Human Resources - Teacher quality under the microscope:
"It's no secret that one of the keys to creating better schools is to raise the quality of teaching in the nation's classrooms. But how to identify, and encourage, high-quality teaching is proving to be a challenge.
Several efforts to address this question are under way. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has just launched a five-year, $500 million initiative to quantify what, exactly, makes a teacher effective and how to tie that to student achievement (see story). And the Obama administration has cited improving teacher quality as one of four education-reform areas it plans to target in particular. (See 'Duncan outlines school reform agenda.')"
"It's no secret that one of the keys to creating better schools is to raise the quality of teaching in the nation's classrooms. But how to identify, and encourage, high-quality teaching is proving to be a challenge.
Several efforts to address this question are under way. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has just launched a five-year, $500 million initiative to quantify what, exactly, makes a teacher effective and how to tie that to student achievement (see story). And the Obama administration has cited improving teacher quality as one of four education-reform areas it plans to target in particular. (See 'Duncan outlines school reform agenda.')"