Current Articles from Around the United States

Breaking News in Wisconsin
New teachers getting ready to be graded on classroom work
New teachers getting ready to be graded on classroom work, read about new processes in Wisconsin for new teachers.
Round 2 of improving education coming amid less fanfare
Waiver to No Child Left Behind is ready to submit for Wisconsin schools. This article outlines the accompanying consequences of the waiver and legisltive action.
Wis. School Districts Move Toward Merit Pay for Teachers
The district wanted to distribute annual bonuses to teachers based on the quality of their work.
News Release from DPI November 7, 2011
This link takes you to the press release from the Department of Public Instruction upon the release of the evaluation system proposal that will focus on teacher practice and student outcomes.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel November 7, 2011
This article is the Journal Sentinel version of the press release from DPI and how teacher effectiveness will be assessed.
Preliminary Report & Recommendations November 2011
This link will take you to the preliminary report and recommendations of the statewide team on Educator Effectiveness. The state is relying on the standards from InTASC and ISLLC for their design. These are the same standards that are embedded in the work that the Effectiveness Project out of CESA 6 is using. While there is reference to Danielson's work in their report, districts are not required to use the domains and components, rather are referenced back to InTASC and ISLLC. Dr. Stronge's work with our committees is geared to InTASC and ISLLC as a framework.
Transforming Teaching - From the NEA
Transforming Teaching: Connecting Professional Responsibility with Student Learning
Independent commission recommendations to NEA on transforming teaching.
The NEA's 'New Professionalism'
This article goes with the NEA report on transforming teaching to give you further background in the ?New Professionalism? movement in the National Education Association.
Teacher Quality
Michelle Rhee's 'StudentsFirst' group ramping up presence in Minnesota
Minnesota presents a 'unique and interesting opportunity' because of the widespread focus among the state's education community on closing the achievement gap, Rhee said. This article presents the Minnesota movement regarding seniority.
Our Voice: Education equation has simple solution - excellent teachers equal student success
This editorial addresses the education equation ? Excellent teachers = Student Success
Moving beyond 'blame the teacher'
This Op-Ed article supports educational reform through cooperation with teacher unions, management and parent involvement.
Teachers union wants holistic plan for measuring school quality
Teachers union wants holistic plan for measuring school quality in Oshkosh. This article shares the perspective of the union and how quality could be quantified.
Ideas for using student data as part of teaching practice
Here are some practical ways to improve teaching practice using data around your classroom of students.
Teacher in a Strange Land
Six suggestions are made in this blog around creating valuable teacher development so that teacher practice continues to grow.
Evaluation Systems
Full report on teacher evaluation in Chicago Public Schools
This is the full report on teacher evaluation in Chicago Public Schools.
Chicago Public Schools and their adoption of the Danielson Model for Teacher Evaluation
This is a report on the Chicago Public Schools and their adoption of the Danielson Model for Teacher Evaluation
New teacher evaluation systems in Tennessee
Tennessee has implemented a new teacher evaluation system and this article outlines some of the difficulties with the implementation process.
Committee passes statewide teacher evaluation system
Kentucky is working on a bill to create a statewide evaluation system.
Data Quality Campaign
A state-by-state analysis of the quality of data for school districts is what is found at this link.
One-size-fits-all plan doesn't fit good teachers
This editorial is from a union official?s viewpoint about an undifferentiated evaluation system in Tennessee.
Grading Our Teachers
This article from central Wisconsin predicts slow movement toward the reform of teacher evaluation systems.
Tulsa Public Schools teacher evaluation system preferred as new state model
Here is a state recommended evaluation system for Oklahoma.
Leadership Qualities
Gateways to the Principalship ~ State Power to Improve the Quality of School Leaders
This article and study indicate that only the combination of highly effective teaching with highly capable school leadership will change the outcomes for students.
What makes a good principal?
This article gives you the author?s viewpoint of what makes a good principal.
Teacher Preparation
Marzano on Developing Teachers
This overview gives a summary of Marzano?s work in teacher development.
A Push to Improve Teachers' Colleges
This article ties funding to colleges whose graduates have high test scores among their students, a new funding competition from the Obama administration.
State by State Guide to Teacher Certification
This link leads to a State-by-State guide to teacher certification requirements.
Value Added Teacher Evaluation Systems
Shame is Not the Solution
Bill Gates weighs in on posting of teacher evaluation ratings in the op/ed article
Posting Teacher Evaluations to the Public - Kansas
Kansas wants to make teacher evaluation public. This article explains the debate.
Posting Teacher Evaluations to the Public - North Carolina
Evaluations are starting to be posted for public. Take a look at how North Carolina is handling this.
New teacher evaluation systems in Tennessee have rough road ahead
Tennessee has already entered the system of teacher evaluation that includes student achievement. This article speaks to the growing pains in the new system of accountability.
Teacher Evaluations Key to State Chances for NCLB Waivers
Some states have functioning systems for rating teachers that are included in their NCLB waiver requests, while others provide only sketchy details.
Student Achievement, Observations Correlated in Chicago Pilot
Both a value-added method and a series of observations identified the same teachers as particularly high or low-performing under Chicago's teacher-evaluation pilot, a new study concludes.
The value of subjective and objective evaluations of teacher effectiveness
The study featured her suggests that evaluation systems with both subjective and objective performance data has the potential to address teacher quality.
Different Measures of Effectiveness Shownt o Be Complementary
Inter-rater reliability is essential to value-added teacher effectiveness measures in New York City as seen in this article.
Rochester teachers receive new evaluation notices
Read about a district that is in the midst of reforming their teacher evaluation system.
Student Test Scores Should be Used in Teams: Study
In this article an economics professor encourages grouping student scores by teacher teams for evaluation purposes.
Oklahoma considers value-added teacher evaluations
Value-added teacher evaluations rate teachers as highly effective or ineffective based on whether students grow academically as expected. Oklahoma considers this controversial evaluation system.
Student scores to be key factor in teacher evaluations
This article is a view of what is happening with teacher evaluation and student achievement in Massachusetts.
Teachers to Get Report Cards Under New State-Mandated Common Core Curriculum
This opinion-laced article is about New York state?s teacher accountability system.
Teacher Evaluation At Issue in ESEA Debate
Teacher evaluation systems may be tied to the reauthorization of ESEA.
Teacher Evaluation Scaled Back in Senate's Revised ESEA Draft
The Senate is beginning to back down on all states designing a value-added teacher evaluation system as part of the reauthorization of ESEA.
No Child Left Behind waivers require big changes fast
Waivers for NCLB require major overhauls in school accountability and teacher effectiveness. Read the national perspective in this article.
BESE Approves Teacher Evaluation Standards
Here is another state ready to use value-added teacher evaluations.
Pay for Performance
Better Pay Formulas Are Not the Answer to Teacher Compensation
This Op-Ed article talks about pay formulas for teacher performance that includes student achievement.
Stop Tying Pay to Performance
This article is about pay for performance in the business sector. It is an interesting read on the lessons learned.