Parent trigger used to find new principal. The Los Angeles school board voted to locate a new principal for Weigand Elementary after parents requested the current principal be fired because of a lack of attendance and communication with parents.  (Joanne Jacobs)

Love letters. Duke sent 115 hand-written letters to Harrison Phillips, a high school football player. The school wants to recruContinue Reading »

Should high school graduation requirements include a project or research paper? Jay Mathews looks into the somewhat daunting task. (Class Struggle/Washington Post)

Grade inflation. Sixty-two percent of grades given to Yale undergrads are an A or A-. Forty years ago, only one in 10 grades were As. (The Atlantic)

School leaders matter. A new study shows that high-achieving schools tContinue Reading »

A (potential) IOU for preK. A Utah lawmaker wants to ask private investors to pay for preschool programs—with a catch. If the programs prove successful after seven years, the investors will get their money back and the state will begin picking up the tab. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Giving all high-schoolers a taste of college. Virginia lawmakers have asked the state’s community colleges to estaContinue Reading »

The most important factor in retaining new teachers? A strong, involved principal. (Michigan State University College of Education)

Newly available retention data. The equivalent of one first-grader in every classroom across the country was held back in 2008-09, according to new research. (University of Minnesota)

Cashing in on foreign students. International students reportedly cContinue Reading »

In Trending Toward Reform, we highlighted how teachers’ opinions have changed since 2007. Teachers are more open to some differentiated pay proposals, believe that tenure is becoming more meaningful, and see evaluation as improving. But sometimes what has not changed is just as important.

What’s stayed the same since 2007? How teachers believe their principal would act if faced with a peContinue Reading »

From Waiting to Be Won Over in 2007 to Trending Toward Reform in 2011, teachers’ opinions shifted significantly on key education reforms such as teacher evaluation and tenure. But equally important is what hasn’t changed. When we asked teachers whether they would be vulnerable to school politics or administrators who abuse their power without the union, an overwhelming 81 percent agreed—and teaContinue Reading »

Teacher quality is all the rage in education policy discussions these days. And for good reason, given what we know about the importance of teachers to student learning. That’s why the ES policy team has been blogging about improving teacher preparation for the past four days, following up to our recent policy brief on the topic.

But what about school leaders? These are, after alContinue Reading »

Frontpage WaPo article today on the dilemmas posed for educators when teenagers show up on campus in tee shirts bearing suggestive slogans.

The article put me in mind of a visit I made a while back with a group of female state legislators to Young Women’s Leadership Charter School in Chicago. As we were walking down the hall, a young woman passed us wearing a shirt with the slogan:Continue Reading »

Last year I spent a Saturday morning participating in a mock interview process designed to help New Leaders for New Schools participants prepare to get their first jobs as school principals. I left with two strong impressions: (1) being a principal is an even harder job than I’d thought, and (2) the candidates, many of whom were 30 or younger, seemed exceptionally bright, focused, and up Continue Reading »