Blogs
Recent Blog Posts
Across the country, parents, teachers, and students are beginning to pushback—hard—against the misuses and abuses of standardized testing in our educational system.
I’ve just returned from a meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and I am thrilled about where this important organization is headed.
I also feel the need to set straight some disparaging rumors about NBPTS and encourage people to look more closely at what is an important front in the education reform battle in this country.
Much of the discussion today around writing at the secondary and community college levels focuses around remediation or developmental writing (aka getting students ready for “college-level” writing). Never mind (for now) that there is much debate within higher education over what college-level writing actually is. Too many people, even within the teaching profession, equate good writing only with having technical proficiency in using grammar conventions.
The concept of charter schools is not a bad one, and I know there are some very good ones that have made a difference in the lives of children and communities. But let’s be clear: True school choice means I live in my chosen community, surrounded by great public schools and other educational options.
I am always amused by those who take the educational hierarchy seriously. If it weren't so sad, it would be quaint.
I've joined with some great education friends to encourage a broad grassroots defense of public education. The Network for Public Education hopes to build what fellow co-founder and NPE president Diane Ravitch describes as "a huge social network of parents, students, teachers, administrators, school board members, and all others who believe in public education and sane educational policy that focuses on a full and rich education for a
A wonderful piece from Hechinger Report on the often overlooked, unaddressed, and largely avoidable obstacles that prevent qualified students from entering college.
Regular Radical Readers know that high stakes testing is in the forefront of my mind right now. I guess that's just what happens when you live and work in a nation hellbent on tying teacher evaluation to the scores that students produce on multiple choice exams.
Blogger's Note: My thinking here is unpolished. I'm wrestling with the time-honored notion that one of the primary purposes of high school is to prepare kids for college. As a teacher, that's always rubbed me a little wrong. Not sure I have the answers, but I wanted to have the conversation. Looking forward to hearing what you think.
________________________________
One of my all-time favorite assertions about grading in schools comes from Grant Wiggins. He writes:
"The most ubiquitous form of evaluation, grading, is so much a part of the school landscape that we easily overlook its utter uselessness as actionable feedback. Grades are here to stay, no doubt—but that doesn't mean we should rely on them as a major source of feedback."
Blogs
The Implementing Common Core Standards (ICCS) team blogs about best practices for integrating common core standards into the classroom.
The TeacherSolutions 2030 team blogs about improving the teaching profession between now and the year 2030.
Megan M. Allen is a National Board Certified Teacher and the 2010 Florida Teacher of the Year. She is a proud fifth-grade teacher in Tampa and a 2012-13 CTQ teacherpreneur.
Barnett Berry is the Founder and President of the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), Inc., based in Carrboro, NC. CTQ seeks to dramatically improve student learning by advancing teaching as a 21st-century, results-oriented profession. He wrote TEACHING 2030 with 12 accomplished teachers.
Dan Brown is a teacher and the author of The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle. His writing has also appeared in The Boston Globe, The New York Daily News, The New York Post, and Education Week. He is a co-author of TEACHING 2030.
Jessica Cuthbertson is a teacherpreneur who divides her time between teaching 6th-grade literacy in Aurora, CO, and supporting teacher leadership through the Denver New Millennium Initiative.
Bill Ferriter teaches 6th grade language arts in North Carolina, where he was named a Regional Teacher of the Year for 2005-2006.
John Holland is an artist, a teacher, a writer, and an innovator. After 12 years as a preschool teacher, John began working at Early Head Start/Head Start Program as a child development specialist. He is a co-author of TEACHING 2030.
Jessica Keigan is a secondary language arts teacher at Horizon High School in Thornton, CO, and a teacher leader for the Denver New Millennium Initiative.
Ryan Kinser is a 6th grade English teacher in Hillsborough County, Florida. After a career in television production, Ryan taught in urban Washington as a D.C. Teaching Fellow. He is a member of the Hillsborough New Millennium Initiative.
Renee Moore has taught English and journalism for 20 years in the Mississippi Delta region at both high school and community college levels. She is National Board Certified, a former state Teacher of the Year, and a co-author of TEACHING 2030.
Dave Orphal is a teacher in Oakland, CA. Dave serves as a veteran teacher leader for the Bay Area New Millennium Initiative and works with the California Teachers Association's Institute for Teaching.
Ariel Sacks teaches eighth grade English at a middle school in Brooklyn, NY. She has published articles about her work in Teacher Magazine and is a co-author of TEACHING 2030.
Mark Sass has taught public high school for 18 years and has been involved in various leadership positions and policy discussions in Colorado. Mark is a member of the inaugural Aspen Teacher Leader Fellows.
In addition to our regular transformED bloggers, we frequently feature guest posts written by teachers involved in CTQ communities. We welcome teachers to share their reflections and expertise on transformED.
Jose Vilson is a math teacher, coach, and data analyst for a middle school in the Inwood/Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. He is a co-author of TEACHING 2030.
Noah Zeichner is a National Board Certified Teacher in Seattle. He currently serves in a hybrid teaching role, dividing his time between teaching social studies and supporting CTQ's global teacher leadership initiatives.
Most popular
Recent tweets
- From @Dave_Orphal: "NCTQ Misses the Point About Hiring and Assigning Teachers": http://t.co/72F5XAHuEl — 4 days 5 hours ago
- From @TeachMoore: NBCTs in Mississippi are an untapped resource: http://t.co/pXoaBt5qPR #CTQCollab — 4 days 21 hours ago
- Why test reform leads to school reform, via @jmholland: http://t.co/IpvNNEhtp6 #teaching2030 #CTQCollab — 4 days 22 hours ago
- Is education the final frontier? http://t.co/s7B8TvxfF9 via @Teaching_Keigan #CTQCollab — 5 days 13 min ago
- RT @bradenctq: What can you do when the arts are missing from your elementary school? http://t.co/IQQlBQntEe — 5 days 20 min ago