In the face of yet another crisis in teaching, it's time for a bold and comprehensive plan to revitalize and better support the profession. Education expert Linda Darling-Hammond explains how the current shortage of teachers is not entirely new, but the result of decades of cutting programs, lack of respect for the profession and poor working…

States and teacher preparation programs across the country are increasingly using a teacher candidate assessment called edTPA. The purpose? To make sure that teacher candidates are ready and able to teach before they begin their careers. The teacher performance assessment requires candidates to compile a portfolio that consists of lesson plans,…

Across the United States, decisions championed in the name of school "reform" are segregating students on the basis of race and class. Traditional public schools that serve low-income students of color have been closed, consolidated, or co-located with charter schools. The officials initiating these reforms claim they will benefit…

According to James Harvey, the scale of the 2011 effort to privatize public education through vouchers and charters is "staggering," representing the culmination of a 30-year assault on public service in general and public education in particular. At a time when states are staring into the abyss of bankruptcy, he notes, public funds intended for…

In 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded the investigation of a $45 million question: How can we identify and develop effective teaching? Now that the findings from their Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project have been released, it's clear they asked a simpler question, namely, What other measures match up well with value-added…

Critics argue that the uniform salary schedule is unfair because it promotes mediocrity by rewarding poor performers while failing to recognize outstanding achievement on the job. Advocates for merit pay systems for preK-12 education also contend that the uniform salary schedule ignores the basic purpose of education--student learning. Although…

Critics of the public release of teacher evaluation scores sometimes liken these ratings to the scarlet letter worn by Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel. The comparison is apt. But public school teachers who are subjected to public shaming because of their students' test scores can rarely expect the opportunities for redemption…

Teachers' attitudes, beliefs, values, and dispositions have a powerful influence on why teachers teach and why they remain in the profession in spite of difficult conditions that test their resolve. Conditions at the school and district levels and attitudes and actions on the part of teachers themselves are also crucial. School districts should…

In an interview with Educational Leadership, Frederick M. Hess talks about greenfield schooling--a policy approach that attempts to knock down the formal and informal barriers that stand in the way of innovation in education. Greenfield schooling, he explains, "doesn't imagine that we should go around razing districts or schools or taking…

This article presents two reports on achievement gaps in the U.S. A new report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education shows that the majority of U.S. states and districts fail to provide the resources necessary to support the achievement of their black male students. "Yes We Can: The 2010 Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in…

Argues for less standardization and more diversification in public education. Responds to several common concerns about diversification: Loss of the common school, inequality, lack of curriculum coherence, and problems in rural settings. Asserts that parents should be allowed to select among several meaningful options for their children's…

Guided by First Amendment principles, Americans must agree on a shared civic framework within which to negotiate our deepest differences. A painful first step is acknowledging public education's failure to find a constitutionally permissable, educationally sound role for religion in the schools. This situation has helped convince religious…

The (media-induced) aura of failure surrounding schools is so pervasive that even friends of education misinterpret data. Four Bracey reports published in "Phi Delta Kappan" amassed substantial positive evidence, but the media choose to accentuate the negative. Given the severe decline in other social institutions, schools are performing…

Shows the gradual deterioration of the U.S. public education system, beginning with a hypothetical school district's acceptance of Channel One programing with two-minute commercials in 1990 and ending with Educate America's offer to pick up any costs not already borne by private enterprise (in exchange for adopting the group's curriculum) by 2010.…

Study of school choice in the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colorado, finds increased stratification of schools according to race, ethnicity, and income created by open-enrollment procedures. Per-pupil costs and money raised through fund raising were higher in choice schools, as was student achievement. Recommends actions to limit the…