Teachers Closer to the Common Core 

Value the State Standards More

According to a recent Scholastic survey of teachers across the country, Primary Sources, the Common Core State Standards are not only taking root, but the longer teachers have been immersed in teaching the new standards, the more they value them. 

38% of the teachers whose schools are in early stages of implementation say the Common Core is going well; 79% of those who teach in schools where the transition is underway and mostly complete are satisfied; 86% of those who completed the transition last year are pleased.

56% of the teachers in early stages are enthusiastic about the Common Core; 73% of those whose implementation is mostly complete or completed last year are enthusiastic; 80% of those completed the Common Core two years ago are enthusiastic supporters. 

Most teachers (53%) say they have seen positive changes in their students’ abilities to think critically, reason, effectively present ideas based on evidence; 50% on reading and comprehending informational texts. 

Learn more (Toppo, USA Today). Download the report.

ASK ARNE

Teacher Diversity Matters

In the latest Ask Arne video, 2013 Teaching Ambassador Fellow Joiselle Cunningham and Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans David Johns sit down with Arne Duncan to discuss a subject they are all passionate about: teacher diversity.  

Discussing the demographic makeup of teachers, Duncan contends that our nation's teaching talent should "reflect the great diversity of our nation's school children."

Among other related topics, the trio consider the challenges and opportunities that diversity can bring for students and adults at school. 

"Teaching isn't rocket science," Johns says. "It's a lot harder." Watch the video.   

SCHOOL RESOURCES 

Prevent Bullying

There are many new resources for schools, communities, districts and states to prevent bullying. The Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention released a variety of helpful tools aimed at informing youth, those who work with youth, members of the media, parents, and schools. These resources and more are found at Stopbullying.gov or by reading the recap (Gorscak and Sisaye, Homeroom). 

CTQ

Optimizing Precious Teacher Time

A group of Kentucky teachers is recommending that teachers spend more time collaborating with peers, restructure schedules to optimize student and professional learning time, and rethink and reallocate classroom time. The Center for Teaching Quality has created an amazing shareable infographic, a series of blog posts, and a Prezi presentation on the subject. Learn more.  

Attracting Top Talent

The long-held notion that it's getting harder to attract top talent into the profession is no longer true.

Source: Dan Goldhaber, researcher and American Institutes for Research (AIR) vice president and director of the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research Program at AIR.

 In an article in The Quick and the ED, Goldhaber writes, "It is certainly true that teaching is a difficult job. And there is indeed academic evidence confirming that the profession faced increased difficulties drawing top academic talent (judged, for instance, by SAT scores) into public schools since the 1960s, when more occupations opened up to female and minority college graduates. But a recently published study I did with Joe Walch finds that the situation has changed dramatically since the 1990s. Recent college graduates with median and high (90th percentile) SAT scores were more likely to enter the teaching profession than other occupations in 2008 than in 2000 and 1993. In fact, the average SAT score of college graduates who went on to become teachers in 2008 was greater than that of college graduates who opted for other occupations, reversing a long-term trend."

EVALUATIONS BY EDUCATORS, FOR EDUCATORS.  Colorado teachers have helped the state develop an educator effectiveness system designed to give teachers better feedback on how to prepare students for success in college and careers. Read more (Progress).

STEM + A = STEAM. Bracken STEAM Academy’s focus on science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics combined with holding students to higher standards has led to changes in the culture of the Las Vegas school. Read more (Barison, Homeroom).

Principal Chat

SUPPORTIVE DISCIPLINE. The National Clearinghouse on Supportive School Discipline has unveiled an online repository of resources designed to make it easier for educators to replace zero tolerance policies with positive approaches to discipline that can keep kids in class and out of the “school-to-prison pipeline.” The site features research-based alternatives to suspension and expulsion, focusing on changing the culture of schools in which discipline is not being dispensed even-handedly. 

TEACHER EVALUATION INNOVATIONS PRESENT CHALLENGES. In a policy brief published by the Research on Urban Education Policy Initiative at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the authors contend that more complex teacher evaluations will depend on the will, skill and capacity of school leaders (Cosner, Kimball, Barkowski, Carl, and Jones, Consortium for Policy Research in Education).

PEER-TO-PEER OBSERVATION. This blog post from ASCD faculty member Jason Flom,“Peer-to-Peer Observation: Five Questions for Making it Work,” discusses five questions teachers should answer when developing a culture of effective peer observations and five supports leadership must offer. 

Good Stuff for Eduwonks

Below are highlights of some of ED's most recent grant announcements.

FULBRIGHT HAYS. $4.3 million in grants for Fulbright Hays international education programs. The grants will be made to 49 institutions and organizations in 24 states and the District of Columbia: Learn more. 

ARTS EDUCATION. $13.4 million to 34 organizations to help arts educators grow and improve arts instruction, and share effective models of arts in education that support student achievement in the arts and other areas. Learn more.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. More than $121 million in grants to improve the outcomes of individuals with disabilities—from cradle through career. The investments are aimed at promoting inclusion, equity and opportunity for all children and adults with disabilities to help ensure their economic self-sufficiency, independent living and full community participation. Learn more.

PREPARING AND KEEPING TURNAROUND PRINCIPALS. $20 million to support principals in turnaround schools. Learn more.

EXPANDNG HIGH-QUALITY CHARTERS. $39.7 million for 27 grants to expand high quality charter schools, and open new charter schools across the nation. These grants will support charter schools’ efforts to increase high-need students’ success, especially in under-served areas, in 12 states. Learn more.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE. 269 grants, totaling $63,354,605 to institutions of higher education to strengthen the capacity and performance of American education in foreign languages, international and area studies, teacher preparation, and international business education. Learn more.

Tools for Students

EARTH SCIENCE WEEK CONTESTS. Students can enter any of these three contests in honor of Earth Science week, October 12 - 18: Photography Contest (all ages), Visual Arts Contest (grades k-5), and Essay Contest (grades 6-12). Selected entries for each contest will win $300 and a copy of AGI’s Geoscience Handbook. The entry deadline for all three contests is Oct. 17, 2014.

STUDENT LOAN MISTAKES I WISH I HAD KNOWN. Before you’re overwhelmed by student loan repayments, take a look at some of the lessons learned and tools from someone who has traveled that path (Callahan, Homeroom).

Teachers' Notes

• PROFESSIONAL LEARNING REIMAGINED. This digital issue of Educational Leadership, “Professional Learning: Reimagined,” is available and free all month from ASCD. The articles feature such topics as professional learning communities, Edcamps, and classroom observation.

• THE POWER OF EXPECTATIONS. A Center for American Progress report, The Power of the Pygmalion Effect, by Ulrich Boser, Megan Wilhelm, and Robert Hanna, makes the case that people do better when more is expected of them. In education circles, this is called the Pygmalion Effect, and the research for this report suggests that there is an important and direct link between teacher expectations and future educational attainment. The conclusion: education leaders need to pay attention to the standards’ implementation to ensure that they create higher expectations for students. Read more about the study's findings that teachers expect less from black and Hispanic students in EdWeek, Huffington Post and The Rundown (PBS).

• Rx FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. Washington remains one of the few states where the achievement gap is actually growing. To examine that problem, Teachers United, an organization that develops dedicated educators to become leaders for excellence and equity in Washington’s schools, proposed innovative solutions to that challenge. In their new report, Intentionality: Strategic Preparation and Development to Retain Our Most Effective Teachers, they explore preparation, professional development, and retention because these elements are critical to building and sustaining a high quality teaching workforce.

• HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE. Enter the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow contest for a chance to win a share of $2,000,000 in technology and prizes for your school. Teachers and students with innovative ideas for how to use STEM to solve an environmental challenge in their local communities may want to participate. You’ll also be eligible for the Environmental Sustainability Innovation Award – an additional $25,000 in Samsung tech. Learn more.  

• STEM'S LATEST DARLING? ROBOTICS. This interesting article in the Boston Globe reports how schools in Boston, Mass. and across the US are “deciding it’s worth the investment to add course work in robotics” in order to promote STEM education and prepare students for a technologically advanced workforce. Read more (Fitzgerald). 

• A DAY IN THE LIFE. Last week, quite a few readers clicked links to videos featuring a day in the life of an Argentinian teacher  and a Belgian teacher. Since then, Education International has released the full-length video with many more stories of teachers across the globe, all of whom have a compelling story to tell (41 minutes).

• BETTER HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES, BETTER ECONOMY. President Obama extolled the progress in America’s schools and the connection to the growing economy  in a recent speech at Northwestern University.  Read portions of his remarks in which he very clearly articulates the link between education and economic growth (Homeroom).

• MEANINGFUL PRAISE. 2010 National Teacher of the Year Sarah Brown Wessling explains that if teachers go beyond saying something is “great,” they can make feedback and praise more meaningful to students. In her blog, 25 Alternatives to Using the Word “Great,” she urges teachers to come up with their own alternative phrases (Teaching Channel).

ROADBLOCKS TO COLLEGE

The Center for Public Education has issued a report indicating that of the 21 percent of the high school class of 2004 that didn’t enroll in college, 67 percent began high school believing they would attend. Many (46 percent) have parents whose highest level of education was a high school diploma, and most say they took fewer academic courses than their college-going peers, as opposed to vocational courses.

Recommended Reading

• CHARTER SCHOOLS STATE CHECK-UPS. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has issued a report that ranks the “health” of the public charter school movement in 25 states and the District of Columbia. The report covers 11 indicators of growth, innovation and quality, and highlights states where public charter schools are achieving notable gains for an increasing number of students enrolled, particularly for those historically under-served by our nation’s public education system. It also identifies the states where public charter schools have yet to live up to their promise. The District of Columbia and Louisiana received the highest rankings, while Oregon and Nevada ranked 25 and 26.

• WHY THIS EDUCATOR'S TOUGH EVALUATION MADE HIM A BETTER TEACHER. The teachers at ED love this refreshing piece by Denver, Colo. social studies teacher Tom Bergen. Bergen writes that his early experience with teacher evaluation makes him sweat "just thinking and writing about it. Having gone through his school's new evaluation system, Bergen confesses, "For the first time in my career I feel like I’m working with a teacher evaluation system that is fair, clear, and growth-oriented." 

Top 5 Quotes

Wisdom from educators heard by ED

5. “I wonder how technology can support us in what we already do, instead of being just another new thing to figure out?” (Teacher, Nashville, Tenn.)

4. “How do we create a cultural shift where the general public’s idea is that education is truly an investment and not an expense?” (Teacher, Nashville, Tenn.)

3. "Principals who are moved a lot by their district don't make lasting change." (Principal, Ocala, Fla.)

2. “At the end of the day, we teach children. They love to laugh and be silly and have time to learn through play. I feel like in educational policy, this often gets forgotten and we’re trying to force students to be something that they aren’t.” (Teacher, Dunwoody, Ga.)

1. “Teacher leadership is the most powerful force in creating school change.” (Teacher, Chattanooga, Tenn.)