Some important stories for you to check out on this chilly winter Friday (here in the D.C. area, anyway):
•Tennessee officials have released a state report card on teacher preparation, the Memphis Commerical Appeal reports. It finds that teachers trained and placed through the Teach For America program outperform every other training program in the state, with the exception of math teachers prepared at Vanderbilt University.
• EdWeek‘s Sean Cavanagh reports on former District of Columbia schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s new gig: Helping to lead Fla. Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s transition team for education.
• Though it’s post-Race to the Top, Michigan legislators are now working on setting new parameters for teacher evaluations. The state Senate just passed a bill that would base 45 percent of a teacher’s evaluation on measures of student growth, including both standardized-test scores and locally developed measures. But the bill’s future is in question, with just a day to go before the legislature goes into recess.