Education Week: Panel Finds No Favorite in Teacher-Prep Pathways

Education Week: Panel Finds No Favorite in Teacher-Prep Pathways
I am glad this report finally came out. It is very frustrating to teach in a teacher preparation program where many either think research has nothing to say, or that the research is definitive in what we should do in teacher preparation. I hope the call for more research is heeded, and that the focus is on what program elements matter, for whom, and why. I am skeptical that these large data-sets can do support that kind of research without greater clarity about measuring "field experiences," for example, beyond hours spent student teaching and not looking at quality and growth. Fundamentally, until we as teacher educators become more critical of our practice, and the level of regulation of teacher education programs is realigned to allow for real experimentation with true oversight, we are not going to be able to learn much. Teacher education is a major industry in the US, and in most places it is not treated or regulated in ways that support research-based or research-generating practice. I hope this report spurs change.

Bracketology - NCAA 1985 - 2009 - Leonardo Aranda's posterous

Bracketology - NCAA 1985 - 2009 - Leonardo Aranda's posterous

This is really cool. It would be nice to always name the regions, but he is right about the inconsistency with which teams are placed in a region. But the relative imbalance across some of the regions is pretty sharp. In the top right region, not team beyond the #1 team wins. Does not bode well for WVA this year against DUKE if you are looking at the standard brackets for this year. Interesting. I share in the spirit of my totally busted bracket (as the defending champion who is about to go down in her bracketology group). Happy spring and enjoy the games this weekend.

Bridging a class divide, one English lesson at a time - washingtonpost.com

Bridging a class divide, one English lesson at a time - washingtonpost.com

This is a great idea and one I'd love to see at college campuses across the country, especially ones like mine!

Education Week: Book Trains Critical Eye on AP Program's Impact

Education Week: Book Trains Critical Eye on AP Program's Impact
As someone who benefited greatly from AP science and calculus courses, I finished college in 3 years with a degree in mathematics. However, I worry about the push to AP over all others. The rankings that focus on AP as a proxy measure for a good high school seem terribly off, especially when they do not consider passing rates on the test. The test is the measure of the rigor of the AP course. If all of the students are failing the test, it is not really serving the AP purpose. The likelihood of the courses labeled AP as being "course-inflated" meaning a higher title than the actual content taught in the class, the less likely the courses will matter. As AP continues to scale up, it will need staffing that can support college-level curriculum taught in a high school context. I'm not sure we have the mass of teachers who can effectively pull off AP instruction, especially those teachers with other, often competing, demands to work with struggling students.

Success adds up for D.C. schools' math program - washingtonpost.com

Success adds up for D.C. schools' math program - washingtonpost.com - Interesting article on Everyday Math. I was just talking with an elementary teacher and potential doctoral student about the "spiral" curriculum of Everyday Math and how much it requires trust in one's colleagues to pick up things in the next grade and provide the appropriate foundation from the previous grade. I wonder how those teachers who "opt out" handle that trust issue, or if whole schools are opting out.

Found Math (from the MAA Focus) - Orthogonal

Mr. Friedman: I think that issue is entirely orthogonal to the

issue here because the Commonwealth is acknowledging —

Chief Justice Roberts: I’m sorry. Entirely what?

Mr. Friedman: Orthogonal. Right angle. Unrelated. Irrelevant.

Chief Justice Roberts: Oh.

Justice Scalia: What was that adjective? I liked that.

Mr. Friedman: Orthogonal.

Chief Justice Roberts: Orthogonal.

Mr. Friedman: Right, right.

Justice Scalia: Orthogonal, ooh.

Justice Kennedy: I knew this case presented us a problem.

Mr. Friedman: I should have — I probably should have said

—

Justice Scalia: I think we should use that in the opinion.

Mr. Friedman: I thought — I thought I had seen it before.

Justice Scalia: Or the dissent.

Mr. Friedman: Th at is a bit of professorship creeping in, I

suppose.

— Richard Friedman, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court

in Briscoe v. Virginia

(Th anks to Deanna Haunsperger and Th e Volokh Conspiracy;

see http://volokh.com/2010/01/11/orthogonal-ooh/)

Building a Better Teacher - NYTimes.com

This is a great article about teacher education and professional development. I hope policymakers and teacher educators pay attention. I think there is a need to blend both discipline-based and general pedagogical knowledge to build a better teacher. I also wish they would attend to developmental differences and how things work differently from elementary to high school. Worth a read. Building a Better Teacher - NYTimes.com