Houston teachers sue over controversial teacher evaluation method
Andrew Dewey is an award-winning history teacher at Carnegie Vanguard High School in Houston. In 2011-12, he earned the top merit pay award that his school district gives out and had “most effective” teacher status through a controversial evaluation system that uses student standardized test scores. The next year, after teaching similar students in the […]
2014 National Teacher of the Year: Let’s stop scapegoating teachers
Sean McComb of Maryland was named 2014 National Teacher of the Year on Wednesday. In an interview, McComb, a strong advocate for public education, talked about the complexities of teaching, the challenges that face educators and school reform policies that scapegoat teachers while ignoring many of the powerful factors that affect student performance. The 30-year-old […]
Live online chat today at 1 p.m.
I’ll be doing a live chat on washingtonpost.com at 1 p.m.EDT today, so if you have any questions or comments about anything in education (or even marginally related), send them in here: http://live.washingtonpost.com/the-answer-sheet-20140430.html Here are transcripts of my first chat, the second, and the third, and last week’s.
America’s best teachers got a B on this quiz
The 62-year-old National Teacher of the Year Program is the oldest national honors program that focuses on teaching excellence, and this week, the 2014 winners from each state, the District and U.S. territories are in the nation’s capital’s for the annual celebration. The teachers have been touring the capital and meeting with various dignitaries. On Monday, […]
Maryland educator named 2014 National Teacher of the Year
The 2014 National Teacher of the Year is 30-year-old Sean McComb of Maryland, an accomplished English teacher who started a program at Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts in Baltimore County Public Schools to help students in the “academic middle” stretch themselves so they can succeed in college. In an all-East Coast finish, […]
4-29-14 The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: The scary way Common Core test ‘cut scores’ are selectedYou may have given no thought to the “cut scores” that are set for various tests, but they make all the difference in who passes and who fails. What exactly are cut scores? The Educational Testing Service describes them this way: Cut scores are selected points on the score scale of a test. The points […]7 by Valerie Strauss