Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Teacher recruitment tool will factor in controversial ratings

In an incendiary move guaranteed to divide the education community, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has partnered with a web-based teacher hiring system that will factor in the Council’s recently released teacher preparation program ratings.

NCTQ’s annual study rated the quality of teacher prep programs, stirring the education reform pot, with many institutions praising the report, while others say NCTQ doesn’t have the experience to rate teacher preparation programs. (Read “Report: Teacher preparation programs an ‘industry of mediocrity.’”)

(Next page: The new teacher recruitment tool)…Read More

ED’s new partner in teacher recruitment: Microsoft

Microsoft, through its Partners in Learning division, won the competition to take over the TEACH campaign and website.

The U.S. Education Department (ED) is handing control of its online platform for teacher recruitment and retention, www.teach.gov, to software giant Microsoft Corp., the two organizations announced earlier this month.

ED officials launched the TEACH campaign and website in September 2010 to promote the teaching profession and bring a new generation of educators into the classroom.

The campaign aims to boost the number, quality, and diversity of people seeking to become teachers, particularly in high-need schools and subject areas in greatest demand. Its website connects aspiring teachers with information about the pathways to teaching, including preparation, certification, training, and mentoring, and it helps currently licensed teachers find jobs in districts nationwide.…Read More

Obama calls for more STEM teachers, longer school year

Obama: “Strengthening STEM education is vital to preparing our students" for the 21st-century economy. (AP photo)
Obama: “Strengthening STEM education is vital to preparing our students" for the 21st-century economy. (AP photo)

Barely into the new school year, President Barack Obama issued a tough-love message to students and teachers on Sept. 27: Their year in the classroom should be longer, and poorly performing teachers should get out. Separately, the president also announced a goal of recruiting 10,000 teachers over the next two years in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

American students are falling behind some of their foreign counterparts, especially in math and science, and that’s got to change, Obama said. Seeking to revive a sense of urgency that education reform might have lost amid the recession’s focus on the economy, Obama declared that the future of the country is at stake.

“Whether jobs are created here, high-end jobs that support families and support the future of the American people, is going to depend on whether or not we can do something about these schools,” the president said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show.…Read More