The Schools we need and why we don’t have them

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The romantic naturalism brought to public education by the progressive education movement continues to undermine effective schooling. Institutionally, it is preserved and transmitted through teacher training programs. In the views of teacher educators, there is no thinkable alternative. E. D. Hirsch (1996) http://www.amazon.com/Schools-We-Need-Dont-Have/dp/0385495242/ref=sr_1_1 

What Teachers Have To Say About Teacher Education

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“The professional courses exposed me to many philosophies, which were valuable, but I was totally unprepared for the impact of teaching itself.” The greatest weakness of the courses offered in teacher education programs, according to the survey responses is that they are so enamored of theory they are of no practical use. “Get rid of all those theory courses and replace them with subject-specific grade-specific strategy/methodology courses supported by the goals and objectives courses,” was the comment of a … Read More

Valuing Teachers: How Much is a Good Teacher Worth?

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U.S achievement could reach that in Canada and Finland if we replaced with average teachers the least effective 5 to 7 percent of teachers. That degree of change in average teacher effectiveness would increase the annual growth rate of the United States by 1 percent of GDP–a multi-trillion dollar per year outcome. Hanushek (2011) http://hanushek.stanford.edu/publications/valuing-teachers-how-much-good-teacher-worth

Dr. J.E. Stone at ECF’s Prepared to Learn Event

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009 – 8:30am to 11:30am Nashville Hilton Downtown Dr. John Stone, founding president of the Education Consumers Foundation, spoke on effective early childhood education at Prepared to Learn, an April 21, 2009 event hosted by the foundation in partnership with the Tennessee School Boards Association. Visitors can view his presentation through the clips below. Note that this video is provided in MPEG-4 format, which is best viewed with Apple’s QuickTime media player. This application is … Read More

Strategies for Economic Improvement in Appalachia’s Distressed Counties

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Local and state officials as well as civic leaders have a vital community and economic interest in school quality; yet without clear and understandable school performance data, it is difficult for them to get their message across to the community and to their local school system. Because of this need, the graphics available on this website are available in printed, powerpoint, and poster form–all suited for public presentation. Appalachian Regional Commission (May 2012) http://www.arc.gov/research/researchreportdetails.asp?REPORT_ID=98

Correcting TCAP Grade Inflation: What to Expect in 2010

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It has long been acknowledged that reported scores on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) are among the most inflated in the country. In fact, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently gave Tennessee an ‘F’ when ranking states’ truth in advertising for reporting K-12 outcomes. Recognizing that more reliable reporting was needed, the Tennessee State Board of Education has adopted the scoring model of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a more rigorous national assessment (also known as “America’s … Read More

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