Teaching is a profession that gets a lot of lip-service respect, but is generally dismissed as a career for academic lightweights–mediocre students who get easy As in lackluster education colleges and then struggle to pass basic skills tests. That’s why a credential that rewards excellence and intellectual rigor is an important recognition for accomplished teachers who deserve to be respected… Read more →
Reformers want to “raise the bar” for new teachers and put more Latino and black teachers in the classroom. Can we have better and more diverse teachers? asks Matt Barnum on Chalkbeat. Certification rules and tests disproportionately screen out teachers of color, he writes. In a new report, the Center for American Progress argues that schools can have it all: “Rigorous recruitment and thoughtful selection processes can achieve… Read more →
On August 1, Celine Coggins, a former classroom teacher who founded an organization called Teach Plus, will publish a new book about the importance of engaging teachers in policy development. It’s called “How to Be Heard.” I have just begun reading it, and I am hopeful it will drive dialogue about the role teachers, and especially teachers unions, play in… Read more →
If you Google the terms “teacher shortage” and “teacher turnover,” your hits will light up rather forebodingly. Obviously local conditions affect individual districts in a variety of ways, so not all schools or regions are suffering to the same degree. However, there does seem to be a fairly broad-based national problem of recruitment and retention of K-12 teachers that is… Read more →