Currently browsing Evaluation
Nine districts resubmit ‘stronger’ application for NCLB waiver
(This article has been updated.) Nine California districts resubmitted their application Tuesday for a waiver from key provisions and sanctions of the No Child Left Behind law after spending weeks revising the application in response to dozens of questions by a panel of reviewers from the U.S. Department of Education. If approved, the application by members of the umbrella organization California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, would be a first. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has … Read entire article »
Filed under: Common Core standards, Evaluation, Evaluations, Featured, No Child Left Behind, Reporting & Analysis, Standardized tests, Teacher Collaboration, Title I
Try a different tack: Hold teachers responsible for education quality
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed piece I wrote about last week’s school board election, where a coalition of deep-pockets givers spurred by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spent over $63 per vote. It was not only big money but also money badly spent. One point I raised was the crafting of a Democratic alternative to the Republican position on teachers unions, which is largely that they should be weakened by restriction on bargaining rights. Generally, this … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Evaluation, Featured, Teacher Unions, Teachers
LAUSD’s Deasy, union spar over teacher evaluation measures
A high-profile teacher evaluation agreement was but days old Friday when Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy and the district’s teachers union expressed sharp disagreement over a contentious provision. United Teachers Los Angeles accused Deasy of breaking a binding agreement by requiring that “data-driven” measures of student achievement be given a “weight limited to 30 percent” of a teacher’s final evaluation. Deasy referred to the figure in guidelines he issued to principals on how to conduct … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluation, Reporting & Analysis, Teacher Unions, Tests & Assessments
United Teachers Los Angeles approves teacher evaluation deal
United Teachers Los Angeles announced Saturday that teachers had ratified by a 2-to-1 margin the framework for evaluating teachers that negotiators for the union and Los Angeles Unified reached in November. The two sides reached a court-ordered deal after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled in June that the Stull Act, the state law governing teacher evaluations, requires that the district include standardized test scores in a teacher’s review. Both sides claimed victory with the agreement. Standardized test results and still-to-be-determined district assessments will be among several measures of student academic progress – something that the district had sought. However, the district’s method of calculating the impact of an individual teacher on students’ scores, called Academic Growth Over Time, which UTLA adamantly opposes, will not count as part of an … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluation, Featured, Quick Hits, Teachers
EdWatch 2013: Teacher evaluation law will be taken on again
Breakthrough agreements in two California school districts and a much anticipated report on improving teacher effectiveness have raised expectations that it might actually be possible to amend or rewrite the state’s outdated and ineffective state law on teacher evaluations in a way that can work for both unions and school districts. Prospects looked bleak four months ago. A frenetic effort to rewrite California’s 40-year-old Stull Act died when Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes, a San Fernando Democrat, withdrew … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluation, Evaluations, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Teacher Collaboration, Teacher Unions
Policymakers react to StudentsFirst’s ‘F’ for California
California’s policy efforts to improve student achievement earned an F from StudentsFirst, the Sacramento-based advocacy group led by Michelle Rhee, the former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor. The state ranked 41st in the nation on education policies in three major areas involving teachers, parents and school finance and governance. No state earned an A, and more than two-thirds of states received D’s or F’s on the group’s State Policy Report Card. “While there is great momentum for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Advocates for Education, Evaluation, Reporting & Analysis, School Choice, Systemic Change, Teacher Pay, Teachers, Tenure
Video Highlights from
2013 EdSource Symposium
Transforming Public Education: What's Next For
Students, Teachers and Schools
- In Partnership with the California State PTA -
May 4th symposium in San Jose featured a number of prominent speakers on key challenges in education today, including Linda Darling-Hammond, Martha Kanter, and Pedro Noguera.
You can find video of those speakers and more at our new YouTube channel by clicking below.
Evolving from professional development to professional learning
May 23rd, 2013 | Add a Comment | By Ellen Moir / commentary
Every student deserves an effective teacher, one who is always seeking the very best ways to reach each student. While there has always been an onus on teachers to commit to improving, state and district leaders must also improve professional learning opportunities for teachers. Fortunately, as a state, we are beginning to take strides in this direction. In September, a task force convened by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s office released “Greatness by Design.” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Evaluation, Featured, Preparation, Teachers