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Florida teachers file lawsuit today to stop evaluations that rely on test scores
The controversy over basing teacher evaluations on student performance now moves to a courtroom in Florida after teachers there filed suit today contending the review process violates their rights....
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A teacher explains: Why I won’t resign. A letter of resolution.
I have shared some very passionate teacher resignation letters on the blog, including an incredible one from former local teacher Jordan Kohanim. (If you missed her piece, read it here.) But here is a...
View ArticleGuest column: Atlanta’s improving grades on ‘Nation’s Report Card’ at odds...
Marshall S. Smith is a former under-secretary in the U. S. Department of Education. Nominated by President Bill Clinton, he served from 1993 to 2000. Prior to his appointment as Under Secretary, Smith...
View ArticleMark Elgart: Accreditation means a quality, standardized education
Dr. Mark Elgart is the founding president and CEO of AdvancED, the parent organization for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement as well as...
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Did Michelle Rhee ignore her own cheating scandal? A new memo suggests clear...
Michelle Rhee speaking to Georgia lawmakers last year. (AJC Photo) PBS education reporter John Merrow writes about the erasure analyses, clear evidence of cheating and concealment of that evidence. No,...
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Do weaker math students end up with weaker teachers?
We’ve spent a lot of time on this blog discussing the under performance of Georgia students in math. We’ve debated the controversial and now abandoned math reforms introduced by former state school...
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State moves away from using test scores to assess schools but moves closer to...
Since we are talking about standardized testing related to the teacher letter in an earlier blog today, I want to share a good AJC piece by my colleague Nancy Badertscher. I recommended some experts...
View ArticleTeacher’s parting letter strikes a nerve with equally frustrated peers around...
A letter penned by a retiring Syracuse, N.Y., social studies teacher is getting a lot of reaction since it hit the web this week. Westhill High School teacher Jerry Conti sent this letter to the Board...
View ArticleReading between the lines: Florida’s retention program is not worth replicating
Paul Thomas, a Furman University associate professor of education, writes about range of education issues, including the push in South Carolina to follow Florida’s retention policy. This is his second...
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In black and white: Segregated proms continue but students at Georgia school...
The concept of segregated proms in the South shocked people when the AJC and other newspapers wrote about it a few years back. The first question from readers was how this could still be happening. It...
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Bill Gates: We’re fumbling evaluations when we rate teachers on how students...
In a Washington Post op-ed, Bill Gates says there should be a fairer way to evaluate teachers. While he is all for accountability, Gates cautions against using student test scores as the primary basis...
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Alfie Kohn on APS cheating scandal: ‘What if we gave a test and nobody came?’
I interviewed education advocate and writer Alfie Kohn a while back. You can read the 2011 interview here. The APS cheating scandal was in the news at the time, and Kohn told me: The real cheating...
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Seeing teachers as technicians ignores what else they give students:...
Spurred by federal policy, many states, including Georgia, are moving to teacher evaluations that consider student progress on tests. But a rising chorus is challenging the reliance on testing to...
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Instant heat in response to NRA study calling for armed officers and...
There are many passionate responses from education leaders today to recommendations from a National Rifle Association- sponsored study that schools hire armed security officers and allow trained staff...
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Poison seeds: The bitter harvest of the APS cheating scandal
In 2009, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education featured Atlanta’s Parks Middle School on its annual bus tour of high-achieving schools, and I joined the visit. I arrived early in my own...
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Former Atlanta school chief Beverly Hall and 34 others indicted in APS...
Former Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall was among 35 people indicted today in APS cheating scandal. (AJC photo) Among those named in the indictment handed down tonight by a Fulton County grand jury...
View ArticleIndictments may come today in APS cheating scandal. Grand jury looking at...
The AJC is expecting indictments possibly later today related to the APS cheating scandal first brought to light by the newspaper. When those indictments come down, please be sure to come back to the...
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New Race to the Top teacher evaluations with strong reliance on test scores...
As expected, House Bill 244 passed both the House and the Senate, incorporating the educator evaluation system piloted by Georgia’s Race to the Top districts into state law. With the Senate vote this...
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From Canada to Georgia, teachers complain of pressure to change grades to...
Interesting AJC story on an Atlanta high school principal who resigned after accusations he bullied and intimidated teachers into raising failing grades. Grade inflation has been in the national news...
View ArticleParent trigger on agenda today. Is the bill fatally flawed?
A Senate committee takes up the parent trigger bill today. Originally, House Bill 123 allowed a majority of the parents or teachers in a failing school to petition the school board for a complete...
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