Teaching

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Stories about educators, from the classroom to the boardroom.

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March 14, 2013

Indy Star: Ritz, Lawmakers Hung Up On Details Of Proposed Pre-K Pilot

The Indianapolis Star‘s Scott Elliott has this on a General Assembly bill that would create a $7 million, statewide pre-K pilot program — a proposal that got a lot of tough questions from lawmakers in the Senate Education Committee Wednesday, as Elliott writes: In bit of a surprise, State Superintendent Glenda Ritz was among the critics who asked [...]

March 7, 2013

How Teacher Pay Affects Preschool Quality

Head Start students at Eastview Elementary in Connersville play a card game that teaches memory and matching skills.

President Obama announced last month he wants to make preschool available to every 4-year-old in the country. He’s proposed a cost-sharing program with the states to enroll more students from low- to middle-income families in high quality early childhood education. Currently Indiana is one of 11 states that doesn’t provide public money for preschool, but [...]

March 5, 2013

Does It Matter That Most ‘MOOC’ Students Drop The Online Courses?

Roughly half of a Carpe Diem student's day is spent in the "learning center" working online. School leaders say teachers review data about student progress and use it to shape the in-classroom lessons that occupy the other half of a student's day.

Stanford professor says kids drop his ‘massive open online course’ at a higher rate than kids drop regular courses at his university.

March 1, 2013

Indianapolis Charter School Teacher Tells Congress Educators Need Evaluations

Teacher Wes Upton helps students with an assignment in his social studies class at Ben Davis Ninth Grade Center in Indianapolis.

An Indianapolis charter school teacher was among those that testified before the Congressional Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Thursday, writes the Indianapolis Star‘s Scott Elliott for Get On The Bus: There’s probably no coincidence there. The subcommittee’s new chairman is Todd Rokita, Republican U.S. Congressman who represents part of the Indianapolis area, who [...]

February 25, 2013

Fundamental Flaw In A Much-Hyped Teacher Survey?

We highlighted last week the results of a survey showing a precipitous drop in teacher job satisfaction over the last two years. But at Real Clear Politics, Andrew Rotherham says the numbers took a nosedive “based on dubious polling“: The much-touted data point about teacher satisfaction is, to put it politely, fundamentally flawed. MetLife asks about [...]

A Completed Teacher Evaluation: ‘I’m My Own Worst Critic’

Wayne Township uses the state’s RISE rubric. But it doesn’t calculate final scores the same way. That’s because in the district’s formula, student test score data isn’t given as much weight.

February 22, 2013

What Happens When Teacher Evaluations Reveal Problems

Administrators in Wayne Township use “walk-through” evaluations to identify problems before a teacher’s final evaluation.

February 21, 2013

Why So Many Teachers Still Hate Their Jobs Now

Teachers rally in Chicago in September 2012.

Teacher job satisfaction, according to one survey, is at its lowest level since 1986.

February 20, 2013

Wayne Teachers On Merit Pay: ‘No One Got Into Education For The Money’

Teacher Wes Upton helps a student with an assignment in his social studies class at Ben Davis Ninth Grade Center in Indianapolis.

State law requires schools evaluate teachers annually and tie those assessments to pay but doesn’t spell out how individual districts should award effective educators. Here’s how merit pay works in Wayne Township.

Here’s What A Teacher Evaluation Looks Like In Indianapolis’ Wayne Township

State law requires school districts evaluate teachers annually and tie those assessments to pay.

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