This article, published by the Atlantic Monthly, demonstrates just how complicated - and achievable - great teaching is.

Here’s an organization looking to incentivize good teaching.

Michelle Rhee, in an interview (full text here), articulated a struggle with teacher quality that I often have:

LK: What do you think about teacher development?

Finding a teaching position in the NYC school system used to be easy. Positions would remain unfilled throughout the year, staffed by a steady stream of substitutes or emergency hires. Budget woes are changing the approach, as detailed in this NY Times article. All hiring must be done within the existing faculty and staff. (more…)

Obama = Bush II on education? Why is accountability such a dirty word? If we are to improve our educational system, we do need to understand who is learning and who isn’t, and one metric by which to gauge that is our assortment of standardized tests. (more…)

Apparently the United Federation of Teachers. They went to great effort to distribute talking points to those asking questions about charters - City Council members. Why try to exert such undue influence? What is there to fear? Charter schools offer a legitimate and appropriate education for many students. (more…)

I was at a Teach for America event this weekend, and there were a few takeaways. It was pointed out that good teachers have skills that transfer into many, many other positions. In fact, they are transferrable across the spectrum. The question is - how are these skills developed? TFA has strategic instruction and supports to help develop these skills. Do our ed schools? (more…)

Improving teacher quality  requires comprehensive and multiple strategic efforts incorporating policy, practice and politics. This article details how the challenge of contracts is impacting the DC schools, and how good intentions and a desire for real change requires precarious, precise thought and action.

Change is hard. And it is a process. Just about every quote on change expresses just how difficult meaningful, substantive change is. After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully.  After five years, look at it with suspicion.  And after ten years, throw it away and start all over.  ~Alfred Edward Perlman, New York Times, 3 July 1958 (more…)

With the teacher’s unions (and everyone else) struggling to understand the economic fiasco and its implications for the short and long term on school funding (and thus, teacher compensation), there is a lot to think about.  (more…)