Every single teacher is concerned about his/her teaching practices and the skills involved in this process, Educational Technology and Mobile Learning reports. How many times have you wondered about a better way to teach the same lesson you have delivered to an eariler class? How often have you used technology to engage your students and improve their learning ? These are some recurring questions we keep regurgitating each time our teaching skills are put to the test…
…Read MorePodcast 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.
Accountability without autonomy is tyranny
When educational research reaches the public through the corporate media, the consequences are often dire, explains P.L. Thomas for the Daily Kos. Chetty, Friedman, and Rockoff released “The Long-Term Impacts of Teachers: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood” and immediately The New York Times pronounced in “Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gains”. The simplistic and idealistic headline reflects the central failure of the media in the education reform debate…
…Read More5 ways schools throw away talented teachers
New report reveals there’s no pipeline for teacher talent in schools; leadership not cultivated
According to a new report based on thousands of educator responses, schools across the country don’t have a pipeline for leadership, discouraging talented teachers from staying in education. The problem: The unending cycle of mediocrity based on last-minute leadership hires for those often unprepared for the challenges facing schools today.
The report, “Building Pathways: How to develop the next generation of transformational school leaders,” by Bain & Company—a management consulting firm often working with schools and charter schools—discusses how despite student achievement progress in many districts across the country, there is still a lack of consensus around what works…except good leadership.
“We know that an essential ingredient behind each school success story is extraordinary leadership,” says the report. “Yet we have far too few transformational school leaders today to replicate the results that are possible at a greater scale. The reason: Most school systems fail to methodically develop talented educators into a deep bench of prospective leaders with the experience and ability to build an extraordinary school.”…Read More
Teacher turnover in North Carolina significantly higher than previous year
More teachers left their posts last year—significantly more than the previous year, according to a report released yesterday, NC Policy Watch reports. The report released by the Department of Public Instruction found that last year’s teacher turnover rate in North Carolina saw a significant increase—and the highest rate over the last five years. Between March 2012 and March 2013, approximately 13,616 teachers left their districts, at a rate of 14.33 percent. In 2011-12, that rate was 12.13 percent. Teachers who left their districts did so for a variety of reasons, including retirement, to teach elsewhere, family relocation, or dissatisfaction with teaching, among other categories…
…Read MoreAre teachers being set up for failure? You decide
New report says teachers not taught proven methods of classroom management
Teacher preparation programs are leaving teachers to fend for themselves and to discover their own path to classroom management instead of relying on “proven” strategies based on research, according to a new report. And this philosophy, says one group, that will lead to classroom inefficiency at best and lack of student achievement at worst.
The report, “Training Our Future Teachers: Classroom Management,” was conducted by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), a research and policy group often criticized by teacher colleges as “methodologically flawed” and “ideologically based.” NCTQ is a Gates-funded initiative that is part of the “corporate school reform” movement, and it advocates for tougher teacher evaluation practices and methods.
In its new report, NCTQ argues that while teacher preparation programs do heavily emphasize classroom instruction, classroom management skills based off of “proven” techniques are often left out of formal instruction and don’t require evaluation.…Read More
Merit pay for teachers is only fair
Business has long been accustomed to rewarding good performance with salary increases, but the birth of merit pay for teachers is proving both protracted and painful, Forbes reports. Evidence that performance-related pay raises standards is hard to come by, and last summer one of the few schemes to show a positive impact was quietly dismantled. But this doesn’t mean it should be abandoned. Even if merit pay does not lead to higher grades, its supporters argue that there is another reason that makes it worth considering as a replacement for a system that takes little account of ability or effort…
…Read MoreTeachers, technology & talent: Could education be an untapped investment opportunity?
My mother was an English teacher. My Father an art teacher. My sister is a modern languages teacher. One could say that the ABCs are my DNA, the Huffington Post reports. Yet I opted for a career in business – not education. I chose to pursue the lure of success in the private sector over service in the public sector. But with the global education system on track for what some say will be a revolution driven by demographic shifts and technological advances, what once seemed like a divergent career path may in fact be starting to converge. Few doubt that we face an impending crisis in education – 57 million kids are out of school. Too many who are in school drop-out or remain barely literate due to poor quality schools or teaching…
…Read MoreHow (and why) teachers should have multiple Twitter accounts
Connected educators are learning, sharing, and connecting on Twitter, Edudemic reports. No big earth-shattering news there. But what’s the proper way for a teacher to get started? We’ve answered that question in our Teacher’s Guide here. There is, however, an interesting question that many must consider at some point in the time on Twitter: How many accounts should I have as a connected educator? Should I do it all from one account because that’d be easier? In other words, should I share photos of my classroom, tips and tricks with other teachers, interesting blog articles, and maybe even some school-wide announcements?
…Read More6 ways eBooks can support Common Core
eBooks could help fulfill new standards’ requirements
As schools begin implementing the Common Core State Standards, experts say that this could be an opportune time for districts to explore eBooks, specifically because eBooks’ technology features can help fulfill many Common Core requirements.
“Right now, schools are investing in a lot of information texts (nonfiction) and hoping to balance these with literacy texts (fiction) for instruction, research, and recreational reading. It’s now, when schools are looking to better implement Common Core Standards that eBooks should come into play,” said Carl Harvey, school librarian for North Elementary School in Noblesville, Ind., during and edweb.net webinar.
[Harvey recently discussed the first steps of eBook implementation: “What to consider for eBook implementation.”]…Read More
How 3 teachers are shaking up online learning
Not too long ago, Pearson (the ginormous education company – yes it’s a technical term) put out a few really interesting videos about teachers who are shaking up online learning, Edudemic reports. They’re talking about innovation in online learning – and not the innovation that has driven new technologies. They’re talking about the type of innovation that changes how teachers teach, how learners learn, and how information is delivered and processed. Each of the educators in the videos below have a unique approach to educating students in their virtual classrooms. Their video testimonials are inspiring, so check them out…
…Read More