The research field of teacher pensions has been a relative backwater, but lately it just keeps getting more interesting. Yesterday, the Fordham Institute released a new paper from Marty West and Matt Chingos analyzing a 2002 policy change in Florida which allowed teachers to choose between a traditional defined benefit pension plan and a 401k-style defined contribution plan. The authors were abContinue Reading »

It’s unsettling to hear that some 90 percent of teachers believe that today’s technologies are creating “an easily distracted generation with short attention spans.” Unsettling, not for the fear mongering it conjures about the future of student achievement, but for the belief that technology exposure actually reduces the ability to learn and progress and achieve. Technology is ever-present in oContinue Reading »

Differential pricing on the way? It has become the norm for airlines (say, how much did the guy in the next seat pay for his airfare?) and now some universities are starting to charge different prices for different majors. It all begins to shed light on a college pricing process that is opaque, to say the least. (Hechinger Report)

Miss school? Miss out. Kids who miss just 10 days of schoContinue Reading »

Too many teachers? Andrew J. Coulson argues that the United States has too many teachers, citing this statistic: Since 1970, the public school workforce and the money spent on schools have doubled while student enrollment has only increased by 8.5 percent. (Wall Street Journal)

Tying tests to grade promotion. Now that more states have laws requiring third-graders to pass a reading test iContinue Reading »

“The case for putting $20 bills on the desk of every standardized test taker.” A new study finds that Chicago students worked harder and did better on standardized tests when they were offered immediate monetary incentives. (The Atlantic)

Having an MBA vs playing in the NBA. This infographic pits players from the NBA finals against top MBAs on factors like salary and net worth. (USA TodaContinue Reading »

As Quick Hits reports, a recent survey by Harvard professors Paul Peterson and Martin West, along with professor William Howell from University of Chicago reports that the share of teachers with a positive view of unions, and their impact on schools, has dropped 16 points from 58% in 2011 to 43% in 2012, while the number of teachers holding negative views jumped from 17% to 32%.

But the Continue Reading »

Undermining evolution. That’s one of the leading reasons that state science standards still don’t measure up, according to a new Fordham review. “In many states, evolution is weakly, incompletely, even erroneously presented,” the report notes. (Flypaper)

“In my old school, I never went to class.” Story Corps has collected oral history interviews of teachers. Many include the thoughts of Continue Reading »

Standardized testing is one of the most polarizing topics in education policy. Policymakers have advocated for tests as an objective measure of both teacher and student performance. Teachers, though, largely despise the tests, the preparation for them, and the time it takes away from classroom instruction in the springtime.

Photo Credit: Disney

ProponentsContinue Reading »

Credit: Schoology Blog

Gone are the boring, one-size-fits-all professional development seminars for teachers. And the forever-long staff meetings that take up more time than necessary.

Well, maybe they’re not “gone,” exactly, but they’re being replaced.

Pinterest.com is an online pinboard of sorts, where members can organizeContinue Reading »

Clearly, we have Thanksgiving on the brain. So here, in the spirit of the season, are our Turkey Day Quick Hits. (We resisted the all-too-easy temptation to call anyone a turkey.)

Giving thanks. The public radio project Storycorps wants Friday to be a Day of Thanks for teachers. The goal is to encourage people to write to former teachers, interview them, or just “friend” them on FacebookContinue Reading »