Teacher Quality

Joanne Jacobs writes up some of Andy Smarick’s great work in her Show me the reform blog. Andy sees a lot of toothless reforms in Race to the Top and Joe Williams over at DFER thinks that NYC just blew chunks. They are right on the money, so to speak and it is a case of history repeating itself.

These were the notes that I took from a brainstorming on virtual teacher quality

Teacher Quality in virtual teaching:

•Role has changed – from developer to implementer
•Brick and mortar quality does not equal great virtual teacher
•Have to meet federal standards if highly qualified in order
•Have to have a great interest in working in an online delivery system
•Well trained teachers still need mentor teachers

I am late in blogging about this, but here is an excellent summary of the impact of public policy on teacher quality by Brooke Terry from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. I am a big fan of Brooke’s work because she is not a think tank person – she gets out and goes to the meetings and really works hard to advocate for students at all levels.

Teaching quality continues to move forward in the news. Mike Petrilli has an excellent write up in the Gadfly from last week and now a new article in the Washington Post about what the newly canonized Michelle Rhee plans to do. But they are all trying to run before we learn to walk.

Management texts will tell you that you need to focus on improving staff. In teaching, the staggering numbers always tell the tale.

When United States manufacturing companies were getting their collective butts kicked by Japan in the late 70’s early 80’s, they started grasping for straws. They would try anything new to get their edge back and the string of different techniques they tried became known as management by fad. Many of these fads were actually sound ideas. However, when companies went to implement the latest fad, they neglected to properly train staff which created lousy execution.

I find the McKinsey & Company analysis of the world’s best performing school systems fascinating. This analysis and comparison should create some amazing actions to help improve education in the United States. Unfortunately education is not about analysis, it is about politics.

Their number one recommendation is that we need to develop a world-class teaching work force if our schools are ever to regain their rightful place as the best in the world.

Here is our response to Title II - the bottom line is that it forces states and districts to partner with higher ed and national board which will limit competition and innovation.

Dear Chairman Miller, Rep. McKeon, Chairman Kildee, and Rep. Castle:

On behalf of the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE), I am writing to provide comments on the Title II Discussion Draft of your No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Reauthorization legislation.