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Changing Schools
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personnel evaluations?
Find research, tips, and lessons learned for choosing and implementing an evaluation system in our new issue of Changing Schools.
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Project Seeks to Trace Development of Novice Teachers’ Skills
Education Week
At the University of Denver, a three-year, federally funded study is now underway that seeks to determine a measurable, comprehensive set of beginning-teacher competencies. The project has three distinct phases-defining a set of nine “core competencies,” identifying how much exposure teacher candidates have to those competencies during training, and determining whether candidates who embody those competencies are linked to improved student achievement. Twenty-one of Colorado’s teacher-education programs are participating in the study; researchers have requested data from 24 school districts, including Denver and Jefferson County. Though the study’s first year is only now wrapping up, researchers say the results indicate that Colorado teacher education programs differ quite a lot in what they emphasize.
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How Reading Literature Stimulates Your Brain
eSchool News
Humanities scholar Natalie Phillips is working with Stanford University scientists to examine what effect reading literature, specifically Jane Austin’s Mansfield Park, had on the brain. Phillips asked 25 graduate students to read first for pleasure and then critically and analytically. Participants first read the second chapter of Mansfield Park to “get used to the idea” and, then they were placed inside an MRI scanner to read the chapter again from a mirror above them. A computer program tracked their eye movements, their heart rates, and their breathing as the scanner mapped blood flow in the brain. She found that when participants engaged in critical reading, there was notable activity in regions of the brain outside of those responsible for “executive function,” which are normally used for tasks like reading. Significantly, she added, close reading “activated unbelievably widespread parts of the brain that are immensely cognitively complex, on par with doing hard math problems or working through computer code.” Phillips hopes that her findings might give “new polish to the battered reputation of a liberal arts degree.”
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| New Articles
Common Core Quick-Start: Fostering Creativity Through Rigor
ASCD Express
McREL’s Robin Wisniewski and Kirsten Miller explain how the increased rigor of the Common Core State Standards doesn’t mean just more or harder work but more complex work. Complex learning, they write, requires critical thinking skills, and critical thinking skills support creativity. They suggest ways teachers can foster creativity in a rigorous environment, such as instilling interest, teaching multiple viewpoints, and providing choice.
Common Core Quick-Start: Three Steps for Creating a Professional Learning Network
ASCD Express
McREL’s Robin Wisniewski and Kirsten Miller outline how to use professional learning networks (PLNs) to support implementation of the Common Core State Standards. They define PLNs, give resources, and offer three steps to developing and launching a PLN: assess your needs and capacity for creating a PLN; plan your structure, process, and Common Core content; and launch and monitor your PLN. |
| Survey Suggests Hurdles for Math, Science Teaching
Education Week
The Report of the 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education highlights the need to support math and science teachers as districts begin implementing the Common Core Mathematics Standards and the forthcoming science standards. A survey of about 7,800 educators found that just one-third of middle school math teachers have a degree in mathematics or math education. Fewer than half of elementary teachers feel “very well prepared” to teach science, and just one in five K–3 educators teach science every day. Many do not require students to explain and justify their method for solving a math problem or to supply evidence in support of a scientific claim, approaches emphasized in the new math and science standards. Francis Fennell, an education professor at McDaniel College in Westminster MD, and former president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, said “[This survey] sends a message…We have to continually attend to those issues in the implementation of a [common-core-focused] curriculum that is deeper, more challenging and implies that teachers have that content and pedagogical background.”
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| New survey identifies trends, challenges, and priorities that drive technology planning and purchasing decisions
EdTech Magazine
The Consortium for School Networking conducted a K–12 IT Leadership Survey to investigate how education leaders are leveraging technology to foster engaging learning environments, how these efforts have changed over time, and how the choices made today will shape tomorrow. Administered by MCH Strategic Data, the survey, completed by 250 of the 2,500 IT leaders who received it, found:
- 80 percent of the respondents predicted flat or declining IT budgets for the next school year.
- The top three initiatives they are focused on are bring-your-own-device programs, readiness for the Common Core-mandated online assessments, and adequate broadband access.
- The three biggest challenges they face are limited budgets and resources, transitioning to a student-centered culture of teaching, and breaking down district silos.
- Two-thirds of respondents earn less than $100,000, whereas the average annual salary for chief technology officers in business exceeds $190,000.
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Indiana educators report positive benefits of McREL evaluation system
StaceyPageOnline.com
Last spring, teachers and leaders in Wawasee, Indiana chose the McREL teacher evaluation system for use in their school district. After nearly a year with the system, principals and teachers are reporting positive benefits, saying that it has encouraged professional dialogue between administrators and teachers, reinforced growth and good instructional practices, and aligns with the attributes of successful school districts. Schools in the nearby communities of Bremen and Middlebury also use McREL’s evaluation system.
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PBS Kids Play! now offers streaming music service PRweb.com
PBS Kids Play!, a cross-curricular adaptive learning program that aligns to the Common Core State Standards and to McREL benchmarks, is now offering a streaming music service, free to all subscribers, to help reinforce curriculum lessons for students in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. PBS Kids Play! features characters and interactive games to provide “a highly engaging educational environment that helps students develop academic, social, and creative thinking skills critical for school success.”
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Omaha.com
The Nebraska Board of Education, representing one of only five states not to adopt the Common Core, has contracted with McREL to do a line-by-line comparison of Nebraska standards and the Common Core. The analysis will show how the two sets of standards compare in terms of scope, specificity, emphasis, and phrasing, serving as a critical benchmark as the debate continues about how not adopting the Common Core will affect the state. |
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Our latest catalog features evidence-based products and services designed to improve student learning and achievement. Topics include academic literacy instruction and quality teaching for English learners.
Formative assessment in the classroom appears to have great potential for improving instruction and learning. Find out more in these new free papers.
Common Core State Standards take effect at the start of the 2014/2015 school year. Visit our new Common Core website to learn about services and resources designed to help educators make a smooth and successful transition.
Reflective supervision: What is it and how is it done? This DVD is designed to train infant and early childhood program supervisors and practitioners on this important managerial technique.
Learn more about school improvement efforts nationwide in the latest issue of SchoolsMovingUpdate.
