard reports, "Haycock [Director of The Education Trust] said there are certain things in common among high achieving schools and school districts. Among these are: setting clear, high goals for students; putting all children in a demanding high school core curriculum; use of a common curriculum that does not leave teachers to develop their own; benchmark testing that tracks performance; and providing extra help for students that arrive behind at a certain grade level."
Education Policy Should Not Be Based on Programs that Cannot be Replicated
Date CapturedThursday September 14 2006, 12:06 PM
Education Finance and Accountability Program at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University (EFAP) Director John Yinger writes, "The use of additional funds does not, of course, guarantee success. Many schools undoubtedly use policies and practices that cost more than equally effective alternatives. But one cannot identify these alternatives simply by looking at a few successful schools. Instead, we need to continue evaluating a wide range of programs to determine which ones can raise student performance under what circumstances and at what cost."
It's way past time for school funding reform
Date CapturedThursday September 14 2006, 5:56 AM
Times Herald-Record contributor Sue Books, professor in the Department of Secondary Education at SUNY New Paltz opined, "In 2003, the funding gap between the 25 percent of school districts in New York with the most and the least poverty was $2,280 per pupil. Between two high schools with 1,500 students each, this amounts to $3.4 million a year. Funding gaps on this scale mean children in some schools receive much more than others of almost everything money can buy for schools: buildings in good repair; well-qualified and adequately compensated teachers; challenging programs; opportunities to participate in art, music and sports; and enough guidance counselors to help students through the increasingly complex college-application maze."
Think tank urges Florida school reforms, no class-size limits
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 10:20 AM
Orlando Sentinel reports, "New educational reforms could be ahead for Florida schools now that a conservative think tank has called for better-qualified teachers, tougher reading and math standards and an end to the state's constitutional directive to reduce class sizes."
Nine local Mid-Hudson school still get failing marks
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 7:00 AM
Times-Herald Record reports, "The list is more than name-calling. Districts have to pour resources into the problem areas — resources that local taxpayers often have to pay for. In the long run, teachers and principals might be fired if the failures continue. The federal No Child Left Behind Law sets the rules. It covers not only scores but the performance of various racial, ethnic, and other special groups."
SMART PASS NABS SUB-PAR TEACHERS
Date CapturedSunday September 10 2006, 10:13 AM
NY Post reports, " A sophisticated swipe-card system to track the city's army of substitute teachers - and keep criminals away from classrooms - will soon be installed at every public school around the city."
Highly Qualified, Highly Confusing
Date CapturedFriday September 08 2006, 10:41 PM
Gilroy Dispatch (California) reports on NCLB and high qualified teachers, "Here's the sticky part: an intern teacher who has yet to spend a day in the classroom but has passed the CSET is considered qualified under the law, while a woman who spent the past 20 years teaching middle school English, but has a single subject credential in history is not."
New York Education Department unveils new student database
Date CapturedFriday September 08 2006, 6:58 AM
Times Record reports, "Teachers are all for the new system if it is used to help students learn, said Ron Simon, president of the New Paltz Teachers union. But he has concerns. 'Are we using it to hold students accountable for their learning, or are we using it to pinpoint teachers?' Simon asked. 'We would hate to see this one day being used to promote things like merit pay'."
NAACP, school leaders meet in Wayne County, North Carolina
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 10:25 PM
News 14 Carolina reports, "The topic of segregation came up at a state Board of Education meeting Thursday. The board was in Wayne County touring some of the lowest-performing schools in the state that a judge threatened to shut down. It was a chance for North Carolina’s NCAAP leader to tell members that issues of segregation can no longer be ignored."
Certification and Private School Teachers' Transfers to Public Schools
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 10:25 AM
This Issue Brief was authored by Emily W. Holt, Mary McLaughlin, and Daniel J. McGrath of the Education Statistics Services Institute (ESSI). "In three out of four time periods, higher percentages of movers who held state certification in year two of the time period only switched to public schools than did those without regular state certifications in their main assignment in either year of the time period. In all four time periods for which data were collected, higher percentages of movers with regular state certifications in both years of the time period moved to public schools than did their peers without the certification. However, regardless of certification status, 11 percent or fewer of private school teachers changed schools during any 2-year period."
New York state schools told to reach out to at-risk kids
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 6:26 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "Johnson, [assistant secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education in the Bush administration], before serving as keynote speaker for a United Way fundraiser at Rochester Country Club on Wednesday, said improving education in urban districts can happen with a rigorous curriculum that applies to all students, excellent teaching, and comprehensive and diagnostic student assessments."
Arizona educators see NCLB as good but cumbersome
Date CapturedWednesday September 06 2006, 1:17 PM
Eastern Arizona Courier reports, "As a group, the school administrators also conveyed the message that there needs to be better communication between federal and state education agencies and between those agencies and the public schools."
Inequality and the Right to Learn: Access to Qualified Teachers in California's Public Schools
Date CapturedTuesday September 05 2006, 6:46 PM
By Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University. "The article outlines the legal rationale for insisting on access to qualified teachers for all students, analyzes the reasons for the current shortfalls in California, and proposes a set of remedies based on research and policy outcomes elsewhere." Teachers College Record Volume 106 Number 10, 2004, p. 1936-1966. http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 11677, Date Accessed: 9/5/2006 5:46:06 PM
States turn to teacher bonuses: Maryland, many others signing on to trend, but critics call such programs unproven
Date CapturedTuesday September 05 2006, 10:41 AM
Baltimore Sun reports, "Most teacher incentive pay programs are just a few years old and too new to evaluate, educators say."
Louisiana leading in improving teacher quality
Date CapturedTuesday September 05 2006, 8:43 AM
The Shreveport Times reports, "A recent U.S. Department of Education study singled out nine states for having assembled complete plans to accomplish the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind law. A team of 31 education experts hired by the department reviewed every state's plan and found that Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina and South Dakota met all standards"
1,000 New York City schools teachers demoted to subs
Date CapturedSaturday September 02 2006, 8:37 AM
NY Daily News ERIN EINHORN reports, "Klein [Chancellor] said unwanted teachers no longer will be moved around in 'a random and arbitrary fashion.' This school year, no principals will be forced to take on new teachers whom they didn't hire. That's a drastic change from last year, when 2,800 teachers involuntarily moved to a new school by using seniority rules or because their job had been eliminated at another school, Klein said."
KLEIN BLOWS THE WHISTLE
Date CapturedFriday September 01 2006, 8:20 AM
NY Post opined, "Surely the public would like to hear why these people have to be given "make-work" jobs . . . rather than be let go. Surely the public would like to know why a union would be organized to permit - indeed, encourage - one part of its membership to undermine the efficiency of another."
Back to better NCLB schools in Arizona
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 10:12 PM
Eloy News, JON KYL, United States Senator, Arizona writes, "I recently had the privilege of honoring one of Arizona's most talented teachers with the Department of Education's American Stars of Teaching award. In its third year, the American Stars of Teaching program is a component of the Teacher-to-Teacher initiative, which seeks to honor excellence in the classroom. This year, Mr. Brian Fuller, of Peoria High School, was chosen to receive this award. Mr. Fuller exemplifies the kind of teachers Arizona schools must attract and retain."
Massachusetts Gov. Romney applauds student measurement in No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 7:42 PM
AP reports, "Romney [Gov.], addressing a commission taking testimony in preparation for a congressional reauthorization debate scheduled for next year, said testing identifies problematic schools that can then be helped through funding, teacher training and student programs."
$3 billion plan for struggling California schools is revealed
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 12:08 PM
UNION-TRIBUNE reports on agreement with the California Teachers Association, "The estimated 600 schools in the pilot program would be selected from applicants among 1,600 low-performing schools whose scores on statewide tests are in the bottom 20 percent. The schools would have to maintain an average class size of 20 students in kindergarten through the third grade, a current requirement, and an average of 25 students not to exceed 27 students in most fourth-through 12th-grade classes. The schools would have to have at least one credentialed counselor for every 300 students. Using a new index, the average experience of teachers would have to equal or exceed the district average. The schools also would have to move toward a three-year goal of improving their test scores. Pupil attendance and graduation rates also would be expected to show improvement."
New York City Chancellor Klein: We gotta keep the rejects
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 8:12 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Although the city's 1,400 schools still need to hire 22 assistant principals, none of the 44 administrators will be sent to schools where they aren't wanted. At a cost of $5.2 million, they will get paper-pushing jobs, Education Department officials said. The union contract prohibits administrators from taking teaching positions. The contract and state law also allow administrators to bump less-senior colleagues from their jobs."
Vanderbilt University to study link between teacher incentives, student performance
Date CapturedWednesday August 30 2006, 7:31 PM
The Tennessean reports, "A national research and development center designed to answer questions such as­ 'do financial incentives for teachers, administrators and schools affect student achievement?' will make its home at Vanderbilt University."
Mississippi education drives economy
Date CapturedMonday August 28 2006, 8:36 PM
Delta Democrat Times reports, "Jobs and education are inextricably intertwined. There is no hope for a good economy without strong schools. There will be nowhere for students in Mississippi to work if the state's educational system fails to prepare them to compete in the global economy. All of that takes money. It also takes a commitment from the business community to support public education and a willingness from parents to think differently about what their children will be learning in school."
Louisiana leads in quality efforts: Plan ready for No Child Left Behind.
Date CapturedMonday August 28 2006, 8:50 AM
The Daily Advertiser reports, "A recent U.S. Department of Education study singled out nine states for having assembled complete plans to accomplish the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind law. A team of 31 education experts hired by the department reviewed every state's plan and found that nine states met all standards, Louisiana being one of them."
For rural schools, hurdles are huge: Kentucky options to improve test results are limited
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 9:13 AM
HERALD-LEADER reports, "In reality, some NCLB sanctions don't hold a lot of weight in rural, lower-income districts. 'The law can sound tough, fire the teachers, fire the principals, take over the schools,' said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy. 'But the practicality of the situation is that more likely than not, you are left with just improving the curriculum and retraining the teachers you have already. That's the practical side of all this.' Jennings said a community's attitudes also have a direct effect on student achievement."
Exploding the Charter School Myth
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 8:23 AM
NY Times opined on charter schools, NCLB and teacher quality, "One advantage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 was the wave of education studies it started. They offer hope that Congress will look at the record when it considers reauthorizing the law next year. If it does, lawmakers will back away from the part of the act that offers charter schools as a cure-all. They should instead home in on the all-important but largely neglected issue of teacher training and preparation — which trumps everything when it comes to improving student achievement."
POLL CALL FOR CITY SCHOOLS: MASSIVE OPINION SURVEY PLANNED
Date CapturedFriday August 25 2006, 7:37 AM
NY Post DAVID ANDREATTA reports, "The questions will focus on school safety, student-parent-teacher engagement and 'the quality of respectful and collaborative interaction' regarding student achievement."
Manhattan: Teacher Exam Suit Back to Lower Court
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 8:54 AM
NY Times reports, "In 2003, Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled in favor of the state and the New York City Board of Education, rejecting the class-action suit brought on behalf of hundreds of black and Latino city teachers who were dismissed after failing the tests."
Gaps in checking teaching credentials can miss predators
Date CapturedTuesday August 22 2006, 8:34 AM
USA Today Greg Toppo writes on school safety, "Schools need to follow up on background checks and notice if a job candidate switches schools frequently, experts say. They also should carefully review applications for inconsistencies or omissions and administer new criminal checks when contracts come up for renewal."
Greed, not high standards, shuts students out
Date CapturedMonday August 21 2006, 6:44 AM
NY Daily Post columnist Stanley Crouch opined, "Students need to believe that good teachers, like good doctors or good dentists, are looking out for their best interests. If that is done, children have a much better chance of standing up against the negative influences of a popular culture that is produced by people whose sole concern is material wealth, regardless of the impact it might have on our children."
U.S. warns Hawai'i on qualified teachers
Date CapturedSunday August 20 2006, 9:06 AM
Honolulu Advertiser reports, "A critical federal review labels the state as "high risk" for failing to provide adequate data to show whether poor and minority children are getting equal access to highly qualified teachers as required by federal law. Hawai'i was one of four states nationally to submit such a poor report under the latest No Child Left Behind requirements that the U.S. Department of Education said it's impossible to know whether the state's highly qualified teachers have been deployed equally."
Montana one of many states failing NCLB teacher equity requirements
Date CapturedThursday August 17 2006, 6:23 PM
AP reports, "The Education Department is asking the Montana Office of Public Instruction to do one of two things: either provide data showing that poor and minority children are taught by teachers with similar qualifications and experience as those who instruct other children, or submit a revised plan. McCulloch said Wednesday that the state would provide the department with more information, but that her office doesn't have the technology to collect information on teacher experience levels, which the department is requiring."
Feds to audit Utah teacher data
Date CapturedThursday August 17 2006, 9:38 AM
The Salt Lake Tribune reports, "Utah is experiencing unpleasant fallout after missing a July deadline for submitting a teacher quality plan to the federal Office of Education, as required under No Child Left Behind laws."
U.S. Department of Education Releases Results of State Plans for Highly Qualified Teachers in Every Classroom
Date CapturedThursday August 17 2006, 9:31 AM
US Department of Education announces, "Nine states developed plans that were recognized by the experts as satisfying all six criteria outlined in the guidance provided by the Department. These are New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Louisiana, New Mexico, Kansas, Maryland and Nevada. Thirty-nine states submitted plans that partially satisfy the six components and will be required to improve these plans and address the peer concerns by Sept. 29, 2006."
New York State’s Revised Plan to Enhance Teacher Quality
Date CapturedWednesday August 16 2006, 5:20 PM
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, The New York State Education Department. Albany, 12234, July 2006.
Highlights of the NCLB’s and IDEA’s Requirements for Teachers and Title I Paraprofessionals in New York State August 2006
Date CapturedTuesday August 15 2006, 6:37 PM
This Fact Sheet contains highlights of the New York State Education Department's (SED's) implementation of requirements related to teachers and paraprofessionals in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as reauthorized in December 2004. It is based on laws, regulations, guidance and technical assistance available at the time of its publication and is subject to change in response to additional information. For more detailed information about the NCLB's requirements in New York State, please refer to the series of field memos available online at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/nclbhome.htm
NO MORE EXCUSES FOR SCHOOL FAILURE
Date CapturedTuesday August 15 2006, 8:43 AM
NY Post op-ed adapted from speech given by Joel Klein, New York City schools chancellor, "OUR reform strategy, which we call 'Children First,' is premised on the core belief that strong school-level leadership will result in high-functioning schools. Our aim is to accomplish three fundamental cultural shifts."
Prioritize Utah's minority school plan
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 11:52 AM
Deseret Morning News editorial opined, "Utah schools are dealing with a population boom, and unlike previous booms, the student body has become more diverse than ever. The state and local school districts need solid plans to ensure the needs of poor and minority students are met and that children who attend school in lower-income neighborhoods have experienced and well-qualified teachers."
Security Through Education
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 7:55 AM
Washington Post contributor William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland opined on school reform, "The best way to achieve such transformational changes is through so-called statewide K-16 councils, which bring educational leaders from all levels -- superintendents, principals, university presidents, deans -- together with business and community leaders on a regular basis to develop reform agendas. Such an approach is working in Maryland and a few other states. As a second means of plugging the holes, state governments and higher education need to rethink the way they distribute financial aid."
Mike joins 1st Bro Jeb to propose school fixes
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 7:44 AM
NY Daily News reports on co-authored Washington Post opinion piece, "Florida and New York City are leaders when it comes to accountability in education," they [Bush and Bloomberg] wrote. The two listed several ways Congress should change the act as it faces reauthorization: Make standards meaningful, encourage student gains, recognize degrees of progress and reward and retain high-quality teachers."
How to Help Our Students: Building on the 'No Child' Law
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 7:18 AM
Washington Post op-ed contributors Florida Gov. Bush and NYC Mayor Bloomberg opined on NCLB, "The opponents of accountability have seized on the problems with the No Child Left Behind Act in an effort to do away with the law altogether. That is wrong. A little common sense could go a long way toward making sure that the nation's accountability system is realistic, tough and fair. Incorporating these four basic lessons will allow us to realize the law's full promise and help children realize their dreams."
No excuse in leaving kids behind
Date CapturedSunday August 13 2006, 12:08 PM
The Enquirer opined on teacher quality, equity, and the achievement gap, "Children were left behind. They're still being left behind, and one reason is because they tend to get the teachers who are left behind as well."
Illinois education group rips state, teacher plans
Date CapturedFriday August 11 2006, 1:55 PM
Chicago Sun Times reports, "Illinois has plans to help direct qualified teachers to the neediest students, but a national education group [Education Trust] Thursday said the plans fall short and ranked Illinois among the worst states in identifying schools that are shortchanging kids."[Illinois has a "Grow Your Own Teacher" program, a mentoring program for principals and looking at "performance pay" for teachers.]
West Virginia teacher evaluation law criticized
Date CapturedThursday August 10 2006, 11:05 AM
The Charleston Gazette reports, "A change in state [West Virginia] law that eliminates mandatory teacher evaluations for those with more than five years’ experience is getting criticism from state school board members and county officials."
TEACH FLUNK SPIRAL: MORE GET BAD RATINGS
Date CapturedWednesday August 09 2006, 8:41 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports on the increased percentage of NYC tenured teachers graded unsatisfactory or "u-rated", "That spike troubled the president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, who suggested a correlation between the jump and a growing number of rookie principals, particularly those trained at the city-run Leadership Academy."
PARENTS DIGGING UP DATA ON TEACHERS
Date CapturedWednesday August 09 2006, 7:37 AM
NY Post exclusive by David Andreatta reports, "The moms and dads are taking advantage of a little-known provision of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which grants parents or guardians of students attending public schools that receive federal poverty aid the right to see the credentials of teachers and their aides."
School spending called ineffective: New York top in spending, bottom in graduation
Date CapturedTuesday August 08 2006, 7:46 AM
The Journal News reports, "The head of the state's largest teacher union said the findings did not surprise him. 'We do spend a lot on education because we offer a lot,' said Richard Ianuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers. 'In New York state, the cost of living and the quality of curriculum and the toughness of the standards demand a lot.' And he said high standards mean that not everyone will graduate on time."
Choice of a coach should be based on qualifications, not union membership
Date CapturedSunday August 06 2006, 9:44 AM
The Press Republican reports, "The choice of a coach should belong to the board of education and not be dictated by a union contract. Let the board hire the most qualified applicant with the best chance to do the best job for the students."
North Dakota launches Teachers of English as a New Language program
Date CapturedSaturday August 05 2006, 10:53 PM
South Bend Tribune reports, "The pilot program is designed for licensed teachers in Catholic schools with at least 10 percent of students for whom English is a new language, and for bilingual teachers (including those abroad) who teach in schools where the primary language is not English. In 2007, the program will be offered to Catholic school teachers nationwide."
National Board Certifed South Carolina teachers discuss ways to help high-need schools
Date CapturedSaturday August 05 2006, 10:34 PM
AP reports, "South Carolina ranks third nationwide in the number of teachers with the advanced credentials. The state rewards those teachers with a $7,500 annual bonus for 10 years. The question Saturday was how to get more of those high-quality teachers in the schools that need them most."
The Determinants of Student Achievement in Ohio’s Public Schools
Date CapturedFriday August 04 2006, 1:08 AM
By Matthew Carr, Education Policy Director, Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions. Carr writes, "To capture the changing dynamics of both different academic subjects and students at different ages, this analysis evaluates student performance in five subjects (math, reading, writing, science and citizenship) across grades 3 to 12. This combination gives us 21 separate analyses, or mathematical models. Controls were also included for geography, student socio-economic status, race, and learning disability. This study breaks new ground by also analyzing the factors that influence student performance in charter schools."
Ohio study disputes traditional keys to success in school: Qualified teachers, attendance rated as most important
Date CapturedFriday August 04 2006, 12:41 AM
The Columbus Dispatch reports on study results, "Other things that make a difference: attendance, how often students switch schools and whether students are poor. Spotty attendance, high mobility and poverty have a negative impact on scores, the study shows."
Qualifications of Public Secondary School History Teachers, 1999–2000
Date CapturedThursday August 03 2006, 8:05 PM
This NCES Issue Brief "reports the combination of certifications and majors and minors to which secondary-level history students are exposed and how these qualifications vary across schools with differing levels of student poverty. Data from the NCES 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) teacher and school questionnaires indicate that students in the lowest poverty schools were the least likely to have a teacher with both an out-of-field certification and an out-of-field major or minor."
Yonkers schools meet federal standard for teacher quality
Date CapturedThursday August 03 2006, 6:48 AM
The Journal News reports, "The state Education Department has removed Yonkers from a list of schools that missed a federal standard for highly qualified teachers."
23 local schools miss federal standard for teacher quality
Date CapturedFriday July 28 2006, 7:38 AM
The Journal News reports, "The schools — from urban districts such as Yonkers and Mount Vernon to the suburban communities of Pleasantville and Clarkstown — had less than 90 percent of their core classes taught by highly qualified teachers, or faculty who are experts in their subject areas, in 2004-05, the latest year for which data is available. The No Child Left Behind law requires that all children be taught by highly qualified teachers — someone who holds at least a bachelor's degree, is certified by the state and demonstrates competence in the areas taught."
All teachers hit top at 5 Mid-Hudson school districts
Date CapturedFriday July 28 2006, 7:26 AM
Times-Herald reports, "Only five of 35 districts in Sullivan, Ulster and Orange counties had all teachers designated as highly qualified. The districts that hit the mark are Minisink Valley, Warwick, Greenwood Lake, Marlboro and Ellenville. With one exception, the rest of the school districts have 90 percent or more of their teachers at the highly qualified level. The other district is Tri-Valley, which had 89 percent of its teachers make the grade."
Testing teachers
Date CapturedWednesday July 26 2006, 11:02 AM
JWC contributor Linda Chavez on NCLB and teacher quality, "No doubt the states that receive poor grades from the U.S. Department of Education will cry foul, but insisting that all teachers meet high standards is critical to true education reform. We're putting the cart before the horse when we insist on higher test scores for students but accept mediocrity from teachers."
Demanding vs. Doing
Date CapturedWednesday July 26 2006, 8:17 AM
NY Times editorial writes, "One of the law’s most critical provisions requires that all public school teachers in core academic courses be 'highly qualified' by this year. But as The Times’s Sam Dillon reported yesterday, not a single state has met the deadline."
Most States Fail Demands Set Out in Education Law
Date CapturedMonday July 24 2006, 11:13 PM
NY Times reports, "Most states failed to meet federal requirements that all teachers be 'highly qualified' in core teaching fields and that state programs for testing students be up to standards by the end of the past school year, according to the federal government."
To take the yawn out of math equations, teach the teachers
Date CapturedWednesday July 19 2006, 6:45 PM
Christian Science Monitor reports, "In an effort to boost K-12 student achievement, the US Department of Education sends star teachers on tour to share their ideas."
Real estate vs. real education
Date CapturedWednesday July 19 2006, 7:54 AM
USA Today reports, "Currently, many parents believe that their only option for pursuing better schools for their children is to move to a pricier neighborhood. But the schools in that neighborhood might be only average, or worse."
'INSPECTORS' TO GRADE EACH SCHOOL
Date CapturedWednesday July 19 2006, 7:17 AM
NY Post reports, "The educational watchdogs will write five-page, 1,500-word "quality reviews" rating the schools based on their two-to-three day observations of classroom instruction, data analysis and building safety."
No Child Left Behind’ well-intentioned by misguided
Date CapturedMonday July 17 2006, 10:56 AM
The Free Press reports, "If we really want to improve education in this country, the first thing we need to do is get serious about education at home. Parents, not teachers, are ultimately responsible for pressuring students to work hard in school."
Teacher Policy Research (TPR)
Date CapturedSaturday July 08 2006, 6:46 PM
Teacher Policy Research (TPR) is a research partnership between the University at Albany and Stanford University that examines the behavior of teachers and administrators with the goal of developing policies that will both attract and retain high-quality teachers and leaders, especially in low-performing schools.
Kati Haycock 'Takes Five'; Clear, high goals help schools close the achievement gap
Date CapturedThursday July 06 2006, 8:49 AM
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, "When we look at the districts that are making the biggest gains, in terms of both overall achievement and narrowing gaps between groups, what seems to set them apart is their focus."
Teachers Matter
Date CapturedTuesday July 04 2006, 7:59 AM
NY Times registration required. NY Times reports, "To improve student performance, the states need to play a much stronger role in teacher training and certification — and in making sure that qualified teachers are evenly spread across their school districts. Breaking with the bad old status quo won't be easy. But it's the only way for the country to improve the educational picture for the poor and minority students who will make up such a large part of the work force of the future."
Michigan schools tie bonuses to test scores
Date CapturedMonday July 03 2006, 9:32 AM
Detroit Free Press reports, "Public schools in at least seven states and more than a dozen cities nationwide already have merit pay plans for teachers. President George W. Bush is proposing a $500-million fund to help states develop similar financial incentives."
Center for Teaching Quality
Date CapturedTuesday June 27 2006, 12:34 PM
Arkansas Education Chief Would Like Teacher Bonus Program Expanded
Date CapturedSaturday June 17 2006, 9:00 PM
Texas puts hold on bonuses for some teachers
Date CapturedSaturday June 17 2006, 6:32 PM
Florida lawmakers link teacher bonuses with student test scores
Date CapturedFriday June 16 2006, 9:37 AM
New teachers in Iowa will have to pass test
Date CapturedFriday June 16 2006, 9:35 AM
States Struggle to Certify 'Qualified' Teachers
Date CapturedThursday June 15 2006, 10:22 AM
Find ways to get top teachers into underperforming schools
Date CapturedWednesday June 14 2006, 7:52 PM
Teacher evaluations to stay private for now in Minnesota
Date CapturedWednesday June 14 2006, 10:07 AM
Courage? Follow the Yellow Brick Road (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedWednesday June 14 2006, 8:12 AM
Incentive pay enters Texas classrooms
Date CapturedTuesday June 13 2006, 9:30 AM
When poor kids get poor teachers
Date CapturedMonday June 12 2006, 7:18 AM
see "TEACHING INEQUALITY: HOW POOR AND MINORITY STUDENTS ARE SHORTCHANGED ON TEACHER QUALITY" on education new york online EDUCATION POLICY link, TEACHER QUALITY folder.
POOR KIDS' TEACHERS ARE OFF THE SUBJECT (NY Post registration)
Date CapturedFriday June 09 2006, 8:07 AM
Teacher quality (NY Post registration)
Date CapturedFriday June 09 2006, 8:06 AM
Statement by Senator Barack Obama on NCLB and teacher inequality
Date CapturedThursday June 08 2006, 6:49 PM
Read the report on education new york online EDUCATION POLICY page, TEACHER QUALITY folder.
TEACHING INEQUALITY: HOW POOR AND MINORITY STUDENTS ARE SHORTCHANGED ON TEACHER QUALITY
Date CapturedThursday June 08 2006, 6:44 PM
A Report and Recommendations by the Education Trust By Heather G. Peske and Kati Haycock.
PRESS RELEASE: TEACHING INEQUALITY: HOW POOR AND MINORITY STUDENTS ARE SHORTCHANGED ON TEACHER QUALITY
Date CapturedThursday June 08 2006, 6:42 PM
Study: Poorer Schools Have Less Qualified Teachers
Date CapturedThursday June 08 2006, 6:39 PM
Federal school funds are secure in Delaware
Date CapturedMonday June 05 2006, 10:21 AM
Pre-K success depends on teachers
Date CapturedSunday June 04 2006, 5:28 PM
Education Next: Students Achieve More With Teachers Who Take Personal Responsibility for Student Learning
Date CapturedThursday May 25 2006, 12:49 PM
Utah might ignore federal education guide and follow its own
Date CapturedSaturday May 13 2006, 8:05 AM
Gap in teacher quality falls on income lines
Date CapturedThursday April 27 2006, 7:33 AM
Teacher Attrition: A Costly Loss to the Nation, and to the States
Date CapturedWednesday December 07 2005, 9:57 AM
Alliance for Excellent Education: New teacher turnover rates can be cut in half through comprehensive induction, which helps to develop novice teachers into high-quality professionals who improve student achievement.



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