Observing Classrooms: Spotting Signs of Teacher Quality
With most schools back in session for the new academic year, it seemed like a good time to catch up on one of the most popular sessions from EWA's 66th National Seminar, held in May at Stanford University. Today's guest blogger is Maura Walz of EdNews Colorado. Stream sessions from National Seminar in your browser, or subscribe via RSS or iTunes. For more on this topic, you can also check out EWA's new Reporter Guide to Visiting School Campuses.
Like many journalists who write about public schools, I have never been a teacher, nor have I attended education school. And so the task of reporting on classroom practice often intimidates me: How can I understand what is actually going on in a classroom, much less accurately convey to a reader if, how and why learning is happening there?
In many ways it can be easier to cover the education world outside of classrooms – the sniping between districts and unions; legislative wrangling over education budgets; emotional debates over where a school should be located or whether to shut it down.
But there’s a danger to covering the education beat without spending a lot of time in classrooms, GothamSchools and Education News Network editor Elizabeth Green
Like many journalists who write about public schools, I have never been a teacher, nor have I attended education school. And so the task of reporting on classroom practice often intimidates me: How can I understand what is actually going on in a classroom, much less accurately convey to a reader if, how and why learning is happening there?
In many ways it can be easier to cover the education world outside of classrooms – the sniping between districts and unions; legislative wrangling over education budgets; emotional debates over where a school should be located or whether to shut it down.
But there’s a danger to covering the education beat without spending a lot of time in classrooms, GothamSchools and Education News Network editor Elizabeth Green