Board OKs charter takeover of California public school after ‘parent trigger’
The real-life version of “Won’t Back Down” — the recent movie that promoted the controversial “parent trigger” law — appears to finally be getting a happier ending than the box office flop. Parent union members at Desert Trails Elementary School in Adelanto, Calif., have become the first in the nation to convert their struggling neighborhood [...]
Giving teachers more power helps in turnaround of Boston schools
Six low-performing Boston schools participating in a pilot program that gives teachers more training, support, and leadership roles are showing higher growth on state tests than other low-performing city schools according to a report released Monday by the non-profit Teach Plus. The T3 Initiative program, a collaboration between Boston Public Schools and Teach Plus, began [...]
No consensus on which skills should be included in teacher evaluations
At least 30 states are launching new systems to evaluate teachers using more rigorous criteria about what makes a good teacher, but so far there is little consensus on what the criteria should be. Can the quality of a teacher be measured by looking at just a few key skills, such as setting academic goals [...]
Survey: Today’s teaching force is less experienced, more open to change
More inexperienced teachers are in today’s classrooms than ever before and they are more open than their veteran colleagues to performance-driven options for how they’re evaluated and paid, according to the results of a new survey conducted by the Boston-based nonprofit Teach Plus. For the first time in decades, more than 50 percent of the [...]
The rise of teacher unions: A look at union impact over the years
The Chicago teachers strike, which ended Tuesday after more than a week of protests and negotiations, has emphasized the power that teachers’ unions can have. Since the earliest days of unions, teachers have been fighting over some of the same issues in contention in Chicago: salaries, conditions at schools and tenure. A look at the [...]
Chicago teacher strike continues, experts weigh in
The teacher strike in Chicago, now in its second week, has become a national symbol in the ongoing debate about the future of public education in this country. Teacher union leaders and district officials reached a tentative compromise on Friday afternoon, after drawn-out negotiations over compensation, the length of the school day and teacher evaluations. [...]
Could raising salaries be the best way to attract and keep better teachers?
Educators kicked off the New York Times Schools For Tomorrow Conference on Thursday morning by addressing a recurring question among teachers: how can the status and perception of the teaching profession be elevated? The talk soon turned to teacher salaries, and through the day, that topic came up, over and over again. Research has shown [...]
Ed in the election: Is the Chicago teachers strike hurting Obama?
The Chicago teachers strike, which entered its fifth day on Friday, could hurt Obama’s chances for re-election, analysts said this week. Chicago teachers went on strike Monday, after protracted negotiations over wages, length of the school day, health benefits and new teacher evaluations failed to yield a new contract for members of the city’s teachers [...]
Some states resisting Obama administration ed-reform requirements
This week the Obama administration announced it had released a total of 33 states from some No Child Left Behind requirements with the approval of Nevada’s application for a waiver from the law. “While well intentioned, the law’s rigid, top-down prescriptions for reform have proved burdensome for many states,” a statement from the U.S. Department [...]
Can Twitter replace traditional professional development?
Twitter and Facebook might soon replace traditional professional development for teachers. Instead of enduring hours-long workshops a few times a year, teachers could reach out to peers on the Internet in real time for advice on things like planning a lesson (or salvaging a lesson that’s going wrong), overcoming classroom management problems, or helping students [...]
