October 1, 2015 | Sign up to receive The Teachers Edition.
In This Issue
 Teachers came to the Teach to Lead conference in Tacoma, Wash., with ideas about how to improve their schools. They left feeling empowered with action plans, a support network, and a collection of colleagues' ideas.
Teach to Lead
Twenty-nine teacher teams met in Tacoma, Wash., last weekend for the fifth Teach to Lead summit, where teachers exchanged ideas to improve their schools and discussed plans to put those ideas into action. Over the past year-and-a-half, more than 560 ideas for expanding teacher leadership have been submitted from all over the country, and it's only just the beginning of the effort to empower teachers to lead the improvement of their schools, says Secretary Duncan. Stay tuned to teachtolead.org to participate in the next summit.
Students with Disabilities
 Denver (Colo.) 10-year-old Jayden Vaden has been wearing a prosthetic eye for the last nine years. Now, inspired by rapper Fetty Wap, who lost an eye to glaucoma during his childhood, Jayden has "the confidence to be different." After Jayden's mom posted on Instagram about her son's newfound confidence, Fetty Wap (aka Willie Maxwell) responded: "All I wanna do is show [people] that it's not how you look or what you see, it's how you see it and what [you're] looking for from yourself." (theGrio.com)
 Professional Development Reimagined. In ASCD Edge, Tom Whitby writes about how to give The Age-Old Faculty Meeting [a] Facelift. He suggests using technology to “flip” learning for adults as a way to boost engagement, and ultimately model what we are advocating for our classrooms. Meanwhile, The National Writing Project Radio highlights three National Writing Project school leaders – in Oklahoma, Oregon and South Carolina – who share what professional development and support looks like at their schools.
The Power of Vision Setting. PBS Learning Media has developed a video of two principals - William C. Bassell, principal of the Academy of American Studies in Long Island City, N.Y., and Susan Bearse, principal of Berkeley Lake Elementary School in Duluth, Ga. - and follows how they have worked to develop a vision for academic success and high expectations for their students.
Investing in Your Teachers. Teacher Phyllis Hoffman celebrates her principal in her blog, “Great School Culture, It Starts with the Principal." She shares how her principal invests time, money and resources in teacher development and creates opportunities for teacher leadership. Hoffman says her colleagues don’t have this experience in their schools. However, schools are innovating across the country and teacher leadership continues to grow as a meaningful way to invest in schools.
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Non-Public Education
 Pope Francis visited an East Harlem Catholic school last week and assigned students' homework: to "please don't forget to pray for me." Our Lady Queen of Angels School serves a mostly black and Latino student population and almost closed a few years ago when the church it partnered with shut down. Throughout his U.S. tour – including this stop – Pope Francis encouraged acceptance for undocumented immigrants. Nearly 2 million students attend U.S. Catholic schools. (CNN.com)
The Survey Says
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Eighty-one percent of recent high school graduates rated their teachers as "excellent" or "good" in a survey, and 75 percent gave their high schools grades of A or B. Read more about how young Americans perceive their high school experience. While most said they have a positive perception of their high school experience, they felt that their preparedness for college and career was lower than expected (UnivisionNoticias.com). |
Say Something Week
Sandy Hook Promise wants to prevent acts of violence, including
suicide and threats to others, before the incident occurs. In 4 out of 5 school
shootings, the attacker told people of his/her plans ahead of time and 70% of
people who die by suicide told someone of their intention or gave some type of
warning or indication.
Schools and youth organizations can register to participate in Say Something Week October 19 - 23, and help their students be trained in how to prevent
tragedies and “Say Something” to a trusted adult. By participating they may also be eligible to
apply for a special $10,000 “Say Something” award.
 Text messaging can have a major positive impact on student achievement. Studies have shown that strategic texts have helped students persevere through their first year of college, helped parents of preschoolers get their kids ready to read, and led to decreases in the dropout rate at certain schools.
(Benjamin Castleman, University of Virginia professor and author of "The 160-Character Solution: How Text Messaging and Other Behavioral Strategies Can Improve Education," as referenced in a recent column by The Hechinger Report columnist Chris Berdik).
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Tia Thompson
Editor's note: The following is part of a series reporting on excellent African American educators. Educators were selected by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
 Tia Thompson is a 3rd Grade Teacher at Claxton Elementary in Guilford County,
North Carolina. She is distinguished as a Top 5 Teacher of the Year Level for Guilford
County Schools.
Why and how did you decide
upon a career in education?
Despite the odds of poverty and family
structure, I knew, at an early age, that I wanted to grow the minds of young
people. I believe education is the most
effective tool to build a better society for all people.
What is the one thing you
most celebrate about your students?
I adore the compassion and open-mindedness of my students. They will build bridges to create friendships
with others that may differ from them.The story of six year old Ruby Bridges echoes the
compassion and unprejudiced attitudes of children.
In what ways do you
encourage parents, family members, and other caring adults to support the
learning and development of African American students?
I encourage families to take the driver’s seat, because I’m just the road map. My
role is to guide and provide learning tools to help them succeed to the next
level. I pour out technology-based
resources as well as strategies to build good readers and 21st Century thinkers.
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Prison Education
 Students from the Bard Prison Initiative debate team challenged members of the Harvard College Debating Union last month. In spite of a range of disadvantages – a topic they disagreed with, a lack of Internet access for research – the inmates won. "We might not be as naturally rhetorically gifted, but we work really hard," said Alex Hall, who is convicted of manslaughter. The prison initiative has had a major impact on recidivism and has many similar programs in other states, like this one in Philadelphia recently featured on NPR. (Brody, WSJ.com)
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"Always share and be nice to everyone and make sure no one feels left out."
(Willa Cates, a student at Dewey Elementary School in Evanston, Ill., when asked for advice for kindergarteners by WBEZ public radio station.)
Education Policy
Limited Resources
 Understanding the Gap. A new report, School Composition
and the Black-White Achievement Gap, finds that the grade 8 mathematics
achievement of black and white students is lower, on average, in public schools
with a higher percentage of black students than in schools with lower
percentages of black students. The report explores the black-white achievement
gap as it relates to a school's demographic composition (National Center for Education Statistics).
Children in Poverty. According to the 2014 American Community Survey, 1 in 5 kids still live in poverty. The results suggest that the country’s economic recovery is still leaving the lowest-income families behind (Annie
E. Casey Foundation).
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Resources for Educators
 Video Worth Watching
Incorporating engineering design principles into your science classroom is not as difficult as it may seem. Watch what happens when engineers and educators collaborate. In
partnership with Boeing, classroom teacher Jessica Levine revisits the
properties of matter and introduces students to polymeric materials and their
properties (TeachingChannel).
 • Majors and Race. All degrees aren't equal, according to Major Malfunction from the Young Invincibles. African American and
Latino students are over-represented in the lowest-paying majors and equally
scarce in high-paying majors.
• Law of the Land. The National
Constitution Center and the College Board are launching a new online tool
called the Interactive Constitution. Users will be able to click on any
provision of the U.S. Constitution and read what leading scholars from across
the philosophical and political spectrum have to say about its meaning.
• Better Informed = Better Schools. Check out the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders' latest Professional Learning Module, Supporting Principals Using Teacher
Effectiveness Data for ways to use teacher effectiveness
data to make hiring, staffing, teacher leadership and professional development
decisions.
• Banned Books. This week is the American Library Association's Banned Book Week. Celebrate by grabbing one of these titles and starting a debate with your class.
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 Wisdom from educators heard by ED
5. "I would love to see our country take education as seriously as we do sports or military. It breaks my heart on a daily basis to see the millions of dollars being spent on these things when kids are not able to read." (Teacher, Illinois)
4. "A professional development conference can't replace me going into a classroom and watching another great teacher." (Teacher, Iowa)
3. On a recent Teach to Lead Summit: "I never dreamed our idea would get so far. I've never been to anything like it." (Teacher, Nebraska)
2. "I am the best teacher when I am not restricted by the clock, the walls, or the standardized test." (Teacher, Illinois)
1. "Hearing people say I'm just a teacher is like hearing a super hero say I'm just a super hero." (Teacher, Washington)
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