The Education Gadfly Weekly

Gordon W. Greene, Jr.

Gordon W. Greene, Jr. is a tireless, optimistic and successful multi-tasker who is convinced that educational success is within every child's reach. This 224-page book is a study-skills and test-taking manual for high-school students, and a very fine one. Though adults may find some of the advice obvious (e.g. when preparing for a test, "think about potential exam questions"), it's a fact that many teen-agers are clueless in such matters. This is not a book for policy types but for parents to get for their children and, maybe, for teachers to urge upon their pupils. The ISBN is 0312866593, the publisher is Tom Doherty Associates, and you can get it from Amazon (see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312866593/qid=1039957922/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-8587963-4336142?v=glance&s=books) as well as the other usual sources. You may also be interested in Greene's earlier book, Getting Straight A's, which is intended primarily for college students.

Dan Laitsch, Education Policy Analysis Archives
December 4, 2002

The ASCD's Dan Laitsch wrote this study for the electronic "journal" known as Education Policy Analysis Archives. It's mildly interesting. Says the abstract: "[P]olicy makers generally accept the market arguments used by voucher supporters, but are also sympathetic to equity concerns and funding issues raised by voucher opponents....[W]hile more policy makers responding to this survey supported some type of voucher program than opposed vouchers, when viewed in the broader context of reform options, vouchers did not rate highly." The possible paradox: policy makers are comfortable with vouchers as a reform strategy but have greater enthusiasm for other reforms. It's a thin study, though, considering that only state legislators were surveyed, that just 89 of them bothered to return the survey forms out of the 936 that were mailed, and that only six states were involved (five of them east of the Mississippi and four of them north of the Mason-Dixon line). You can find this online at http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n48/.

Scott Joftus and Brenda Maddox-Dolan, Alliance for Excellent Education
December 2002

The Alliance for Excellent Education's recent report recapitulates what many have already said regarding strategies for retaining teachers. Very much a derivative work, the Alliance even recycles its own materials. (The first third of the report's twenty-three pages simply restates the Alliance's previous recommendations regarding teacher quality: incentives for educators in high poverty schools, including tax credits, scholarships, and loan forgiveness; career ladders for teachers; a requirement that all secondary teachers have at least an academic major in their subject; and the provision of induction programs for new teachers.) The remainder of the report zeroes in on new induction programs, which the Alliance believes will save districts money lost due to high turnover rates, produce a happier and more effective teacher workforce, and give veteran teachers additional leadership opportunities. The report notes four challenges in developing effective induction programs: too few qualified mentors in schools with the highest teacher turnover, administrative difficulties in managing a program in a large school or a school with many new teachers, the practice of assigning new teachers the most difficult classes, and the need to support all new teachers including alternatively trained and non-credentialed teachers. Although offering no specific recommendations on how to overcome these obstacles, the report gives a brief overview of successful statewide and local induction programs, and an even briefer look at a few international approaches. The specifics, though, are apparently up to you. See http://www.all4ed.org/policymakers/NewTeacherExcellence/index.html.

General Accounting Office
December 2002

A new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) investigates disparities in per-pupil spending between inner city and suburban schools. It examines forty-two of them, choosing three urban and three suburban schools from each of Boston, Chicago, Denver, Fort Worth, New York, Oakland, and St. Louis. In these seven metro areas, the GAO notes, there is no consistent spending pattern based simply on locale. In some locales, the city schools spent more than those in the 'burbs, in some they spent less, and in still others the results were mixed. The reasons for these differences are complex, but the report reveals several important patterns. Most notably (and not surprisingly) the GAO found that the largest determinants of per-pupil spending are teacher salaries, student-teacher ratios, and student-to-support-staff ratios. These factors vary from city to city; however. For example, inner city teachers in Boston earn more than their suburban peers, while the reverse is true in New York. Also notable if not surprising: urban schools fared worse in student achievement than suburban schools but these differences did NOT appear to be related to per-pupil spending. Inner city schools also employed more beginning teachers, had lower enrollments, fewer library books and computers, and less parental involvement. As such, it will require more than dollars to turn around struggling city schools. You can find this report online at www.gao.gov/new.items/d03234.pdf.

Rt. Hon. John Redwood and Nick Seaton, Centre for Policy Studies
September 2002

The London-based Centre for Policy Studies published this pair of essays. The first, by MP John Redwood (a former head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit), contends that the chief reason for England's education woes is "the present collectivist and illiberal system," which should be replaced by a universal voucher-style choice system. The second, by Nick Seaton, chairman of the "Campaign for Real Education," seeks to quantify the full costs of government-provided education in England and estimates that the per-pupil figure will soon equal that of private education. Because a large fraction of British private schools are what Americans call "independent schools," historically the private sector's average per-pupil expenditures have exceeded those of the public sector. But Seaton says this is changing fast, implying that government assistance to youngsters to attend private school is on its way to becoming a bargain for taxpayers. A press release describing the essays can be found at http://www.cps.org.uk/redwood.htm. You can order them in one hard-copy volume for ??7.50 (including shipping and handling) at http://www.cps.org.uk/order.htm.

Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, Center for Civic Innovation, Manhattan Institute
November 2002

This slim report by Jay Greene and Marcus Winters of the Manhattan Institute examines public school graduation rates by state and finds that the average rate was just 69% in 2000 - significantly lower than the 86.5% rate reported by the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The discrepancy is attributable to different methodologies as well as different data. The "Greene Method"-previously developed by the lead author in 2001 - excludes GED recipients since their lives more closely mirror those of high school dropouts than graduates and since including them in a "graduation rate" does not accurately reflect high schools' output. As for data, NCES relies on states' notoriously inaccurate self-reported dropout statistics, while the Greene Method bases its calculations on the number of students entering high school compared to the number ultimately graduating. Though graduation rates have improved slightly since Greene's first report (an increase of 1% from 68% in 1998), they remain disturbingly low. Some states fare relatively well (New Jersey, at 87%), but many show dismaying results (e.g. Florida, Georgia, and D.C., all below 60%). Even more troubling is the authors' finding that graduation rates for white (76%) and Asian (79%) students significantly exceed those for African American (55%) and Hispanic (53%) students. Greene and Winters also report some interesting intrastate variation. For example, Nebraska's overall graduation rate was 5th highest but its graduation rate for African-American students placed near the bottom. Conversely, DC ranked near the bottom overall but placed 5th for African-Americans. To read this report, surf to http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_31.htm. Details on Greene's 2001 report can be found at http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=82#1254.

Edited by Michael Pressley
2002

Established in 1994, the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program at the University of Notre Dame trains talented college graduates in teaching fundamentals during the summer and then places them in two-year classroom internships at Catholic schools in disadvantaged areas. Edited by Michael Pressley, director of ACE, this volume explains what the program is and how it works. Chapters cover ACE's history, structure, coursework, emphasis on community and spirituality, use of performance assessments, and financing, as well as the experiences of its teachers and its success in recruiting and retaining top-notch undergrads to the teaching field. The text offers an abundance of practical advice for anyone interested in designing an alternative certification program based in an institution of higher education, with two notable exceptions. First, many of the characteristics of the ACE program would be difficult to replicate outside of a Catholic (or, at least, religious) institution. Much of ACE's sense of mission and community derives from its Catholic identity. Second, in order to become accredited, the program mimicked many public-sector programs and relied heavily on Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards and on research on teacher training and effectiveness from the National Council on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF). The directors accepted these guidelines so that their graduates might earn state certification, but it is clear from Pressley's account that these standards are muddled at best. ACE teachers are also evaluated through a portfolio - the NCTAF method for demonstrating competency - despite the fact that such assessments often give little indication of content mastery. ACE attempts to compensate for that danger by requiring that candidates have an undergraduate subject-matter major and take extra summer courses in their field. All in all, this book (ISBN 0-268-02015-9) should benefit those involved or interested in the training of future teachers. You'll find more information at http://129.74.181.111:591/FMPro?-db=webcore&-format=display.html&-lay=view&-sortfield=title&ShowOnWeb=Yes&-op=cn&WebSearch=alternative%20teacher&-max=15&-recid=44490&-find=.

Students in the Lone Star state's class of 2005 - today's 10th graders - will have to pass the new Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) in order to graduate from high school. A report released by the Texas Education Agency earlier this month indicates that more than 53 percent of students will have trouble passing the test and risk being denied a diploma. Failure rates are expected to be 20 to 30 points higher than they were on the TAAS, the state test being replaced by the TAKS. A coalition of Texas' largest school districts is lobbying state officials to lower the passing score for the new test, which the state board of education set in November. For now, state officials are standing tough, noting that the field-test results that are leading to despair about high failure rates might be a poor predictor of how students will score when the tests actually count.

"School districts team up to oppose test," by Tawnell D. Hobbs, The Dallas Morning News, December 22, 2002

"Report: '04 grad test still daunting," by Terrence Stutz, The Dallas Morning News, December 19, 2002

This month's issue of "&ize," the Institute for Justice's monthly compilation of media clips - features a case study on the future of school choice. Included are scads of news articles from the past year - many that you've seen but also some you may have missed - that document where the school choice movement has been and where it's going. A handy volume for any reformer's bookshelf. Although not available online, copies may be ordered for free by calling 202-955-1300. Unfortunately, no more copies of this publication are available. We're sorry for the inconvenience.

A recent article in The World & I examines how computer giant IBM's massive Reinventing Education initiative - which seeks to bring classroom-and school-level successes to scale - is transforming not only the company's culture, but also the way teachers do their jobs. Under the leadership of former CEO Lou Gerstner, IBM's philanthropy evolved from a sideshow to "being enmeshed in everything the company does." Central to the ambitious initiative is the Learning Village software, an easy-to-use multifunction platform offering engaging web-based lessons, online teacher mentoring, student-to-student projects, a "teachers' lounge" with subject-based discussion groups, and more. Teachers are responding enthusiastically to the new tools, which IBM hopes will revolutionize classroom practices. "Can IBM Reinvent Education?" by Todd Shapera, The World & I, December 2002

As readers may have noticed, these "desk" messages tend toward the crotchety and Cassandra-ish. That's because we see plenty still not working well in U.S. education, too many dumb ideas, lots of would-be reforms that ran out of gas, and no shortage of would-be reformers who, when push comes to shove, will settle for being pushed by the system rather than shoving harder against it.

But you already know all that and you know that the Gadfly knows it. So let's - just this once - look on the bright side. Especially at this time of year, it's appropriate to reflect on America's education blessings. In this last Gadfly of 2002, let us celebrate some of them. My holiday gift list has ten entrants. You may have more.

First, everybody who wants it can get as much schooling as they can handle in the U.S., at no cost through 12th grade and bargain prices thereafter. The barriers have fallen. Race, handicap, language, poverty, even immigrant status doesn't bar anyone from school or college. Though sometimes stuffy about what comprises public education, America is earnest indeed about the education of the public.

Second, you can always come back for more. The United States has the world's most forgiving education system, ready and willing to furnish second and third chances, to embrace former dropouts, to tailor programs at odd hours and off-beat places for adults who didn't get as much the first time around as they now need. Though you may have to knock on a different door when you return, a door is always ready to open. You can move in and out of the supply side, too, teaching for a while before or after you do something else, embarking on a school principal's career after completing one in business or the military. That's not true in other lands where the merry-go-round only stops once for you.

Third, the postsecondary system is willing to fix what went awry in K-12. While many U.S. colleges should be better than they are, and while doing it this way is costly and inefficient, the fact is that you can, if you need to, get a decent secondary education in college, a decent college education in graduate school, a useful skill (or life enhancement) in community college, and the best tertiary education in the world from our top research universities.

Fourth, having 50 states is a good thing. Despite people who insist that our reforms would get farther if we had a single national system like England or Japan, the fact is that what Brandeis termed our "laboratories of democracy" enable us to try a lot of different approaches and accommodate differing priorities. That states watch - and envy - each other keeps the process open, competitive and dynamic.

Fifth, we're beginning to understand what really works and why. Though much snake oil still gets peddled and "education science" remains underdeveloped, some of its branches are flourishing. Primary reading is the best-known example, but not the only one. Cognitive psychology and neuropsychology are shedding serious light on how people learn, and this holds great promise for how they are taught. So does the push for more randomized field-study types of education experimentation.

Sixth, we're willing to innovate. American ingenuity brought us community colleges and now it has brought us charter schools of every sort. It brought "Direct Instruction," "Core Knowledge," and "High Schools That Work." It brought alternative certification and virtual education. Though faddism is an ever-present risk, the fact is that we're better off being willing to try new things and - eventually - to take a hard look to determine whether they really deliver the goods.

Seventh, private enterprise and philanthropy are bringing powerful innovations to education and, despite grousing about the profit motive, they've been allowed to. Technology is the most obvious domain-and will likely turn out to be a powerful driver of tomorrow's education gains-but we also have privately-managed (outsourced) public schools, small schools a la Gates, new math and science programs, KIPP academies, GreatSchools.net, Standard & Poors' "school evaluation service" and much more. And that's not even counting the thousands of business and civic leaders who have thrown themselves into the reform enterprise, often functioning as virtual surrogates for education's ill-organized "consumers."

Eighth, American education is blessed with thousands of outstanding, dedicated educators. Sure, we wish we had many more of them, but let's acknowledge the teachers and principals (and school board members, guidance counselors, HeadStart workers and bus drivers) who do a terrific job of positively shaping the lives of other people's children, all this for modest wages and without a lot of thanks or praise.

Ninth, for at least two decades now, the U.S. public has kept education reform at or near the top of its urgent domestic priorities. For a country with a famously short attention span, that's a mighty long run for an issue as challenging (and sometimes as boring!) as this one. Sure, parents could do a better job of making their OWN kids straighten up and fly right. (Too often, it's the other person's child who is thought to need more homework.) But the durability and zealousness of the public's commitment to better education are much of what keeps the reform effort moving and the politicians engaged.

Finally and most important, living in a free society means that government is the people's servant, not their master, and that public education, in the end, means whatever the public wants it to. You need not send your children to a government-run school, a secular school or a religious school. It's up to you. (Indeed, you can educate them at home if you wish.) You can vote for, or against, a bond issue for school construction or a voucher referendum or a gubernatorial (or school board) candidate who promises to raise standards or improve discipline. You can be a critic - even a Gadfly! - without fear of retribution (except from cranky politicians, thin-skinned White House aides and the crackpots on the profession's fringe). You can supplement your child's education with books, software, dancing school and summer programs. You can, to be sure, do more of these things if you are wealthy than if you are poor, but an outpouring of philanthropy and an ever more flexible set of public policies mean that such opportunities are (slowly) reaching more poor families, too. Not so many years ago, the question was whether low-income kids would have any education choices. Today the argument is over how many.

Count your blessings. Have a happy holiday. And return in January with batteries recharged for the education reform battles ahead.

FBI agents have seized fur coats, alligator shoes, a $57,000 Tiffany tea set, a $13,000 plasma TV set, and hundreds of other luxury items from the homes and offices of the former president of the Washington (D.C) Teachers' Union and her assistant as part of an investigation into the disappearance of over $2 million in union funds over the past several years. While union president Barbara Bullock was racking up bills for custom clothing ($500,000), dry cleaning and clothing storage ($25,000), and designer shoes ($11,000), the union was neglecting to pay rent and telephone bills, to reimburse building representatives for up to $600,000 in dues, to contribute to the pension fund for union staff members (budgeted at $100,000 a year), and to pay premiums to health care providers for retired teachers, and was erroneously deducting a total of about $700,000 in dues from members' paychecks. Charges have not yet been brought in the case, which was launched in September after union officials discovered financial irregularities and reported the problem to the U.S. attorney's office.

"Union Tardy Paying Bills, Premiums, Sources Say," by Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post, December 25, 2002

"FBI Lists Evidence Seized in Union Case," by Neely Tucker and Justin Blum, The Washington Post, December 24, 2002

To view the FBI affidavit in support of the search warrant for the homes and offices of the leaders of the Washington Teachers' Union, surf to http://www.dcwatch.com/schools/ps021218.htm

Dan Laitsch, Education Policy Analysis Archives
December 4, 2002

The ASCD's Dan Laitsch wrote this study for the electronic "journal" known as Education Policy Analysis Archives. It's mildly interesting. Says the abstract: "[P]olicy makers generally accept the market arguments used by voucher supporters, but are also sympathetic to equity concerns and funding issues raised by voucher opponents....[W]hile more policy makers responding to this survey supported some type of voucher program than opposed vouchers, when viewed in the broader context of reform options, vouchers did not rate highly." The possible paradox: policy makers are comfortable with vouchers as a reform strategy but have greater enthusiasm for other reforms. It's a thin study, though, considering that only state legislators were surveyed, that just 89 of them bothered to return the survey forms out of the 936 that were mailed, and that only six states were involved (five of them east of the Mississippi and four of them north of the Mason-Dixon line). You can find this online at http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n48/.

Edited by Michael Pressley
2002

Established in 1994, the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program at the University of Notre Dame trains talented college graduates in teaching fundamentals during the summer and then places them in two-year classroom internships at Catholic schools in disadvantaged areas. Edited by Michael Pressley, director of ACE, this volume explains what the program is and how it works. Chapters cover ACE's history, structure, coursework, emphasis on community and spirituality, use of performance assessments, and financing, as well as the experiences of its teachers and its success in recruiting and retaining top-notch undergrads to the teaching field. The text offers an abundance of practical advice for anyone interested in designing an alternative certification program based in an institution of higher education, with two notable exceptions. First, many of the characteristics of the ACE program would be difficult to replicate outside of a Catholic (or, at least, religious) institution. Much of ACE's sense of mission and community derives from its Catholic identity. Second, in order to become accredited, the program mimicked many public-sector programs and relied heavily on Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards and on research on teacher training and effectiveness from the National Council on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF). The directors accepted these guidelines so that their graduates might earn state certification, but it is clear from Pressley's account that these standards are muddled at best. ACE teachers are also evaluated through a portfolio - the NCTAF method for demonstrating competency - despite the fact that such assessments often give little indication of content mastery. ACE attempts to compensate for that danger by requiring that candidates have an undergraduate subject-matter major and take extra summer courses in their field. All in all, this book (ISBN 0-268-02015-9) should benefit those involved or interested in the training of future teachers. You'll find more information at http://129.74.181.111:591/FMPro?-db=webcore&-format=display.html&-lay=view&-sortfield=title&ShowOnWeb=Yes&-op=cn&WebSearch=alternative%20teacher&-max=15&-recid=44490&-find=.

General Accounting Office
December 2002

A new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) investigates disparities in per-pupil spending between inner city and suburban schools. It examines forty-two of them, choosing three urban and three suburban schools from each of Boston, Chicago, Denver, Fort Worth, New York, Oakland, and St. Louis. In these seven metro areas, the GAO notes, there is no consistent spending pattern based simply on locale. In some locales, the city schools spent more than those in the 'burbs, in some they spent less, and in still others the results were mixed. The reasons for these differences are complex, but the report reveals several important patterns. Most notably (and not surprisingly) the GAO found that the largest determinants of per-pupil spending are teacher salaries, student-teacher ratios, and student-to-support-staff ratios. These factors vary from city to city; however. For example, inner city teachers in Boston earn more than their suburban peers, while the reverse is true in New York. Also notable if not surprising: urban schools fared worse in student achievement than suburban schools but these differences did NOT appear to be related to per-pupil spending. Inner city schools also employed more beginning teachers, had lower enrollments, fewer library books and computers, and less parental involvement. As such, it will require more than dollars to turn around struggling city schools. You can find this report online at www.gao.gov/new.items/d03234.pdf.

Gordon W. Greene, Jr.

Gordon W. Greene, Jr. is a tireless, optimistic and successful multi-tasker who is convinced that educational success is within every child's reach. This 224-page book is a study-skills and test-taking manual for high-school students, and a very fine one. Though adults may find some of the advice obvious (e.g. when preparing for a test, "think about potential exam questions"), it's a fact that many teen-agers are clueless in such matters. This is not a book for policy types but for parents to get for their children and, maybe, for teachers to urge upon their pupils. The ISBN is 0312866593, the publisher is Tom Doherty Associates, and you can get it from Amazon (see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312866593/qid=1039957922/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-8587963-4336142?v=glance&s=books) as well as the other usual sources. You may also be interested in Greene's earlier book, Getting Straight A's, which is intended primarily for college students.

Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, Center for Civic Innovation, Manhattan Institute
November 2002

This slim report by Jay Greene and Marcus Winters of the Manhattan Institute examines public school graduation rates by state and finds that the average rate was just 69% in 2000 - significantly lower than the 86.5% rate reported by the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The discrepancy is attributable to different methodologies as well as different data. The "Greene Method"-previously developed by the lead author in 2001 - excludes GED recipients since their lives more closely mirror those of high school dropouts than graduates and since including them in a "graduation rate" does not accurately reflect high schools' output. As for data, NCES relies on states' notoriously inaccurate self-reported dropout statistics, while the Greene Method bases its calculations on the number of students entering high school compared to the number ultimately graduating. Though graduation rates have improved slightly since Greene's first report (an increase of 1% from 68% in 1998), they remain disturbingly low. Some states fare relatively well (New Jersey, at 87%), but many show dismaying results (e.g. Florida, Georgia, and D.C., all below 60%). Even more troubling is the authors' finding that graduation rates for white (76%) and Asian (79%) students significantly exceed those for African American (55%) and Hispanic (53%) students. Greene and Winters also report some interesting intrastate variation. For example, Nebraska's overall graduation rate was 5th highest but its graduation rate for African-American students placed near the bottom. Conversely, DC ranked near the bottom overall but placed 5th for African-Americans. To read this report, surf to http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_31.htm. Details on Greene's 2001 report can be found at http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=82#1254.

Rt. Hon. John Redwood and Nick Seaton, Centre for Policy Studies
September 2002

The London-based Centre for Policy Studies published this pair of essays. The first, by MP John Redwood (a former head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit), contends that the chief reason for England's education woes is "the present collectivist and illiberal system," which should be replaced by a universal voucher-style choice system. The second, by Nick Seaton, chairman of the "Campaign for Real Education," seeks to quantify the full costs of government-provided education in England and estimates that the per-pupil figure will soon equal that of private education. Because a large fraction of British private schools are what Americans call "independent schools," historically the private sector's average per-pupil expenditures have exceeded those of the public sector. But Seaton says this is changing fast, implying that government assistance to youngsters to attend private school is on its way to becoming a bargain for taxpayers. A press release describing the essays can be found at http://www.cps.org.uk/redwood.htm. You can order them in one hard-copy volume for ??7.50 (including shipping and handling) at http://www.cps.org.uk/order.htm.

Scott Joftus and Brenda Maddox-Dolan, Alliance for Excellent Education
December 2002

The Alliance for Excellent Education's recent report recapitulates what many have already said regarding strategies for retaining teachers. Very much a derivative work, the Alliance even recycles its own materials. (The first third of the report's twenty-three pages simply restates the Alliance's previous recommendations regarding teacher quality: incentives for educators in high poverty schools, including tax credits, scholarships, and loan forgiveness; career ladders for teachers; a requirement that all secondary teachers have at least an academic major in their subject; and the provision of induction programs for new teachers.) The remainder of the report zeroes in on new induction programs, which the Alliance believes will save districts money lost due to high turnover rates, produce a happier and more effective teacher workforce, and give veteran teachers additional leadership opportunities. The report notes four challenges in developing effective induction programs: too few qualified mentors in schools with the highest teacher turnover, administrative difficulties in managing a program in a large school or a school with many new teachers, the practice of assigning new teachers the most difficult classes, and the need to support all new teachers including alternatively trained and non-credentialed teachers. Although offering no specific recommendations on how to overcome these obstacles, the report gives a brief overview of successful statewide and local induction programs, and an even briefer look at a few international approaches. The specifics, though, are apparently up to you. See http://www.all4ed.org/policymakers/NewTeacherExcellence/index.html.