Preparing Teachers

Preparing Teachers: Are American Schools of Education Up to the Task? (click here for information on event at which paper was presented) (Click here to download the PDF of this article) By David Steiner Boston University School of Education American Enterprise Institute   Briefing E. D. Hirsch, Chester Finn, the late Al Shanker and other critics have argued that faulty teacher training is a key contributor to school ineffectiveness. They say that the schools of education embrace “constructivism”—an … Read More

Engaging Schools: Fostering High School Students’ Motivation to Learn

posted in: Briefings & Reports |

(click here for full article) (Click here to download the PDF of this article) By Committee on Increasing High School Students’ Engagement and Motivation to Learn Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003   Briefing On the surface, the recommendations made by the National Research Council in its December 2003 report, Engaging Schools, seem reasonable enough. The report deals with student motivation and ways that high schools can foster it. One cannot argue with its goals: to create … Read More

The Real Value of Teachers

The Real Value of Teachers: Using New Information about Teacher Effectiveness to Close the Achievement Gap” (click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By Kevin Carey Thinking K-16, Vol. 8, Issue 1, Winter 2004.   Briefing If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Tennessee’s Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS) has been widely hailed as the nation’s best. It should be maintained if not expanded. Created in the early 1990s, the TVAAS … Read More

Parent Politics in Head Start

Empowerment and Education: Civil Rights, Expert-Advocates, and Parent Politics in Head Start, 1964-1980 (click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By Josh Kagan, New York University School of Law Teachers College Record, 104(3), 2002, p. 516-562   Briefing The Johnson Administration was on the right track in 1964 when as part of its War on Poverty it designed a program that targeted low-income, disadvantaged three-to-five-year-old children. Head Start was conceived to … Read More

The Gentleman’s A

(click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By David N. Figlio, University of Florida and Maurice E. Lucas, Alachua County Schools Education Next, Vol. 4, No. 2, Spring 2004. p. 60-68.   Briefing This study found that students taught by tough-grading teachers learn more in school. Unfortunately, it also found that parents have a more favorable view of teachers who are easy-graders. Author David N. Figlio is a professor of economics … Read More

How to Build a Better Teacher

To Build a Better Teacher: The Emergence of a Competitive Education Industry (click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By Robert Gray Holland Senior Fellow, Lexington Institute Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003   Briefing Most education professors have a vision of education that differs radically from that of the primary consumers of public education. While clear majorities of parents, teachers, and civic leaders want K-12 schools to ensure basic skills — … Read More

References

posted in: Briefings & Reports |

References   From Table 1, page 29 of Can Teacher Quality Be Effectively Assessed? By Dan Goldhaber & Emily Anthony Bond, L., Smith, T., Baker, W. K., and Hattie, J. A. (2000). The certification system of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards: A construct and consequential validity study. University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Center for Educational Research and Evaluation. Cohen, J. (1969). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. New York: Academic Press. Cohen, J. (1988). … Read More

Can Teacher Quality Be Effectively Assessed

posted in: Briefings & Reports |

Can Teacher Quality Be Effectively Assessed? (click here for full article) (Click here to download the PDF of this article) By Dan Goldhaber University of Washington Center for Reinventing Public Education Emily Anthony Urban Institute   Briefing Teachers pay $2,300 to be assessed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). They earn pay increases up to $7,500 per year if successful. To date, NBPTS has certified over 30,000 teachers. Despite widespread reports to the contrary, the … Read More

How Effective are the Teachers in Your School District?

In Tennessee and several other states, teacher effectiveness can be assessed on the basis of annual student achievement gains.  Although there are exceptions like the reports that were undertaken by the Los Angeles Times, value added data by levels of teacher performance within school districts is rarely available to the public.  That said, even district averages are of value in assessing the quality of teacher hiring, retention, and oversight  As can be seen in the charts below, there are substantial differences between … Read More

High and Low Performing New Teachers

Number of High and Low Performing New Teachers from Tennessee’s Public Universities and Teach for America   According to the 2011 Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs published by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, teachers trained by Teach for America are significantly more effective than are the graduates of Tennessee’s publicly funded universities. The good news is that all programs are turning out some exceptionally effective teachers but the bad news is that far too … Read More

1 … 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21