2008 State Teacher Policy Yearbook: What States Can Do To Retain Effective New Teachers
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D.National Council on Teacher Quality2008
K-12 Online Learning: A 2008 Follow-up of the Survey of U.S. School District Administrators
Anthony G. Picciano and Jeff SeamanSloan ConsortiumJanuary 2009
Test-taking, such a drag
Deandre M. Ellis most certainly had other things on his mind than vocabulary words and Number 2 pencils last week as he prepared for the New York Regents exam. No, Ellis, a former Schenectady High School student, was probably more concerned with whether his wig was on straight, his eyelashes curled, and his apparel appropriate--and if he'd get caught by the test monitor.
No labor (union) of love
Are Florida teachers channeling Wall Street arrogance? Unlike others who've been hit by the recessionary storm, teachers in the sprawling Miami-Dade district apparently believe themselves immune from the effects of economic decline.
Strickland goes to school
Terry RyanOhio Governor Ted Strickland's hot-off-the-presses education-reform plan is nothing if not audacious.
Hurricane Wagner
Unlike other, balmier breezes, the "wind of change...blowing through the Fayetteville School District" is reason to batten down the shutters. Why?
Class size commando
Known for his brawn, the Terminator may soon be known for his flexibility, too. He still can't touch his toes (so far as we know) but he is trying to give districts more wiggle-room when it comes to school spending.
Land of 10,000 bonuses
Too taxing to decide who deserves a raise and who doesn't? Here's a simple if inane solution: remunerate everyone. That's the thinking, at least, in Minnesota, where the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune found that in 22 districts, only 27 of roughly 4,200 eligible teachers were left empty-handed under the state's Q Comp merit pay program.
Time to retire "last hired, first fired"
Raegen T. Miller, Robin ChaitEvery day, sometimes several times a day, the media report more rounds of layoffs at major American firms, from Microsoft to Caterpillar to Fidelity to Macy's and beyond. But the private sector is not the only one hemorrhaging jobs in the current recession; school districts from coast to coast are letting go of employees, too.