This paper points to teaching policy issues that need to be addressed if micro-credentials are going to spur the transformation of professional learning that researchers call for and teachers seek. The paper also documents what a growing number of states and districts, as well as the nation's largest teachers' union, are doing with…

The past decade has seen a rise in social justice teacher unionism, with an emergence of caucuses that push for bottom-up, race conscious union reform in which members bargain for the common good. While a burgeoning body of scholarship has focused on understanding the goals and organizing strategies of these caucuses, there are few up-close…

This article explores the efficacy and cost effectiveness of New Labour's skills-based policies to help low paid workers adjust to the pressures generated by globalisation, of which the leading example was Train to Gain (T2G). It also analyses the more general issue of how, why and under what circumstances education, training and skills can help…

People learn by doing. This is the idea at the heart of apprenticeship, where lessons in the classroom are reinforced by on-the-job training, resulting in education that transcends the textbook and extends to physical and even cultural learning. Students get paid, and employers get custom-trained talent. For Louisiana, the opportunity of…

This article examines the postdoctoral unionization movement at the University of California (UC) using case study methodology. More specifically, we examine postdoctoral union organizers involved in the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW) Local 5810, focusing on their efforts to unionize postdoctoral employees at the UC. The study is…

Over the last decade, teacher evaluation has moved onto center stage in efforts to strengthen schooling. In this article, we address the question of whether focusing on this administrative process is likely to accomplish what reformers hope. We answer that question by examining the available evidence, both direct and indirect. We deepen the…

One year ago, the "Wall Street Journal" dubbed 2011 "the year of school choice," opining that "this year is shaping up as the best for reformers in a very long time." School-choice laws took great strides in 2011, both in the number of programs that succeeded across states and also in the size and scope of the adopted…

Historians and educationalists have often assumed that working-class adult education emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century with the introduction of state-funded technical colleges. This was not the case. In 1823, the Glasgow Mechanics' Institute was opened and within a few years similar institutions were being established across the…

Together, a school district and a local union are working to ensure that educators are trained in restorative practices in order to improve school climates and keep students in school and learning. This article describes how, in recent years, administrators and teachers have shifted from traditional school punishments, such as suspension, to…

The study examined in this paper focuses on whether monetary bonuses for teachers improved schoolwide academic achievement in New York City public schools. Study authors analyzed data from 389 high-need elementary, middle, and high schools in New York City in the first year of the bonus program (2007-08) and from 371 of those same schools in the…

There is significant and growing interest in teacher pay reform as a number of states and localities have begun experimenting with departures from the single salary schedule--a pay system employed in most school districts, which links teacher pay solely to degree and experience level (Chait, 2007; Goldhaber, 2009; Podgursky and Springer, 2007).…

Performance related pay is not common in Australian universities. A number of Australian universities have begun to show interest in implementing more individualised pay arrangements. Swinburne University of Technology, in Melbourne, has chosen, contrary to the wishes of many of its staff, to be a path-breaker and has introduced a performance…

In 2009, the Obama Administration created a $4.3 billion dollar grant competition for states called "Race to the Top" (RttT). The money, earmarked from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was to be distributed by the Department of Education to states who were making efforts to adhere to precirculated reforms supported by…

The authors examine how the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiated between teachers' unions and districts is associated with schools' and districts' performance under accountability pressures in California. They find that CBA restrictiveness is associated with the increased likelihood that districts will be in Program Improvement (PI)…

The Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project evaluated strategies to promote employment stability among low-income workers. This practitioner brief examines the work, education, and training patterns of single parents in the ERA project. Three years after entering the study, only one in four single parents had advanced. Most of the…