According to important new research, teacher pensions—both how generous they are and how they are structured—have important effects on the quality of the teaching workforce. This research provides some insight into how the looming retirement of the Baby Boom generation may affect students.

Last week the Center for Retirement Research released a research brief looking at whether teacher sContinue Reading »

A large-scale study of an economic integration experiment designed to break the link between income and neighborhood found “few detectable long-term effects on achievement and educational outcomes, physical health, and several aspects of risky behavior.” The Moving to Opportunity program recruited 4,600 low-income families and randomly assigned some families a housing voucher to move to lower pContinue Reading »

Location, location, location—it matters in real estate, and the harsh reality is, it matters in student achievement, too. While wealthy Americans can pay for private school or move to a top-ranked district in suburbia, countless other parents are left with their neighborhood public school default. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, of course. But what if the choice is not good enoContinue Reading »

Unexcused absence. The Ohio Department of Education is investigating a Columbus school district, after it was found that officials have routinely erased hundreds of thousands of absences, totaling 2.8 million, from their record books over more than five years. That affects everything from state test results to funding. (Columbus Dispatch)

Could U.S. schools bring home a medal? Michelle RContinue Reading »

On the surface, today’s release of the 2011 Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) NAEP results reveal more of the same: math scores, in general, are up across 18 of the largest urban districts since 2009, but reading scores are flat. The data include 3 new districts, Albuquerque, Dallas, and Hillsborough County (Tampa, FL). However, there are some interesting findings within the latest TUDA reContinue Reading »

Getting to the root of it all. Iowa lawmakers are pushing for more rigorous standards in teacher preparation, namely more student teaching hours and time spent observing veterans, in an effort to ultimately improve student achievement. Panelists at an Education Sector event this fall discussed this and other overhauls necessary for teacher prep programs. See clips, or the full video, here. (DesContinue Reading »

MindShift answering the question, “Who’s best suited to teach and learn in virtual schools?”: “In the traditional classroom, I’d often have to slow down my teaching to the pace of the majority. I’d get to the end of the unit and realize I hadn’t even started on nuclear chemistry. So I’d start cutting units. That’s not in place with an online system. Nothing gets cut out.Continue Reading »

Cynthia Brown and Theodora Chang on collaborative education reform: “Last week the Illinois State Senate passed a bill that was crafted in partnership with teachers’ unions and shows that meaningful reform can take place without pitting stakeholders against one another.” (Center for American Progress)

George Will describing Rep. John Kline’s (R-MN) philosophy on ESEA reContinue Reading »

Thanks to my colleague Kris Amundson’s compass of creativity, I happened to stumble upon this nifty blog that expresses complex life phenomena and relationships on simple index cards.  Here’s my first shot at being a copy-cat.

Update: As a K-12 talker, writer, and fighter, I remain abundantly hopeful for education in the 21st century. Tweet Continue Reading »

The National Council on Teacher Quality is issuing a call for proposals for its second nationwide research competition. The goal is to increase knowledge of the impact on teacher quality and student achievement from collective bargaining agreements, school board policies, and state laws. Here’s where to go for more information. Tweet Continue Reading »