Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond is quickly becoming a polarizing figure for Democrats and the source of much debate, with news articles on her ranging from Tom Toch's take on assessment over at the Quick and the Ed to this New Republic piece that questions her credentials as a school reformer. My colleague Alyson Klein and I got to chat with Darling-Hammond briefly today after her keynote speech at the National Staff Development Council conference. As Alyson notes, Darling-Hammond couldn't give many specifics about the transition process. Her speech, though, highlighted a number of the ideas that are more likely ...

There could be a silver lining to the cloud of economic gloom, after all. And the education department folks over in Kansas say they've found it. The struggling economy, officials in the state's education department say, could bring more people into teaching and cause fewer to leave the profession. A teaching license is like a safety valve for many, Alexa Posny, Kansas' education commissioner, told the Topeka Capital-Journal. Existing teachers, she feels, will likely will be slower to leave the profession to retire or pursue another career, and more college students may see teaching as a dependable profession to pursue. ...

There have long been rumors about the high-level of American Federation of Teachers' involvement in the contentious District of Columbia teacher-contract negotiations. Now the union's cards are out on the table: This weekend, the Washington Teachers' Union passed a motion to officially partner with the AFT in developing contract proposals. Readers of this blog can scroll through our archives to read more about the contract. One of D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee's controversial proposals would give teachers opportunities to earn six-figure salaries if they agree to forgo tenure for a year and be evaluated based on their students' achievement growth. ...

The New Teacher Project is considered by many to be one of the best alternative teacher- preparation routes out there today. But there have been very few studies so far that demonstrate the effectiveness of the teachers it prepares. Now, new data in Louisiana show that TNTP teachers outperform beginning and experienced teachers in math, reading, and language arts. The Louisiana Practitioner Teacher Program of the New Teacher Project certified more than 800 teachers in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and the study, led by George Noell of Louisiana State University, gave it the highest ranking in each of these ...

Has anyone heard about the teacher who's selling ads in his test papers? Yes, it's true. John Farber, a teacher at a suburban San Diego school, says he is doing so to cover the costs of printing the papers, after the school district scaled back his printing budget. Since cutting back on the tests was not an option for Farber, he decided to come up with a creative solution. Of the seven ads he has run so far—one per test or quiz—five were inspirational quotes from parents at the school, and two were ads from local businesses connected to parents...

Feeling the need for some R & R? Well, the dynamic duo of Robin Chait and Raegen Miller over at the Center for American Progress have written what amounts to a primer on the issue of teacher tenure, the job protection granted to teachers who fulfill the terms of a probationary period. It couldn't come at a better time: Teacher tenure seems poised to emerge as one of the big teacher-quality issues in 2009, with D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee trying to overhaul it as part of her district's contract negotiations, New York City confronting the use of test scores in ...

The Center on Education Policy has released a new study that delves deeply into the classroom-level effects of the No Child Left Behind Act. Investigators examined six schools in Rhode Island at various stages of program improvement under the NCLB Act and interviewed dozens of teachers, parents, and administrators. Several of the findings are what you'd more or less expect, and they're issues that have already been debated ad infinitum: There is increased pressure to cover subjects on standardized tests, more attention paid to reading and math at the expense of other subjects, and a greater use of test data ...

Teachers at Boston's Conservatory Lab Charter School have joined a union, the first charter to do so in the state of Massachusetts and one of a small handful nationwide. The news is not likely to be welcomed by most charter school advocates who look upon unionization, with its elements of collective bargaining and tenure as hindrances in the path of innovation. But for teachers' unions, this is a feather in the cap. For years now, unions, led by the American Federation of Teachers, have focused a good deal of energy on unionizing charters, without spectacular success. In New York City, ...

In this era of accountability, teacher tenure has been one of the most discussed topics. Schools chiefs like Michelle Rhee in Washington, D.C., are trying to limit it and last week the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said she was willing to discuss tenure reform. Stories about how hard it is to fire bad teachers from their jobs because of tenure abound, and the latest one comes from the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan. A newspaper investigation found that 17 public school districts in the state ousted 29 teachers in the past four years through ...

What's the best way to make $3 billion disappear? Put it into a big wonky program, like the No Child Left Behind Act's Title II teacher-quality formula grant, that isn't a a high-profile issue for lawmakers. The program authorizes nearly 30 activities for states and districts, including innovative practices such as performance pay or career ladders. But states and districts have mostly have put the money toward hiring teachers to reduce class sizes and funding professional development of varying quality. Now, people are starting to ask what's happening with all this money and whether there might be a more effective ...