Web Watch
Teacher’s look at education news from around the Web. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: teaching profession.
Education
Let's Talk
Forget the in-service workshops and the highly qualified teacher requirements. It could be that the best way for schools to improve teachers’ performance is simply to let them talk to each other—at least according to one researcher. In an award-winning study of Pittsburgh public schools, Carrie Leana, a professor of organizations and management, found that the openness of a school’s communication networks was a more important factor to students’ success on math and reading tests than teachers’ credentials or experience levels.
Education
Grading the System
The release of this month’s New York City school report cards and the threatened teacher witch-hunt, as reported earlier, has principals questioning the system as well, reports the New York Times. The report cards graded schools on how they fared citywide, as well as against schools with similar demographics. To further complicate matters, the grading system focused on rewarding improved student performance, which ironically occurs more often in low-performing schools. After receiving complaints from leaders of top-tier schools who had their own suggestions for equalizing the system, the city decided to factor in bonus points for strong scores on the state's Regents exam.
Education
Parent Twist On NCLB
NCLB’s demands that schools perform at certain academic levels may have missed the mark when it comes to what many parents value the most, according to a Brigham Young University co-authored study as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Education
Math Makover
A middle school in Braintree, Mass., that was identified for corrective action under NCLB last year has put itself on the road to "good standing" in part by making wholesale changes to its math curriculum, according to an article in The Boston Globe. Among other changes, students are now grouped according to their math scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam (rather than by parental preference), and special education teachers work side-by-side with the math instructors. In addition, teachers have taken to color-coding algebriac equations—"It helps you remember the steps," said one 8th grader—and use a software program to analyze where students need help most on tests. Oh, yeah, and some students now have math a lot—as many as three times a day.
Education
Escape From New York
New numbers from New York City's teachers union beg the question of whether the city really needs any help in getting rid of teachers. (See "Targeting Teachers.") The United Federation of Teachers reported yesterday that 4,606 certified teachers resigned last year—the largest number in recent history. The figure includes some 14 percent of teachers who were newly hired, according to the union.
Education
Targeting Teachers
New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is taking steps to rid New York City schools of unsatisfactory teachers, including hiring new teams of lawyers and consultants to build cases against tenured teachers, according to a New York Times article.
Education
Potter Mania
The introduction of a Harry Potter-based curriculum has reportedly helped a primary school in Nottinghamshire, England, dramatically improve student achievement. Over the past three years, the Robert Mellors Primary and Nursery has risen from the bottom 25 percent to the top five percent of schools in England—a jump that’s being attributed at least in part to the use of themed curricula. This year the students are carrying around wands, the grade levels have been renamed after the houses at Hogwarts, and the teachers are apparently wearing customs suggestive of all manner of witchcraft and wizardry. Among the school’s Harry Potter-inspired lessons are a subtraction method that uses an imaginary “spell” and a play-writing exercise based on sections of J.K. Rowling’s novels. A government report labeling the school as “outstanding” noted that the students seem to benefit from the interconnection between lessons in different subjects.
Education
Kozol on NCLB
The only real effect of NCLB’s pressured-filled expectations of school-wide improvement, and its emphasis on teacher quality has been to drive away schools’ most valuable resources — highly motivated teachers, says author and education activist Jonathan Kozol in a Chicago Tribune Q&A.
Education
Testing Teachers
The Ankeny school district in Iowa has become the first in the state (or so it is believed) to turn to a software program to help evaluate candidates for teaching and principal positions. The district will use TeacherInsight and PrincipalInsight, multiple-choice assessment tools developed by the Gallup Organization to gauge educators’ interpersonal skills. More specifically (sort of), TeacherInsight “assesses the talents that result in teacher excellence that are difficult or nearly impossible to teach,” according to Gallup’s education Web site.
Education
Teachers Crunching Numbers
Whatever you may think of NCLB and its focus on test scores, Milwaukee schools can’t seem to get enough of data assessment. And teachers are increasingly the number crunchers, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Education
Teachers Wage Strike in Israel
A 25-day-old teacher strike in Israel continues to keep about 500,000 students and 40,000 teachers out of as many as 1,700 junior high and high schools, U.S. and world news sources reported.
Education
Higher Pay, Larger Classes
Schools that do well in math and science tend to pay teachers in those subjects more than other teachers and—perhaps less intuitively—have larger class sizes, according to a study released this week by a conservative Texas think tank. By analyzing scores on a variety of standardized tests, the Texas Public Policy Foundation identified 39 demographically diverse high schools in the state that have been “achieving success” in math and science performance. The study found that, thanks to incentive or stipend programs, math and science teachers in those schools generally made some $3,000 more per year than other teachers at the schools. All of the so-called “best practice” schools, meanwhile, had larger classes in math and science than the average class-size in those subjects—although the extra percentage amounts to only about two or three students more per class.
Education
8th Period Stress Relief
The Downward-facing Dog and the Pyramid Pose are a few techniques that Needham High School seniors in Massachusetts are learning in their mandatory yoga classes. Instituting mandatory yoga and hiring relaxation consultants is the work of the school’s newly formed Stress Reduction Committee.
Education
Teachers Who Rock
Don’t look now, but it may not be long before ed schools have to start adding courses in music theory. In an attempt to give their lessons added flare and stickiness, according to The Washington Post, a growing number of teachers are incorporating music into their instruction. Web sites selling educational songs are flourishing (see, for example, www.songsforteaching.com), while educator-songwriters find themselves in increasing demand. To wit: The Chromatics, a group comprising mostly research scientists that performs standards-based songs about astronomy, has sold nearly 15,000 copies of its albums.