Newspaper's teacher ratings stir up controversy EducationNews.org

EducationNews.org

Newspaper's teacher ratings stir up controversy 8.31.10 - In a move that has many local educators seething, the Los Angeles Times has published an online database comparing more than 6,000 elementary school teachers based on a controversial statistical method that relies on test-score data to determine... UC retirement funds face a shortfall of more than $20 billion, report says 8.31.10 - A panel recommends increasing contributions by employees, raising the retirement age for new hires and reducing some benefits. Education secretary Arne Duncan: headmaster of US school reform 8.31.10 - As students head back to school, educators nationwide are implementing controversial school reform wrought by Arne Duncan. Pushing competitive market approaches and armed with unprecedented funding and support from the president, he is possibly the most powerful education secretary ever. ... The surprising thing teachers want from parents 8.31.10 - Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham asked teachers: "If you could magically make parents do ONE thing this coming school year to support their child, what would it be?" Here's the surprising answer. ... Who's 'Really Ready' for college? Retired Marquette dean gives advice 8.31.10 - Robert Neuman says he has seen "every student problem imaginable" in his 25 years as an associate dean of academic advising at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Now retired, he shares strategies to help middle school and high school students avoid common problems in Are You Really Ready for College? One secret, he tells USA TODAY's Mary Beth Marklein, is to start early....

Commentaries

The New and Old of Digital Learning 8.31.10 - Mark Bauerlein - What stands out in a rendition of recent digital breakthroughs in learning is that it relies on some of the most routine progressivist assumptions about learning. Barack Obama's $4.35 Billion "Race to the Trough": School year 2010-2011 8.31.10 - Beverly K. Eakman - California may be broke, and politicians in the nation's capital may be drowning in trillion-dollar deficits, but none of that has turned off the spending spigot in every level of government: county, city, state and federal.