Given that education quality has long lagged behind in China's rural schools, one-way "partner assistance" no longer conforms to the new situation of integrated urban-rural governance and the equalization of public services. Only two-way "exchange and rotation" with full participation can truly support schools and teachers in…

Teachers are the engine that drives social and emotional learning (SEL) programs and practices in schools and classrooms, and their own social-emotional competence and wellbeing strongly influence their students. But when teachers poorly manage the social and emotional demands of teaching, students' academic achievement and behavior both suffer.…

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) is a state-funded program in Texas that provides grants to districts for the implementation of locally-designed incentive pay plans. All districts in the state are eligible to receive grants, but participation is voluntary. D.A.T.E. incentive pay plans were first implemented in Texas districts…

Communities across the country are grappling with different approaches to improving their schools. Introducing or expanding charter schools is one of the approaches that states and school districts have considered or implemented. Charter schools serve more than 5 percent of public school students nationwide and make up close to 7 percent of all…

A well-known authority on teacher induction programs offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date review of all recent research on the effectiveness of mentoring and induction support for new teachers. Michael Strong provides a revealing analysis of teacher induction programs and their consequences for education, teacher quality, teacher…

A recent report published by the National Center on Performance Incentives (NCPI) presents findings from the second-year of a multi-year evaluation of the Texas Educator Excellence Grant (TEEG) program, a statewide educator incentive program that operated in Texas. As part of this larger study, evaluators examined how participation in the TEEG…

Pay for performance is a popular public education reform, and millions of dollars are currently being targeted for pay for performance programs. These reforms are popular because economic and management theories suggest that well-designed incentive pay programs could improve teacher effectiveness. There is little evidence about the characteristics…

Schools should anticipate unavoidable problems when implementing a technology plan, project, or program. Technology programs should be built around curricular needs, not gurus. Programs are costly, software remains problematic, and (large) size matters. Blending laptops and desktops is feasible. Faculty consensus helps, and upgrades are…