On his blog, Daniel Willingham discusses a highly complicated but provocative new study on the effects of harsh punishments on children's behavior. (Even he says it's "convoluted" and he's one of the most prominent educational psychologists in the land.) Just to give you a taste, the study involved questionnaires on childhood disciplinary experiences, written reflections on moral precepts, contemplation of "emotionally ambiguous" paintings, and performance of color-coded attention-regulation tasks. Good times.

The researchers' conclusion after all that, in any case, is that harsh punishments can help students "internalize" moral norms, but that they do so at a dual cost. In Willingham's words:

If further data support the theory, the upshot for parents and teachers would be that harsh responses to moral transgressions won't work. They leave subjects feeling ashamed when they transgress, but paradoxically they make [it] harder to resist the temptation to transgress."

Meanwhile, English teacher Paul Barnwell seems to have reached a similar conclusion without making anyone look at emotionally ambigious paintings (as far as we know). In a post on the "The Great Discipline Conundrum," he notes that, "While teaching at various Kentucky public schools for nine years, I've rarely seen disciplinary action that deters or prevents repeat behavior." Suspensions and detentions strike him has particularly fruitless.

Instead, for Barnwell, the most effective approach to discipline in the classroom is prevention, funneled largely through attentive, personalized instruction:

Working at a variety of schools, I've found that if I focus most of my energy on building relationships with students, crafting engaging lessons, and practicing class procedures, then I've usually avoided major class disruptions. I take great pride in trying to connect with students across races and socioeconomic groups.

He adds, touching on another hot topic:

All I know [is] if I sit back and pass out work packets and expect students to comply, I'm putting myself in a tenuous position.

Posted by Anthony Rebora at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

For those of us lucky enough to have never experienced a tornado, it's nearly impossible to imagine what that event would feel like as it happened.

But a 5th grade teacher at Briarwood Elementary in Oklahoma, Okla., one of two schools ravaged by tornadoes this week, captured that moment of impact on video. According to ABC News, Robin Dziedzic was huddled with about 25 students in a dark bathroom when the twister hit the school. She recorded those terrifying seconds and afterward, when she and her students emerged into the daylight. The footage is a bit hard to see, but the audio is haunting. Dziedzic tells students, "It's almost over." A student yells, "I hate this!" The adult female voice responds, "Honey, it's OK."

The students and teachers at Briarwood all survived. Tragically, at Plaza Towers Elementary, another school in the Moore district, seven children did not.

The footage, from ABC, is below.

Posted by Liana Heitin at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

A New York City 4th grader's documentary on his school's lunchroom menu caused a stir last week. According to The New York Times, Zachary Maxwell, who attends P.S. 130 Hernando De Soto in Little Italy, recorded six months of footage in the cafeteria, hidden-camera style. With his Father's help, he then edited and cut the footage into the 20-minute film, "Yuck: A 4th Grader's Short Documentary About School Lunch."

Zachary started filming as a way to prove to his parents that the cafeteria's free food items were not as nutritious or delicious as the online menus on the New York City Department of Education website proclaimed. As the Times reports, Zachary points out in the film that the school lunch is often missing several food items from the day's menu, such as vegetables. For example, instead of offering the marinated tomato salad devised by Food Network chef Rachael Ray that the online menu boasts, the cafeteria would give "a slice of pizza accompanied by a wisp of lettuce," according to the paper. (Last fall, Education Week reporter Nirvi Shah wrote about the new school lunch regulations under the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which require more servings of fruits and vegetables than before). Additionally, Zachary says that 28 percent of the lunches consisted of either pizza or cheese sticks.

Marge Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, wrote in an email to the Times that vegetables and fruit are served daily and that Zachary must have chosen not to have them. "It would not be the first time a youngster would find a way to get out of eating vegetables," she wrote. Zachary responded that he had taken everything he was offered at each meal.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education's Office of School Food (apparently missing the memo from Feinberg) has personally complimented Zachary on the documentary and asked for his input on new menu choices. His film will also be shown this June at the Manhattan Film Festival.

Posted by Francesca Duffy at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Washington

There's been a lot of talk lately about how rigid curricula and the focus on testing have—and will continue to—impede teachers' creativity in the classroom.

However, yesterday morning at The Inspired Teaching School, a pre-K-4th grade charter school in Washington, teacher creativity was in full effect.

With testing in the rear view mirror, the school is holding what it calls "intercession"—four days in which teachers pick something outside the core curriculum to teach. This year's topics included filmmaking, zoology, and, the one I attended, running. Students choose what they'd like to learn about and attend two-hour sessions on that topic each day.

"The idea behind intercession is to have times in the year where we purposefully disrupt the rhythm that is our norm, to have time for deep inquiry, exploration, and community building," Zoe Duskin, the school's principal, explained. For teachers, she said, intercession is "a chance to get to teach something they're passionate about that they don't always get to spend as much time on as they'd like."

It's a concept most often implemented with middle and high school students, especially because the break from routine can be harder for younger students. But Duskin said she sees it as an "opportunity to give students some coaching in risk-taking."

Fourth grade teacher Rebecca Schmidt began the first running lesson by brainstorming with students about safety and what they hoped to learn over the next several days. A seasoned distance-runner (and periodic blogger for Teaching Ahead: A Roundtable), Schmidt then took the mix of 1st to 4th graders out for a short run on the sidewalks of D.C. Some kids sprinted and stopped, while others found their pace. At first a few teased each other, expressing their own insecurities, but by the end it was all high fives and kind words ("You can do it! Keep running!"). Several kids who had struggled to stay focused in the classroom turned out to be determined on foot.

After about 15-minutes, Schmidt brought the now-sweaty yet cheerful kids in to cool down, stretch, and reflect. Above all, they expressed their excitement about having had the option to decide how far they ran—all but one had chosen to do a second lap around the urban track Schmidt had mapped out.

For an observer, the morals of the day were many. Passion is contagious. Choice leads to engagement. Every child excels at something. And, importantly, sometimes kids just need to run.

Duskin said that even as academics standards are raised—including with the advent of the Common Core State Standards' assessments—she'll keep the program going. The soft skills kids learn—among them "perseverance, personal strength, and integrity"—will transfer to academics, she said. "I love intercession. We'll stick with it and continue to modify things as the school grows."

Posted by Liana Heitin at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

ABC News has a gripping interview with two teachers at Briarwood Elementary in Moore, Okla., one of the two elementary schools struck by the horrific tornado that ripped through the town yesterday afternoon. Once again, it appears that teachers acted with near-mind-boggling composure and courage in the face of danger—and quite likely saved lives in the process.

Here's an excerpt from Briarwood teacher Cindy Lowe's account of events:

I actually saw the tornado coming and knew how serious it was and was just trying to calm the children down, but yet more of the same. Just like Sherry said, getting them covered up, you know, we practice tornado drills and things like this and I had to tell them, this is not a drill, and we need to be safe and just laying my body on top of as many kids as I could to help out.

This—sadly? amazingly?—is not the first time in recent months we've heard of teachers using their own bodies to shield their students from harm.

But grief remains the predominent emotion today: At last count, at least 24 people, including eight children, died as a result of the Oklahoma tornado. Some 120 were injured. At least seven children were found drowned in a pool of water at Plaza Towers Elementary School, whose walls and roof had collapsed when the storm hit.

Update, May 22: New story today from the Associated Press: Teachers Credited With Saving Students in Okla. "Students and parents recounted stories Tuesday of brave teachers who sheltered their pupils, in some cases by herding them into a closet and a restroom amid the fear and panic."

Posted by Anthony Rebora at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

The Seattle school district has announced that high schools in the city will no longer be required to administer the Measures of Academic Progress assessment—a computerized adaptive test that some teachers had refused to give earlier this year.

In a letter posted last week on the district's website, Superintendent José Banda said that the district would continue to use MAP in kindergarten through 8th grade but that "high schools may opt of MAP in 2013-14." However, schools that opt out must provide evidence of using an alternative method to "assess and monitor the progress of students who are behind in math and reading."

Banda said the change is based on recommendations made by the district's Task Force on Assessment and Measuring Progress, which was created in February in response to teachers' concerns.

In December, teachers at Garfield High School staged a much-publicized boycott of the MAP assessment that was later joined by other teachers across the city. The teachers argued that the test was not connected to the standards they were expected to teach and not statistically valid at the high school level. Further, they said, it took much-needed time and resources away from classroom instruction.

While the Seattle teachers generally insisted that their complaints were focused specifically on the MAP assessment and not on assessments in general, their protests sparked a new wave of concern and outcry about alleged over-testing in U.S. schools.

The teachers' actions were a source of pride and inspiration for many of their colleagues nationwide. They also prompted soul-searching among some educators about speaking out against testing practices they see as not constructive.

In his letter, Banda noted that the district has plans to form a new task force to "evaluate future assessment options." He said that the district remains committed to using "multiple forms of data to help guide instruction and measure progress." For many educators in the district, he added, "the MAP assessment provides critical data to help screen the most vulnerable students for academic support and more personalized attention."

Correction: This post originally gave the wrong date for the Seattle district's announcement about the MAP changes. The superintendent's letter was posted on May 13.

Posted by Anthony Rebora at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Washington

Two topics we've been hearing a lot about recently are reading (especially how the common core will change its instruction) and social/emotional learning (which many teachers believe can boost achievement—and which the common core does not touch). At an event in downtown Washington yesterday, panelists discussed a professional development program that attempts to brings the two together and, according to several studies, is having positive effects in both areas.

Sponsored by the Strategic Learning Initiative, part of the San Francisco-based research organization WestEd, the small event offered an overview of and testimonials to Reading Apprenticeship—a framework for teaching reading comprehension in both English and content-area classes. The program, which is used in middle schools, high schools, and community colleges, aims to increase autonomy and build confidence in student readers by enforcing metacognitive—or thinking-about-thinking—skills.

One thing that differentiates Reading Apprenticeship from other PD programs is the wealth of research behind it. Between 2005 and 2010, the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences performed three randomized, controlled studies on the program. These studies had positive results, including finding that students made gains in both reading and content knowledge and became more positive about reading. (However, Ed Week reporter Sarah D. Sparks noted in a 2010 blog post that the academic gains did not last.)

The program, which has been around for nearly two decades and is administered by WestEd, has received two Investing in Innovation grants from the federal government, including a five-year "scale-up" grant that began in 2010. Under that grant, 2,800 English, biology, and U.S. history teachers in five states (California, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Utah) received training. The second, smaller grant is for developing an online training program specifically for STEM teachers. The Department is conducting research on these i3 programs as well.

As co-founders Ruth Schoenbach and Cynthia Greenleaf explained at the event, Reading Apprenticeship training lasts between three and 10 days and includes periodic follow-up. Teachers spend time figuring out how their own subject-area expertise makes them better readers—in essence developing their own metacognitive skills—so they can then pass those strategies on to students. They also learn how to set up a safe space in which students feel comfortable expressing uncertainty or confusion. (Check out this graphic representation of the PD framework, which includes social, personal, cognitive, and knowledge-building "dimensions.")

At the event, a panel of two teachers, a principal, and a curriculum supervisor answered questions on how Reading Apprenticeship has changed teaching and learning in their schools. One major change, all agreed, is that teachers are no longer spoon-feeding students answers on complex texts. Melissa Devlin, a teacher and literacy coach in Berks County, Pa., said that, as a result of the program, there's been a "paradigm shift" in her school. "Students are truly doing the learning, the thinking, the reading. ... It's about their questions." In addition, students have learned to recognize not just what they're struggling with—the language, the content, etc.—but why they're struggling with that particular piece, she said.

Ericka Senegar-Mitchell, a science teacher at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, spoke about importance of teaching reading strategies that are particular to a content area. Students "want their English strategies to magically transfer to science," she said, "and sometimes they do." However, reading an assay protocol necessitates a completely different approach than reading an Ernest Hemingway novel, she explained. And the PD program has helped her realize and explicitly teach the way she approaches a scientific text.

For Harley Ramsey, a high school principal in McKean County, Pa., the fact that the program is backed by extensive research, and continues to prove effective in his school, is the biggest draw. Effective PD, he said, is "research-based, literacy-focused, high-impact, and for all teachers regardless of subject area and all students regardless of academic level."

"It boils down to evidence, which is why I'm so focused on Reading Apprenticeship as part of my professional development plan for next year," Ramsey said. "We don't have the luxury of experimenting."

Buy-in among teachers for any literacy program, however, can prove a challenge—especially among those who don't think of themselves as reading teachers. In an interview after the panel discussion, Senegar-Mitchell said there's been "huge pushback" from content-area teachers in her school who are reluctant to venture into literacy instruction. But once those teachers see the program in action, she said, they are impressed—not just with the content but with the engagement, and consequently behavior management, that comes with it. These teachers see that students who misbehave in their classes tend to be engrossed in her own.

Several speakers mentioned that the program aligns well with the English/language arts Common Core State Standards, which emphasize reading complex texts and non-fiction, and the Next Generation Science Standards. However, as Greenleaf said, encouraging deep thinking and reading "may be a new direction for the country, but [it is] not a new direction for us."

If you have experience with Reading Apprenticeship (or a PD program you think is similar), feel free to add comments below.

Posted by Liana Heitin at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Sixteen years ago, Radio Diaries, an audio series broadcast on NPR in which people document their stories, had a show on Josh Cutler, a high school student living with Tourette Syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by vocal and motor tics. Last week, the program aired a follow-up episode, in which Cutler caught listeners up on where he is today.

As it turns out, the now 33-year-old became a New York City public school teacher. But two years ago, in his seventh year of teaching, he was accused of misconduct and terminated from the classroom. He explains: "One of the most violent kids in my class accused me of intentionally bending his wrist to try to hurt him. ... They said that I was doing this repeatedly. Well, yes, I did break up fights repeatedly, but I never intentionally caused harm to a child. Of course not."

During a termination hearing, one of his colleagues testified that she had been concerned for her safety because "Mr. Cutler has some bizarre tendencies." She continued: "Mr. Cutler has openly told me that in social situations he doesn't always behave appropriately because of medical issues. ... And his behavior is unpredictable and it's strange."

Cutler now sits in a temporary reassignment center, or what is colloquially known as a "rubber room," from 8:30 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. each day doing office tasks as needed. He continues to receive his teaching salary. "My parents think I should leave and go do something else, but I'm not going to do that," he says. "I'm fighting this till the very end, no matter what."

We've written about rubber rooms and the absent-teacher reserve pool (the teachers who are paid to sit in the rooms) quite a bit over the years. In 2010, the United Federation of Teachers and the N.Y.C. school district reached an agreement to close the rooms and instead have teachers report to the central office for clerical work. But as Ed Week reporter Stephen Sawchuk has written—and as Cutler's story corroborates—not much has changed. The rooms may now be in an office setting, but the teachers in them are still getting paid for, as Cutler says, "just sitting around in limbo."

Cutler's account of the dismissal and arbitration offers a glimpse into how complex these cases can be—and perhaps into why these policies have yet to be truly undone. Be sure to check out Cutler's diaries from both then and now, as well as the rest of the series, entitled Teenage Diaries Revisited.

Posted by Liana Heitin at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Last week, @EdWeekTeacher gained its 50,000th follower, an accomplishment nearly four years in the making since we first opened our account.

To celebrate, this morning we conducted a random drawing and picked five of our Twitter followers to receive free online subscriptions to edweek.org. Congratulations to @originaltutor, @beccaleedot, @andrewrog, @ZenithSeeder and @tesResources!

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been following and retweeting us, and we hope you will continue to do so as we bring you the latest news and tidbits on the teaching profession.

(Also, the sooner you help get us to 100K, the sooner we give away more scripts!)

Posted by Francesca Duffy at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Teaching in the U.S. has plenty of potential drawbacks—generally mediocre pay, long hours of grading and lesson planning, a lack of professional respect. But for the most part, one thing U.S. teachers do have is some certainty they won't get a jail sentence for verbally clashing with students.

A Nepali chemistry teacher working in Qatar, however, is now in jail for allegedly making comments to students that insulted Islam. According to Doha News, Dorje Gurung, who has also taught in the U.S., Hong Kong, Britain, and Australia, was fired from the private Qatar Academy shortly after having an argument with a few 12-year-old students. Several sources said he was accused of stating that "all Muslims are terrorists." But two of Gurung's friends gave Doha News a different account, saying that the students had been making fun of his appearance and calling him "Jackie Chan."

According to the article, the episode took place while Gurung and the students were in line for lunch on April 23:

One student put his hand on Gurung's shoulder and a finger in the teacher's nose. At this point, Gurung grew agitated and said remarks to the effect of, how would you like to be stereotyped i.e. called a terrorist?

Five days later, Gurung was fired. And a few days after that he was put in jail, where he faces up to seven years. Doha News reports that he still does not have a lawyer. The Nepalese embassy has said it will investigate the case.

The Washington Post picked up on the story as well. A former schoolmate of Gurung's told the paper, "He is a kind, gentle person who loves nothing more than teaching chemistry to students and getting them excited about science." Supporters of Gurung have also created a Facebook page and a Change.org petition calling for his release.

We'll keep an eye on where this story goes. In the meantime, take a look at Gurung's science blog to learn more about him (and for some classroom ideas).

UPDATE 5/13: Doha News reported last night that Gurung has been released from jail and "has apparently been given assurances that the charges against him will be dropped." He is expected to leave Qatar soon, as he had intended to do before he was jailed. Gurung has not been reached for comment.

Posted by Liana Heitin at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

I have to say, this video recalls frustrations from high school that I think I'd blocked out until now. And perhaps that's why it's gone viral ...

According to Gawker, this high school student who tells off his history teacher is from Duncanville, Texas. The speech he gives on his way out the door, above his teacher's impassive "Bye"s, is both harsh and unpredictably eloquent.

"If you would just freakin' teach 'em instead of giving 'em a packet, yo," he begins. "There's kids in here that don't learn like that. They need to learn face to face."

He soon brings his argument to the 30,000-foot level.

"Ya gotta take this job serious—this is the future of this nation. And when you come in here, like you did last time, and make a statement about 'Oh, this is my paycheck,' indeed it is. But this is my country's future and my education."

As frustrated as he is, he keeps his language pretty clean (with one arguable exception). Given his energetic, preacher-like style and lively hand gestures (not to mention awesome hair), I can't help but think I'd rather be taught by him than the woman behind the desk.

Let us know your own thoughts on the clip.

UPDATE 4:10 p.m.: Fox4 Dallas-Fort Worth has some additional coverage of the incident, including an interview with the student, identified as 18-year-old Jeff Bliss. Apparently the school has decided not to discipline Bliss, who admits he got "a little carried away." Perhaps the most notable piece of follow-up, though, is that Bliss dropped out of school after 9th grade but re-enrolled. "So now I do take my schoolwork seriously," he said. Oh, and that questionable curse word he used? Fox4 reports he was mimicking his teacher, who had hurled it his way moments before. She had not been reached for comment.

Posted by Liana Heitin at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

In a Slate article, Annie Murphy Paul describes the growing concern, backed by new research, that students retain less information when they engage in media multitasking during learning. And with the prevalence of mobile devices and increased access to the Internet, students are doing more multitasking than ever.

Paul cites a recent study by Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University-Dominguez Hills, in which researchers watched 263 middle, high school, and college students doing homework for 15 minutes. She explains:

Although the students had been told at the outset that they should "study something important, including homework, an upcoming examination or project, or reading a book for a course," it wasn't long before their attention drifted: Students' "on-task behavior" started declining around the two-minute mark as they began responding to arriving texts or checking their Facebook feeds. By the time the 15 minutes were up, they had spent only about 65 percent of the observation period actually doing their schoolwork.

"We were amazed at how frequently they multitasked, even though they knew someone was watching," Rosen says. "It really seems that they could not go for 15 minutes without engaging their devices," adding, "It was kind of scary, actually."

Paul goes on to say that older students, especially college and post-grad students, are multitasking—texting, emailing, using social media, and surfing the Internet—during classes as well at home.

The major problem with such multitasking, as David Meyer, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, states in the article, is that "under most conditions, the brain simply cannot do two complex tasks at the same time." You may be able to fold laundry and listen to the weather on the radio, he says, "but listening to a lecture while texting, or doing homework and being on Facebook—each of these tasks is very demanding, and each of them uses the same area of the brain, the prefrontal cortex."

The result of trying to multitask while doing homework? Paul says researchers "have documented a cascade of negative outcomes," including that the work takes longer, is more likely to have mistakes, will not be remembered as well, and whatever is learned may not transfer to other tasks. In all, Paul writes, learning will not be as deep.

Remember the famous "marshmallow test" from the 1960s, in which students were told they would get two marshmallows if they resisted eating one immediately? According to that long-term study, the kids who could delay gratification with marshmallows turned out to be more successful down the road by a variety of measures than those who could not. Media distractions may be the new marshmallows, poses Paul. In separate Rosen study, students were sent text messages as they watched a video. Those who answered the texts right away scored much worse on a test about the video's content. So Rosen extracts that those students who can learn to ward off the siren call of the smartphone—and they can learn this, he emphasizes—are likely to perform better than their peers.

Teachers: What's your takeaway here? Do you think you can teach students the importance of delayed gratification—and help them practice it in terms of media use? Or given the ubiquitous access to distractions, are students simply going to do what they're going to do? And what effects have you noticed?

(Full Disclosure: In trying to write this blog post, I've checked my Facebook, Feedly, email, gchat, and Twitter several times each, and taken a phone call from the auto repair shop. Needless to say, I'm not convinced this is simply a student problem.)

Posted by Liana Heitin at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Take a look at our latest Storify on Teacher Appreciation Week, which we will continue to add to until the end of the week. Read more here.

Posted by Francesca Duffy at 6:10 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

While teacher salaries continued to increase on average during the recent economic downturn, they did so at a much slower pace, according to a new study from the Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality.

The NCTQ study was based on salary schedules from 2007-08 (when the recession began) to 2011-12 for 41 of the 50 largest public school districts in the United States. In analyzing the data, NCTQ looked at annual adjustments and step increases for accumulating a year of experience. (The analysis did not include increases for earning advanced degrees or credit hours.)

Between 2007-08 and 2008-09, the study found, teachers received an average 3.6 percent pay increase. However, over the next three years, raises totaled between one-half and one-third that amount. The average pay raise hit a low point of 1.1 percent between 2009-10 and 2010-11, as indicated in this chart from the report.

Districts were most likely to cut or freeze annual adjustments as a means of reducing raises, NCTQ explains in the report, with about three-quarters of districts doing so.

NCTQ also found that teachers in 80 percent of the districts experienced a cut or freeze in total pay at least once over the four-year period. From 2007-08 to 2008-09, 88 percent of districts raised teacher pay and 12 percent froze pay. Two years later, 49 percent of districts raised teacher pay, 37 percent froze pay, and 15 percent made cuts.

Only two of the 41 districts had a net decrease in teacher pay over the four years—Dekalb County, Ga., and Albuquerque, N.M. Just eight districts had an increase in pay each year—Fort Worth, Texas; Memphis, Tenn.; Milwaukee, Wisc.; New York City; Jefferson County, Ky.; Fresno, Calif.; Chicago; and Baltimore City, Md.—.

Interestingly, the district that reported the highest pay raise over this period was Chicago, at 6.5 percent. As our readers remember, Chicago teachers went on strike in September 2012 over a variety of issues, including a revoked 4 percent salary increase. The agreement between the union and the district that ended the strike included a 3 percent salary increase (for the first year, and 2 percent for the next two years), in addition to increases for experience and advanced credentials.

The NCTQ report notes that "teachers' raise reductions were on par with almost all of the comparable professions we examined. Architects, accountants, and mechanical engineers were harder hit than teachers, but not significantly so."

For the district-specific findings, see the entire report here.

Posted by Liana Heitin at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Looking for a creative way to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week this year?

Here's a nice opportunity: To honor educators this week, the Carnegie Corporation has launched a photo-sharing site on the art of great teaching.

The site, called Picture This! Great Teaching, was developed by the philanthropic organization in collaboration with a host of nonprofit education grantees and partnering groups (including Education Week). It is open to anyone with an interest in teaching and a camera—prominently including teachers themselves, parents, and students (13 or older). Participants are asked to upload photos that to them exemplify inspired teaching and to share their stories about the images.

And there's a contest, too: The individual who submits the best photo will receive $3,500 for a K-12 public school of his or her choice. The winner will be determined early next month by a panel of judges to include Education Week's director of photography, Charlie Borst.

The idea behind the site is to emphasize the positive things happening in education today, said Deanne Lee, Carnegie's chief communications and digital strategies officer.

"So much of coverage of education these days focuses on the daunting and negative challenges," she said. "The common mission we share with our partners is positive—to create pathways to great education and opportunities for kids. Let's not lose site of that."

Talia Milgrom-Elcott, a program officer in urban education and senior manager of STEM teacher initiatives for Carnegie, said that the organization also hopes the photos and stories shared on the site will also provide documentary examples to help "elevate what makes great teaching."

So, go ahead: Take a shot of that admired colleague in action, or give your students a photo assignment on what inspires them in school. It's for a good cause.

Photo: Judith Estime, a teacher at Match Community Day Charter Public School in Boston, helps a student during a game-playing exercise.
—Charlie Mahoney/Prime for Education Week

Editors' Note: The Carnegie Corporation provides support to Education Week for coverage of business and innovation. Education Week and Education Week Teacher retain sole editorial control over the content of their coverage.

Posted by Anthony Rebora at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

In an encore to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten's speech in New York City this week, in which she called for a moratorium on high stakes linked to common-core testing, the union released the results of a poll on how members perceive the new standards.

The survey, based on telephone calls with 800 K-12 teachers conducted over three days in March, found that 75 percent of teachers approve their states' decision to adopt the Common Core State Standards. Seventy-four percent of teachers surveyed said they are worried that the assessments and the high stakes associated with them will be implemented before teachers have had time to understand the standards. And 83 percent said they support the very moratorium Weingarten proposed.

When asked, "Has your district provided you with the resources and tools that you need to successfully teach the Common Core standards?," 27 percent of teachers polled said the district has provided "all/most resources," 35 percent said "some," and 37 percent said "very few/no" resources. In terms of professional development, 43 percent said they have received adequate training and 53 percent said they have received inadequate training or none at all.

The states are on different implementation timelines—with some not anticipating full implementation of the common standards until 2014-15—and so are understandably in different places regarding teacher supports. In an interview, however, an AFT spokesperson responded that, "At this point, we should be able to gauge whether teachers either are getting or are on track to get what they need."

The full survey results can be found here.

Posted by Liana Heitin at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As an Education Week analysis of school safety bills filed since the Newtown shooting reveals, many states are proposing beefing up security—and even arming teachers—to prevent similar tragedies.

But according to NBC News, a school in Roxbury, Mass., has seen positive effects—at least in terms of academics and school culture—from cutting back on school security and reinvesting those funds in arts instruction.

Andrew Bott became the sixth principal in seven years at Orchard Gardens K-8 School in 2010. At that time, he says (in the NBC video), "the school definitely had a prison feel." He decided to replace all of the school's security guards with art teachers, including band, dance, and visual art. Since then, the school's physical space has changed as well—the hallways are now lined with bright decorations and motivational posters. According to NBC:

The end result? Orchard Gardens has one of the fastest student improvement rates statewide. And the students—once described as loud and unruly, have found their focus.

While undoubtedly there were other factors contributing to the rise in test scores—which are still overall below average—Principal Bott tells NBC that Orchard Gardens is "definitely on the right path."

In light of all that's been going on in schools and in the Boston area, it's refreshing to see some good news like this. ...

Posted by Liana Heitin at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Since everyone is talking about career readiness these days, this Wall Street Journal interview with a recruiting director for Amazon.com seems like it may have some K-12 pertinence (in a trickle-down kind of way). At one point, she talks about what Amazon looks for in candidates with MBAs:

The core qualities that cut across each of those positions are a really strong sense of ownership, customer obsession, a strong bias for action and teamwork. Built in there is the ability to influence others, to invent and deliver on behalf of the customer.

We'll ask them to tell us about times that they've owned projects from start to finish. We'll talk about tying results to customer demands. We tend to look for real, practical work experience.

Obviously, there's a big difference between the skills and experiences MBAs need and the work that, say, middle or high school students should be doing in class. (You have to learn how to walk before you can dance, etc.) But I was struck by the recruiter's emphasis on teamwork, project ownership and completion, persuasiveness, problem-solving, and real-world experience—all things we've been hearing a lot about lately in discussions around curriculum and instructional changes.

What's your take? Are schools today giving students the right foundations for this kind of work? How can they?

Posted by Anthony Rebora at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Just when you thought the post Sandy Hook era in schools couldn't get any weirder or scarier: According to the Oregonian, a charter school in rural Oregon staged an "active shooter" drill during an in-service day last week—except that they didn't tell the teachers it was only a drill. According to the report, two gunmen burst into "a meeting room full of teachers and opened fire."

"There was some commotion," said Cammie DeCastro, principal of Pine Eagle Charter School in Halfway, Ore. We're guessing that's a bit of an understatment.

The teachers learned that the attack was staged, the Oregonian reports, only when they realized "the bullets were not drawing blood." Fun.

The idea behind the drill was to test the teachers on training they'd recently received from the local sheriff's office on "active shooter scenarios." Apparently the results weren't so hot: According to one teacher who was there, only two of the 15 teachers present would have survived if the attack were real.

"I'll tell you, the whole situation was horrible," she said. "I got a couple of [blanks] in the front and a couple in the back."

DeCastro defended the drill as an essential part of the remotely located school's preparedness planning. "For us not to know how we were going to respond is leaving us open," she is quoted as saying.

No word yet on whether any of the staff members are experiencing residual heart problems or panic attacks. ...

Posted by Anthony Rebora at 5:51 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

In a recent Time article, science writer Annie Murphy Paul explains that curiosity is what "drives us to keep learning, keep trying, keep pushing forward." Curiosity is such a force, she says, because "it's not only a mental state but also an emotion, a powerful feeling that impels us forward until we find the information that will fill in the gap in our knowledge."

Paul then offers teacher-ready tips for stimulating curiosity in others. First, she suggests starting with the question, rather than the answer—which teachers will recognize as the foundation of inquiry-based or discovery learning (see: math teacher Dan Meyer's take on how to make math "irresistible" to students).

She then suggests offering some initial knowledge on the subject. "We're not curious about something we know absolutely nothing about," she writes. Again, teachers may know this as "activating prior knowledge" or "setting the stage" before a lesson.

Finally, she says it helps to require communication, or "open an information gap and then require learners to communicate with each other in order to fill it." The think-pair-share technique and vocabulary activities that require students to teach each other their words both exemplify this.

What would you add to the list? How does stimulating curiosity gel with other motivation tactics—or should teachers think of curiosity and motivation as one and the same?

Posted by Liana Heitin at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend