Will Higher Pay Solve the Worst Teacher Shortage Ever? It Can't Hurt!
Subsidized housing, tax breaks, student loan forgiveness, and more!
School Systems and Teachers Unions Mull Over Performance Pay
The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers recently adopted a new salary structure that ties pay to classroom performance. A teachers union in Colorado continues to refine its three-year-old performance-pay system. Included: Tips for changing your school district's pay system.
A Pickle in the Middle Grades: Report Documents Importance of Teacher Training for Grades Five Through Eight
If their academic preparation in middle school is weak, students are unlikely to succeed in high school. And if their education isn't tailored to meet their developmental needs, the students may become alienated and disengaged and mark time until they are old enough to drop out of high school. The problems are especially acute in urban schools. Those are the conclusions offered in a report from the Philadelphia Fund. Included: Basic requirements for middle school educators!
Testing Teachers Makes Teachers Testy!
All but a few states require prospective teachers to take licensing exams. Those exams --as well as the sometimes-dismal scores -- are stirring up trouble in some states, though. Do the tests help raise the quality of classroom teachers, or is there little correlation between test results and teacher competence? This week, Education World writer Glori Chaika explores the politically polarized issue of teacher testing.
Solving the Substitute Shortage, Part 2: Exploring Other Options
Many school districts, coping with a serious shortage of substitute teachers, can no longer rely on the subs who simply show up and sign up. So schools have explored other options! Included: Information about a new substitute agency, a new substitute union, and a "sub camp" that bridges the gap for new subs.
Solving the Substitute Shortage, Part 1: Four Rules to Keep Your Best Subs Coming Back
Between kindergarten and high school graduation, the average student will spend 187 days --more than one full school year-- with substitute teachers. Learn what schools can do to guarantee the highest quality education possible in the absence of the permanent classroom teacher. Included: Four rules to help keep your best subs coming back and tips for recognizing the contributions of your school's substitutes!
Ed Schools: Are Tomorrow's Teachers Making the Grade?
How are our teacher education institutions doing? How might they improve on what they're doing? As the school year begins, Education World Principal Files principals reflect on new teachers they have hired in recent years. As well prepared as many of those teachers might be, principals say, colleges could do an even better job of training new teachers for the reality of the classroom. Included: Principals reflect on the need for new teachers to have more hands-on experiences, better classroom management skills, a keener awareness of the interpersonal skills needed to thrive in the school culture, and more!
Does High Teacher Pay = High Achievement? A Study Says No!
A new, in-depth report takes a look at how states spend education money and finds that the most cost-effective ways of increasing student achievement are by reducing pupil-teacher ratios, providing more prekindergarten programs, and providing teachers with discretionary classroom resources --- not by raising teacher pay.
Teachers at the Bottom of the Class for Professional Pay
Released last week by the American Federation of Teachers, the survey shows that although salary increases were slightly higher than the national inflation rate, the nation's teachers still earn less than many white-collar professionals do. Included: Look up the average salary for teachers in your state!
Out-of-Field Teaching: How Qualified Is *Your* Child's Teacher?
Teacher shortages, primarily in the areas of special education, math, and science, vary by region and by school district, but critical shortages do exist throughout the country. If your child's teacher has inadequate preparation in the subject she or he teaches, is that the equivalent of educational fraud?
Is the Teacher in the Classroom Next Door a Convicted Felon?
Discovering that felons work in school systems happens more often than one might wish. This week, Education World examines the problems that have led many communities and states to require background checks for all school personnel. Included: Practical tips from attorneys and other experts who specialize in school safety issues.
Teachers Tackle Testing: The Scoop on Teacher Assessment
A Harvard graduate, a Boston University graduate, and an MIT Ph.D. failed the Massachusetts new-teacher assessment test. How do you think you would do on it?
