Diane RavitchThe editors and reporters at the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Education Week, were flat out wrong about what Randi Weingarten said in her speech, says Education commentator Diane Ravitch on the Huffington Post today. We agree with Ravitch. The import of the speech, one that contained serious and groundbreaking proposals, was distorted by editors and even reporters who seem strangely locked into paradigms that prevent them from recognizing common sense when the source is a teacher union president.

Randi WeingartenIn a comprehensive speech at the National Press Club today entitled "A New Path forward," AFT President Randi Weingarten offered a new approach to reform designed to replace the conflict ridden approach of the past decade. The plan provides 1. a template for teacher evaluation, standards and learning outcomes, 2. a new approach to due process, 3. commitment to providing the conditions teachers need to be successful, and 4. labor/managment relationships based on trust and respect.

Dan PinkPublic SchooL Insights editor Claus von Zastrow scooped the rest of the bloggesphere with his timely interview with best selling business author Dan Pink on the release of Pink's latest book, entitled Drive.  Although not aimed primarily at an education audience, Pink's aim is to offer advice to employers about how to motivate employees and unleash their creativity. Nowhere is that more important than in education. Reliance on "carrot and stick" extrinsic motivators is actually counterproductive to that purpose, Pink reveals. Yet another wake-up call to those reformers who continue to design human capital development schemes that involve paying and punishing for test scores.

NAEDA New Report from the National Academy of Education "Good Teaching Matters," released October 30, 2009 argues that the quality of education is not simply determined by an individual teacher's knowledge or ability, but also by the context in which teachers work. Improving teacher quality thus entails policies concerning recruitment, early preparation, retention (including attention to working conditions) as well as professional development.

Susan Moore JohnsonIn a new EPI Briefing Paper released October 26th, Harvard Professor Susan Moore Johnson summarizes recent research that argues that reforms focused solely on individual teachers falls short. The now conventional wisdom that the way to improve education is to find talented teachers, assign them to classrooms, and hold them accountable for raising student standardized test scores has not led to the desired results. Rather, she argues, we need to focus on the structure and culture of schools and the ways that teachers work together. We need to build the professional capacity of schools as learning communities. 

Redesigning Teacher PayA new book by Harvard professor Susan Moore Johnson and John Papay, published by the Economic Policy Institute, analyzes the state of  "pay for performance" plans and the mistakes made. They then make recommendations for how pay for performance should be used. Its a very useful overview, received praise from Randi Weingarten, and could change the thinking of some district superintendents. The link to the EPI site includes an audio transcript of the book event with insightful comments by Tom Toch and Rob Weil.

Richard RothsteinIn Comments released Tuesday, Economic Policy Institute (EPI) education policy analyst Richard Rothstein sees an opportunity to get it right this time if Duncan's Education Department follows through on their own explicit critique of the mistakes of the first NCLB. Don't punish schools in poor neighborhoods by failing to address the resources gap necessary to meet high expectations, and don't rely on flawed standardized tests as the accountability measure, he cautions. The rush to re-authorize, on the other hand, could lead to a repeat of all the mistakes under Bush II.

Richard KahlenbergThe frequency and ferocity of attacks on teacher unions has increased, as if orchestrated as a national campaign by pundits and a network of conservative think tanks. Richard Kahlenberg responded eloquently today to the irrational piling on by the enemies of teacher unions.

School TurnaroundIn a September 2nd Ed Week Commentary Richard Kahlenberg notes an odd, unnecessarily polarizing, character to the debate on trunaround schools. The strategy that simplemindedly replaces the teachers and principal has to be re-thought, recommends Kahlenberg. We should learn from strategies that have worked in Wake County, NC and elsewhere rather than continuing to opt for the "heroic model" that cannot be sustained.  His piece calls for a more serious approach to school turnarounds and is worth a read.

It's More Than MoneyAuthor William Slotnik, of CTAC, the outfit that advised Denver in the design of ProComp, has this week's Commentary in Ed Week and issued a very useful report -- "It's More Than Money" that describes the Six Cornerstones that need to be in place for Pay For Performance to work.

Broader, Bolder ApproachThe Broader, Bolder Approach coalition formed a year ago, today issued its first task force report. The subject?  School Accountability -- A Broader, Bolder Approach. Or as most understood it to mean... what we and the public need to replace NCLB? The diverse coalition that included undersecretaries of education from the Clinton and both Bush administrations, representatives from the NEA and AFT, and individuals leading a broad aray of education advocacy groups came together around a bold new direction.

Fixing TenureIndependent researcher Joan Snowden, today issued a report, Fixing Tenure, that debunks popular myths on tenure, while calling for making tenure more meaningful and rigorous. The same report offers a critique and guidance for what teacher evaluation systems need to look like to be effective. Snowden specifically takes on the issue of inappropriate uses of student test scores in teacher evaluation and specifically what is wrong with tieing teacher evaluation to student test score outcomes.

Teacher Evaluation to Raise Teacher QualityThe Center of American Progress issued today a new study on teacher evaluation So Long, Lake Wobegon? by University of Connecticut professor Morgaen Donaldson. While presenting evidence that most teacher evaluation systems add little value to the quality of teaching Donaldson offers a clear roadmap for what good teacher evaluation systems need to do. The system needs to have credibility with teachers, use multiple evaluators and measures, offer professional development, provide accountability for evaluators, and needs to be i

When the Denver teachers' union developed its infamous Pro Comp pay for performance system a decade ago, the union's point person was a smart union leader named Brad Jupp. The detail person who led the design team and sold the plan to the administration and to teachers, Brad then had a falling out with the union. He went to work as special assistant to the new, young superintendent in Denver, Michael Bennett, where's he's been for the past five years.Read more

Dal LawrenceHave you ever wondered why, if peer review is so successful, it isn't being proposed for consideration by every teacher union local and district in the country? Well, now there are no excuses. Harvard University Professor Susan Moore-Johnson's team just launched a very useful web site on Peer Review at their Project On the Next Generation of Teachers Web site,  with everything you rever wanted to know about Peer Assistance and Review as it is practiced successfully in districts across the country.