Policy Issues

Arne Duncan's Moment of Truth | Taking Note

By Renee Moore

5/2/13

via takingnote.learningmatters.tv

Take the time to read this piece by respected education journalist John Merrow, and join the conversation. The testing tide is turning...

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Better Ways to Evaluate Teaching and Learning

By Renee Moore

4/29/13

Across the country, parents, teachers, and students are beginning to pushback—hard—against the misuses and abuses of standardized testing in our educational system.

First, most people do not understand what standardized achievement tests are actually designed to measure. They are not designed to measure what students have “learned” over a specific period of time or from a specific teacher. Therefore, attempts to use them for that purpose are at best misguided, at worst, deceptive. For more on this point, I recommend listening to the recent interview of Jim Popham by Steve Hargadon at Future of Education.

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National Board Moving the Profession Forward

By Renee Moore

4/16/13

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.

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The Big Lie of School Choice

By Renee Moore

3/22/13

As a parent (we have raised 11 children and put them through public school) and as a public school teacher, I deeply resent much of the rhetoric being used to promote so-called “school choice.” 

Much of this rhetoric is aimed at parents in communities that have been historically underserved by public education systems. Therein lies the hypocrisy.

I’ll use my own community as an example; you can change the names to fit your situation.

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Defending Public Education

By Renee Moore

3/7/13

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
all children."  

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Read This: Obstacles to College

By Renee Moore

2/27/13

A wonderful piece from Hechinger Report on the often overlooked, unaddressed, and largely avoidable obstacles that prevent qualified students from entering college.  

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Spend A Year at Mission Hill

By Renee Moore

2/2/13

This week a marvelous project launched, and I'm excited to see it develop. Ten videos (one per week) and related resources will follow a year at one of the nation's most exciting schools: Mission Hill in Boston. 

The first video asks a compelling question: "What if every school used our founding principles as a nation as their design principles for learning?" It would be the difference between going to school and getting an education.

Watch, discuss, and decide for yourself. 

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Accomplished Teaching = Student Learning, Part 3: Teachers Writing Our Own Standards

By Renee Moore

1/25/13

For this part of my series on National Board standards, I've asked Kristin Hamilton, NBCT who now is Director of Standards for NBPTS to talk about her experience as a co-chair the committee that revised the English Language Arts standards.

 

Guest Blogger, Kristin Hamilton

National Board Certified Teacher:  AYA/ELA

NBPTS Director of Standards

 

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Gates' Teacher Effectiveness Study: Surprised?

By Renee Moore

1/14/13

I was invited by National Journal.com, Education Experts blog to share my reaction to the final report of the MET study. Here's what editor Fawn Johnson asked: What is most surprising about the Gates’
findings? What are the easiest ways teacher evaluations can be tweaked to more
accurately reflect effectiveness? How important are student perception surveys?
What lies ahead for videotaping teachers’ lessons? Do we need to learn anything
more about measuring student achievement? Is the task laid out by Gates too
daunting for schools to handle?

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EdReform Deja Vu in Higher Ed

By Renee Moore

1/12/13

Just before the holidays, I spent four days at the regional accreditation association conference (SACS/COCS). It was alternately sad and eerie to watch another level of educators wrestle with distortions of accountability and assessment.

Sad, because discussions about accountability and assessment should be a natural part of our professional lives.

Eerie because it so reminds me of 2001-02 when NCLB was rolling out and causing all manner of unnecessary confusion in the K12 world.

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