What Teachers Are Talking About This Week
April 28, 2016 | Sign up to receive The Teachers Edition.
Nearly half of all new teachers will leave their classrooms within five years -- a move that will cost districts some $2.2 billion per year to replace them. Among the top reasons are a lack of autonomy and student misbehavior (Phillips, NPR). Meanwhile, a nationwide survey of college freshmen revealed that the number who intend to major in teaching has reached its lowest point in 45 years (Flannery, NEAToday). ED's proposal for states and districts to make teaching the best job in the world sounds more and more urgent to this writer.
Classroom walkthroughs are pretty popular tools for teacher evaluation, but often they are more about compliance than professional growth. Education Week blogger Peter DeWitt shares eight things that should be looked at on classroom walkthroughs. They include comparing teacher talk and student talk; one researcher found that teachers ask about 200 questions per day, while students ask only two questions per week.
A survey of public school
parents found that 90 percent thought their children were performing on or
above grade level in math and reading. Yet the reality is very different. About
half of white students are on grade level in math and reading by fourth grade;
the percentages are lower for African-Americans and Hispanics. The
solution, according to Bibb Hubbard, who
founded Learning
Heroes, which commissioned the survey, might be in building better relationships between teachers
and parents (Kamenetz, NPR).
Many of the things we do in schools are merely attempts to do "the wrong thing right" rather than "the right thing," according to former teacher Will Richardson. Now a top speaker on education innovation, Richardson names nine "elephants in the classroom" that we know don't work yet we continue to do anyway. On the list are our commitment to "teaching content" even though most students will forget most of it anyway and the fact that most students are bored or disengaged in school (Huffington Post).
 Thousands Of Schools Will Celebrate Character Day
Thousands of schools worldwide are planning for Character Day, an annual celebration of who we are and who we want to be
in the world and how to develop character strengths like resilience, grit,
empathy, and kindness -- all rooted in evidence-based research. Principals and teachers can draw from an online hub of free resources and lesson plans and an online conversation with leading experts on character
education. Watch “The Science of Character” (8 mins) and “The Adaptable Mind” to get a better sense of what types of films will
be shown on Character Day, held September 22, and register before school is out.
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A Tale of Two School Fundraisers: Hot Dogs vs. Gold Coins
Stories about how different American schools are from one another take many forms: they highlight achievement gaps, resource gaps, opportunity gaps, and more. New York City's School-Stories.org took a different approach, covering two very different school fundraisers. At one, a teacher in Queens sold $1 hot dogs and drinks out of her classroom to fund a field trip. At another school, not too far away, raffle tickets were sold for an online auction that sought to raise $275,000 for things like extracurriculars and extended library hours. Meanwhile, NPR recently examined school funding, looking at a district that spends less than $10,000 per student each year as compared to another that spends almost $30,000 per student.
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What Can Be Learned about DLLs. A year and a half after researchers convened for a National Research Summit on the Early Care and Education
of Dual Language Learners (DLLs), they have released five papers that focused on
new directions in research, policy, and practice relative to young DLLs. The papers are now accessible, as are shorter briefs
tailored to various audiences including administrators, policymakers, “policy thinkers,” and a specific set for parents available in seven different
languages.
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Readiness Roadmap. A new survey by our partners at Learning Heroes asked
parents to share their hopes, expectations and concerns when it comes to
raising their kids. The findings? Being a parent comes with big dreams and
common concerns. Check out the Readiness Roadmap for
top-notch resources designed to support parents based on their top priorities. Start here!
 Teachers from 27 states spent last weekend in New Orleans as part of Teach to Lead, a summit designed to empower teachers to bring their leadership ideas to life. Below are some things we heard there. You've got one month to submit your idea to the next summit this summer in Minneapolis.
5. "What do you do with an idea? You change the world" (Teacher, Texas).
4. "There is a misconception in society that teachers aren't leaders. Teaching is leading" (Teacher, Alabama).
3. "Teacher leaders are not just rabble-rousers; they are the key to moving the profession forward" (Teacher, Pennsylvania).
2. "People talk about nurturing the whole child. As leaders, we need to nurture our teachers and think about the whole adult as well" (Administrator, Louisiana).
1. "As teacher leaders, we're responsible for taking back our profession and we have the power to influence colleagues" (Teacher, Louisiana).
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