Florida Gov. Charlie Crist last Thursday vetoed legislation approved by the Republican-controlled legislature that would have overhauled the state’s education system by eliminating the traditional teacher tenure system and linking teacher pay to student performance. The backlash from teachers, students and other concerned citizens was unprecedented : Crist’s office received thousands of e-mails and phone calls in opposition to the bill and protests sprung up across the state

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The Florida Teacher Bill

Crist’s action puts spotlight on tenure Has the Florida education cocktail been diluted? Will the upward trajectory of academic improvement in Florida reverse course

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Deborah McGriff responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 20, 2010 04:50 PM

SMART POLITICS, SMART POLICY Did Charlie Christ make a political calculation in vetoing the Florida Teachers BIll? Of course: any elected official who didn’t think about the political ramifications of his decision wouldn’t last long. We”ll learn soon enough whether the veto will salvage Christ’s future–what is clear now is that, on policy grounds, Christ made the right decision

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David L. Kirp responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 20, 2010 04:40 PM

Better Solutions Are Available It has become a kind of received wisdom these days to take for granted the positive effects of removing teacher tenure and paying teachers more money for better test scores. But I wonder from where or whom this wisdom has come and whether or not our unquestioned belief in it leads to smart decisions. Governor Crist’s political calculus aside, the question to ask is this, “How would the bill have improved Florida schools?” At best, it’s unclear

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Steve Peha responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 19, 2010 06:29 PM

Mean-spirited Bill, Crist Made rt Choice Governor Crist displayed remarkable courage in vetoing this pernicious bill. Commentators have accused him of political calculation, but just the opposite is the case. He threw away his party base and did what was right for the kids, parents, and teachers of Florida.

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Diane Ravitch responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 19, 2010 03:36 PM

Crist Veto Put Kids First, Not Politics Gov. Crist’s veto of SB 6 put the best interests of Florida’s students above party politics. He rejected legislation that would have based virtually all school and personnel decisions on scores from standardized tests, and listened to tens of thousands of educators and other Floridians who clearly saw a better path for Florida’s schools

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Dennis Van Roekel responded to The Florida Teacher Bill on April 19, 2010 01:52 PM

The Education Department unveiled final regulations last week for its $350 million assessment grant competition. A component of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top program — the Obama administration’s signature education initiative — the competition aims to “create a new generation of tests that measure critical thinking skills and a broader range of content.” To compete for the money, states must form groups and apply as consortia; applications are due June 23 and the winners will be announced in September

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How Should Students Be Assessed?

The most urgent need Above almost all other needs, schools need appropriate tools to assess English language learners. Today, there are few tools to help teachers distinguish what students know about a subject from their ability to understand and communicate in English. Think there are Spanish-language versions of your local assessment, do you?

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Sherman Dorn responded to How Should Students Be Assessed? on April 13, 2010 04:30 PM

Continuous, comprehensive, collaborative The move toward next-generation student assessment is the natural next step in the promising move toward common state standards. In order to be effective and useful, such assessments must be ongoing, collaborative, and drawn from a range of sources – and here I’m referring not just the tests themselves but their very development

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Deborah McGriff responded to How Should Students Be Assessed? on April 13, 2010 02:25 PM

Unlikely to produce good assessments The guidelines (RfP) for state consortia to follow in applying for federal funds to design new assessment systems are not going to solve the problems created by NCLB, nor lead toward truly high-quality, educationally sound assessment systems. That said, what progress is to be made, if any, is likely to depend a great deal on which consortia are picked to receive the funds.

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Monty Neill responded to How Should Students Be Assessed? on April 12, 2010 04:47 PM

Why a Tradeoff? I don’t think we can afford a tradeoff. We need consistent evaluation of students that provides for a deep analysis of their knowledge and skills

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Sandy Kress responded to How Should Students Be Assessed? on April 12, 2010 03:03 PM

WiZiQ has made tests more transparent by making the statistics available to view. It means, a teacher can see 1) who is attempting the tests, 2) score of the test, and 3) count of correct and incorrect answers

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Latest features, highlights, improvements and changes in WiZiQ

What it will take to pass the DREAM Act Our moderator Eliza Krigman raises an important question: if there appears to be broad support for the DREAM Act, why hasn’t it passed yet? Despite the sense that Latinos’ political power is growing, immigration issues remain unresolved.

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Deborah McGriff responded to Should Undocumented Students Get Federal Support? on April 12, 2010 06:56 PM

WHY THE DREAM ACT IS STILL A DREAM Let me add my amen’s to the chorus of support to the Dream Act. I’ve spent too many unhappy days with bright and ambitious high school youngsters who, because they couldn’t get federal support, found themselves at a dead end

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David L. Kirp responded to Should Undocumented Students Get Federal Support? on April 8, 2010 08:24 PM

DREAM Act Provides a Pathway America has welcomed generation after generation of immigrant students into its public schools, and these generations of students have gone on to help build America into a great nation. In honor and recognition of that proud immigrant heritage, the National Education Association has long supported policies and programs that welcome and lift up immigrant students.

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Dennis Van Roekel responded to Should Undocumented Students Get Federal Support? on April 7, 2010 09:03 AM

DREAM Act is common sense Nothing makes more common sense than passing the DREAM Act. The bill has been languishing before Congress for nearly a decade, and it’s tragic to think about the number of young lives and dreams that have been put on hold.

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Cynthia G. (Cindy) Brown responded to Should Undocumented Students Get Federal Support? on April 6, 2010 09:41 PM

It’s Everybody’s Dream I worked for three years with high school students in an urban district serving many children of Mexican immigrants. Getting to know these kids made it hard for me not to support the DREAM Act.

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Steve Peha responded to Should Undocumented Students Get Federal Support? on April 5, 2010 05:50 PM

Modern psychologists deal with human behavior which is purposeful. Human behavior, unlike lower animals varies according to situations and can not be explained by a single mental aspect. So, modern psychologists have formed some inter-related concepts of human behavior.

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i) What do you mean by motivation? Why is it important in the teaching-learning process?

In an unanimous vote by the Student Senate on Tuesday, the Student Government Association officially proposed that St. Olaf have its own way of rating professors and courses called the Course and Teaching Evaluation (CATE)

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New prof rating system – Olivia Koester, Manitou Messenger

Merrill Area Public Schools next year will expand its course options beyond traditional classrooms. The district will offer classes from three online programs for students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Merrill Superintendent Lisa Snyder has invited all interested families to a meeting on the courses Monday at Merrill High School.

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Online Learning: Merrill schools to go virtual – Charles Menchaca, Wausau Daily Herald