According to scholars, while there is considerable variance in the productivity of teachers, educators have been unable to identify observable characteristics related to teacher effectiveness. A new study from Harvard University uses Teach for America's selection criteria to link student gains to these top-tier recruited teachers, suggesting that it's possible to recruit candidates who are more likely to become effective educators.   Continue Reading...

The debt ceiling debate has played out like a soap opera all summer long with the U.S. credit score hanging in the balance. After intense debate and uproar, emergency bipartisan legislation was enacted on Tuesday, mere hours before we were to hit a cap on our borrowing. With the reported apocalyptic economic downfall behind us, education stakeholders are now evaluating the new budget cap and its inevitable impact on federal K-12 spending.   Continue Reading...

According to a new survey issued by the National Center for Education Information, programs that offer non-traditional paths toward a career in teaching, otherwise known as "alternative certification," are on the rise nationwide. In a climate where education advocates are calling for a new and highly effective teacher workforce, this survey is positive news for proponents of the growing and diverse alternative certification movement.   Continue Reading...

Education Secretary Duncan Testifies About Education Budget

Last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified in front of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education about the proposed federal education budget. In the wake of the heated debate related to spending cuts, Secretary Duncan made his case for President Obama's 2012 budget specific to the Department's future goals.   Continue Reading...

This weekend union leaders and liberal advocacy groups from across the country rallied in Washington, D.C. for the "Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action." With a smaller crowd than predicted, at just 3,000 people, teachers and anti-reform advocates rallied to protest everything from No Child Left Behind, to standardized tests, and everything in between somehow labeled as education reform.

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This weekend, union leaders and liberal advocacy groups from across the country will march in Washington, D.C. for what they call the "Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action."   Continue Reading...

In the midst of the debt ceiling crisis, the prospect of meaningful action on education seems laughable on Capitol Hill this summer. As congressional leaders scramble to broker a deal on the debt, education and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly referred to as No Child Left Behind, has been pushed aside seemingly indefinitely.   Continue Reading...

With our nation's schools slated to begin in the weeks to come, education has been a hot topic among policymakers at that state and local level. This week, at an ongoing education summit hosted by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan delivered some harsh remarks about not only the state of the Iowa school systems, but the overarching problems he believes our entire country's schools are facing.   Continue Reading...

Wisconsin has been education and labor reform "ground zero" since Governor Walker swept into office in January. Promising big changes, Governor Walker eventually passed a budget that ended forced-unionism, curbed union power, and ultimately led to a nationwide battle to balance state budgets and rein in union monopolies. Despite union-led efforts to recall elected officials over these changes, Governor Walker is now moving forward with an initiative to create a new state-wide accountability system to replace requirements under No Child Left Behind. Despite the bipartisan call for a plan, the state's teacher union has rejected an invitation by Governor Walker to collaborate on a plan, effectively refusing to represent the teacher voice in the state.   Continue Reading...

There is no doubt that we are facing difficult circumstances in American public schools. Budget shortfalls and the need for commonsense reforms have dominated headlines for years. While mayors, governors, and superintendents make the tough decisions regarding our nation's school systems, it is just in recent memory that private decisions regarding where they send their own children to school have made national headlines of their own.   Continue Reading...

Today, the National Council on Teacher Quality released a comprehensive study on schools of education and their various student teaching programs. The report, "Student Teaching in the United States," examines student-teaching practices in 134 colleges of education, or about 10% of all nationwide programs. All but 25% were considered "weak" or "poor" under NCTQ's rating system, raising questions about the survey's methods, but also overarching concerns over how effective American colleges of education are in preparing our next generation of educators.   Continue Reading...

Utah's Ogden School District is a small district just north of Salt Lake City. A charming community with less than 1,000 teachers, Ogden is making news for its school board's decision to bypass local union negotiations in favor of sending individual contracts to teachers for the upcoming school year. While the move has obviously infuriated the local union, the move has been described as not only a trend in teacher negotiations, but the future of how policymakers and school districts will communicate with teachers, especially in areas with hostile and uncompromising unions.   Continue Reading...

Corporate donations to public education are common place in today's struggling financial climate. Last fall, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged an unprecedented $100 million to the ailing Newark, New Jersey's school system. Today, in an effort to spur additional private donations, President Obama held a roundtable discussion at the White House with like-minded CEOs to raise private funds for American K-12 education. Following today's closed door meeting, three companies including Bank of America, Microsoft, and Nike announced new pledges totaling $66 million toward education programs.   Continue Reading...

One of our country's largest school systems is experiencing the scandal of a generation. Based upon the findings of a July report commissioned by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, it was revealed that nearly 80 percent of Atlanta's schools showed signs of cheating by teachers on statewide performance tests. As new revelations surface daily, blame is shifting from teachers to administrators, and everyone else in between, raising even larger questions about the intense pressure teachers are facing over state and federal testing mandates.   Continue Reading...

Engaging an audience with humor and anecdotes, eduteacher founder, Adam S. Bellow, shared his The 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools while at the ISTE Conference this past June in Philadelphia.   Continue Reading...

Teach for America, a non-profit organization that recruits recent college graduates and professionals to teach in high-need schools for two years, was lambasted at the NEA's annual conference for what they call efforts by TFA to "union bust" in districts across the country.   Continue Reading...

As of June 29, forced unionism ended in Wisconsin, ending a bitter and controversial debate over Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill. Among the many union-crippling provisions of the law, unions in the state are no longer allowed to collect mandatory dues from government employees. Instead, unions must now count on members to continue supporting the unions by authorizing voluntary bank drafts to cover dues. While the union comes to grips with how to handle an inevitable mass exodus from exorbitant fees and partisan politics, teachers are finally speaking out about what the end of compulsory unionism really means to them and their paychecks.   Continue Reading...

Third Education Reform Bill Introduced in House Committee

Last week, U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) introduced the third in the committee's series of education reform bills designed to overhaul the current elementary and secondary education law, or No Child Left Behind.  H.R. 1891, otherwise known as "The State and Local Funding Flexibility Act," is designed to allow states and local school districts maximum flexibility in their use of federal education dollars.

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Summer 2011 was supposed to mark the end of the road for No Child Left Behind as we have come to know it. Last year, the Obama administration set a deadline for Congress to overhaul the controversial law. Despite the clearing of two bills meant to amend the law from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Department of Education is not happy with the limited progress and is letting congressional leaders know it. In response, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has proposed blanket waivers to the law to certain states in hopes of speeding up the process, leaving many questioning whether he has the authority to do so.   Continue Reading...

While most Americans were enjoying a festive Independence Day weekend, the National Education Association was holding their annual conference in Chicago. Beaten down after a solid year of negative press, declining membership, and legislative and legal battles, the NEA convention took on a surprisingly different tone in 2011.   Continue Reading...