As part of Jeff Charbonneau’s victory lap as National Teacher of the Year, he met with President Obama this week at the White House. There was a little kerfuffle because Charbonneau does not share the president’s views regarding teacher evaluation. Like the majority of teachers, Charbonneau opposes linking student standardized test scores to teacher evaluation. It’s unclear, he says, whether thContinue Reading »

Trending toward reform. The American Federation of Teachers’ push for a teacher bar exam shouldn’t come as surprising; teacher surveys, including Education Sector’s report, show that educators are leaning toward reforming how they’re prepared, evaluated, and retained. (Class Struggle/Washington Post)

A la carte school. Louisiana, Michigan, Arizona, and Utah are considering an initiative Continue Reading »

Trending toward reform. More teachers nowadays are likely to favor performance-based reforms in evaluation and pay (when compared to veteran teachers), according to this new study. It reiterates some of what was found in Education Sector’s survey of teachers released this summer. (Teach Plus)

Learning as they go. A new blending learning approach in a Washington, D.C., school puts 200 midContinue Reading »

Like many policy issues, using student test scores in teacher evaluation is an iceberg—reasonably easy to understand on the surface, but incredibly complex once you dive deeper. The challenge starts with writing an individual test item and ends with the statistical quagmire of value-added models. The 44th annual PDK/Gallup poll on how Americans view public education asked whether they would supContinue 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 »