Improving Quality Teacher Prep Programs in Mathematics
By Dr. William Schmidt, Michigan State University Distinguished Professor, Director of the Center for the Study of Curriculum, and Co-Director of the Education Policy Center
There are few topics in education policy that attract more attention than teacher preparation. Whatever resources we devote to education, and however many policy changes we enact such as the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics, at the end of the day it is teachers that are expected to play the essential role. It is of the utmost importance that we be able to identify what makes a good teacher, and more importantly, that we figure out how we can make people into better teachers. This brings us to the rub: Despite the sincere efforts of many researchers, we still lack a clear-cut understanding of what makes for a high-quality teacher preparation program. The evidence to date is mixed at best that traditional metrics of teacher quality – such as certification scores, higher degrees, experience, etc. – make a difference.
Read More →By Vicki Phillips, Director, College-Ready Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
All students deserve an education that prepares them to succeed in college, career and life. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we are focused on finding ways to support both teachers and students in this pursuit, and one of the most important ways is the adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
The standards are being implemented in classrooms across the country to ensure students have the skills and knowledge needed for the next grade level, and ultimately college and career success. And we want to hear from teachers on how it is going.
Ten Big Takeaways from CEP’s Research on State Implementation of the Common Core
By Diane Stark Rentner, Deputy Director, Center on Education Policy, The George Washington University
In the late winter/early spring of this year, the Center on Education Policy at the George Washington University surveyed state education agency (SEA) officials in the 45 states and DC that have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in math and/or English language arts (ELA). Forty of these CCSS-adopting states participated in the CEP survey, which covered a wide range of issues, including general implementation efforts, opposition to the CCSS, activities to prepare for CCSS-aligned assessments, and the challenges that states face. Altogether, CEP issued six reports based on the survey data. Here are the ten big takeaways from this extensive research:
Read More →Survey Finds Employers Still Value Four-Year College Degrees, But Want More
An outcome from The Chronicle of Higher Education and American Public Media’s Marketplace special report found that many employers value a four-year college degree more today than five years ago – as it was stated in The Chronicle’s article, “A College Degree Sorts Job Applicants, but Employers Wish It Meant More.”
Marketplace and The Chronicle commissioned a survey of employers who hire recent college graduates in August and September 2012, to find out how well employers think colleges and universities are preparing students for careers. The report showed that though half of the participating employers surveyed said they have trouble finding recent graduates qualified to fill positions, most colleges do a good job producing successful employees, with room for improvement.
Read More →Implementation of the Common Core Standards: Progress Report from the Great City Schools
By Michael Casserly, Executive Director, Council of the Great City Schools
The Council of the Great City Schools was a strong supporter of the concept of Common Core State Standards even before the current benchmarks were developed. And since their development, the coalition of the nation’s largest urban public school districts has devoted considerable energy to implementing the new guidelines in its member districts.
Nonetheless, implementation is uneven in many city school systems, due partly to varying approaches to putting these new standards into place, partly to differing capacities, and partly to inconsistent support from states. It appears, however, that most city school systems are farther along than most other school districts in their respective states.
Read More →Uncommon Learning in a Time of Core Standards
By Kent Williamson, Director, National Center for Literacy Education
New research from the National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE) shows that educators in every subject area and role are eager to work together to deepen literacy learning—77% of educators, principals, and librarians agreed that developing student literacy is one of the most important responsibilities they have. It also showed that educators are committed to common-sense changes to improve teaching and learning practices: they most value time to co-plan with colleagues to create new lessons or instructional strategies and to analyze how their students are developing and what they can do together to advance progress.
Read More →Center for Next Generation Survey: Americans want Candidates to Focus More on Education
“More than three quarters of voters polled said they want the next president to make education a top or high priority (78 percent),” and voters are “willing to pay more in taxes and reduce spending in other areas if the funds were dedicated to K-12 education.” That’s according to Matt James, CEO of the Center for the Next Generation, in a recent Huffington Post piece discussing their new report co-written by the Center for American Progress – “The Competition that Really Matters: Comparing U.S., Chinese and Indian Investments in the Next Generation Workforce.”
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