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San Jose Unified, teachers reach breakthrough evaluation, pay plan
The superintendent of San Jose Unified and leaders of the district’s teachers union have agreed on an innovative evaluation and compensation system that, if implemented, would be significantly different from any in California. With education groups in Sacramento and legislators still bruised over a grueling, failed effort to revise the state’s teacher evaluation law last summer, the San Jose plan offers hope that a progressive compromise on divisive issues is possible. Among the significant features in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluations, Featured, Parents, Reporting & Analysis, Teacher Pay, Teacher Unions
A missed opportunity to reform teacher evaluations
The Chicago teachers’ strike is the most recent example of how bloody the ideological debate over teacher evaluation has become in this country. Though not the only issue in Chicago, how to evaluate teachers and the role of standardized tests in that process has been at the core of the contentiousness in the Windy City. In California, we recently saw our own version of the teacher evaluation debate turn toxic with the demise of AB 5. Assemblymember … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Evaluations, Featured, Teacher Collaboration, Teacher Unions
Undiscussed in Chicago: Recruiting the best to teach the poorest
“Our most glaring problem is still recruitment/preparation of good teachers & principals and that’s no closer to being solved.” So tweeted Seth Lavin (@SethLavin), a teacher in Chicago, in reaction to the recent settlement of the high-profile teachers strike in that same city (a strike he supported). Not only do I wholeheartedly agree with Seth, but I believe the entire political-spectacle-slash-debacle we just watched unfold in the Windy City illustrates everything, and I mean everything, that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Evaluations, Featured, Teacher Pay, Teacher Unions, Tenure
Duncan tight-lipped on California’s waiver
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wouldn’t reveal even a hint regarding the status of California’s request for a waiver from the most unrealistic provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, in an interview on Wedneday. Duncan only reiterated what state education officials have already acknowledged. “Our staff is still in conversation with the state, so we’re still working on it,” the Secretary told EdSource Today in a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluations, Featured, No Child Left Behind, Reporting & Analysis, Teacher Unions
Post-AB 5: Focus on substantial areas of agreement on evaluations
Last month’s legislative drama involving Assembly Bill 5 provided a snapshot of the dysfunctional politics of education policy, with distrust and division inflaming what should be worked out in a calm and straightforward manner. All stakeholders would welcome teacher evaluation improvements, but disagreements about the nature of the reform unfortunately dominated discussion, pushing aside areas of likely consensus. If the debate could be grounded in evidence, research on best practices, and areas of agreement, California could … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Evaluations, Featured, Teachers
More amendments coming to AB 5, including sunset clause
With the list of opponents mounting, the author of a bill to rewrite the state’s 40-year-old teacher evaluation law rushed Wednesday to amend the bill for the third time to try to get it through Senate committees and on to the floor of the Legislature by the end of the session tomorrow. Meeting hastily Wednesday evening, ambivalent members of the Senate Education Committee approved AB 5 on the condition that Democratic Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes commit to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluations, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Teacher Unions
Continuing to collectively bargain over teacher evaluation makes sense
As professionals, educators practice their vocation with seriousness and dedication with the single purpose of helping students. The California Teachers Association believes it is a primary part of our mission to improve the conditions of teaching and learning and to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education. CTA supports pending legislation, AB 5 by Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes, that has refocused attention on teacher evaluation. Some have expressed criticism that requiring school districts to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Evaluations, Featured, Teacher Unions
Fuentes agrees to compromises on AB 5: Are they enough?
At the 11th hour, the author of the bill to rewrite the teacher evaluation law has offered compromises intended to placate opponents and to qualify the state for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law. The latter may work, but probably not the former. Key amendments to AB 5 that Assembymember Felipe Fuentes released Thursday (see link below in “Going Deeper” for the amendments) don’t appear to have softened the opposition of organizations representing … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluations, Featured, No Child Left Behind, Reporting & Analysis, Standardized tests, Teacher Unions, Tests & Assessments
AB 5 falls short of meeting NCLB waiver requirements
Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes said that the passage of AB 5, the teacher evaluation bill that he authored, could “potentially serve as a key piece” of the state’s application for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law – and free up hundreds of millions of federal dollars to fund districts’ evaluations and other education needs. Erin Gabel, director of legislative affairs of state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, said that AB 5 would make … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluations, No Child Left Behind, Reporting & Analysis, State Board of Education, Teachers, Title I
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.
Contrary to common wisdom, nothing is ‘away’ from the classroom
October 14th, 2012 | 3 Comments | By Seth Rosenblatt / commentary
Readers of my posts know that I often challenge the conventional wisdom within public education circles – a public sector “mythbuster” if you will – whether it be the myth of furlough days or the hollow critique of “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Another of my favorite examples is the all too often stated “truism” that if a school district needs to make budget cuts (as we all have had to do recently), it’s best to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Evaluations, Parents, Principals and Administrators, School Boards