An Easy 'A' for Teachers?
Politico
Politico's Morning Education news digest highlighted a report from the National Council on Teacher Quality, titled "Easy A's and What's Behind Them," which assessed the level of rigor in more than 500 undergraduate teacher preparation programs and concluded that 1) grading standards are lower for teacher candidates than for students in other majors, and 2) higher grades in coursework are a result of a lack of rigor in those courses. The digest also mentioned a response by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), who said, "For more than a decade, AFT K-12 and higher education members have called for improvements to teacher preparation programs so that these programs can provide new teachers with the real-world skills and knowledge necessary to help the broad and diverse spectrum of students they'll teach." Weingarten cited a 2012 AFT report titled, "Raising the Bar," which offers recommendations for improving teacher preparation programs.
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Creating Opportunity for Families: A Two-Generation Approach
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
This report suggests that, in order to break the cycle of poverty for families, a two-generation approach that simultaneously targets the needs of parents and children is required. The report offers recommendations such as: early childhood education that collaborates with parents to increase involvement in their children's education and furthers their own education advancement, job training programs to help parents become gainfully employed, and access to coaching tools that help create financial stability.
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Building Effective Teacher Residencies
Urban Teacher Residency United
This report investigates two highly successful teacher residency programs--the Aspire Teacher Residency and the Denver Teacher Residency--to understand how they work. The report's authors used classroom observations and interviews with multiple stakeholders to uncover program strengths such as recruitment plans that leverage data to identify the best candidates, the selection of top teachers as mentors, and rigorous and relevant coursework.
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MakeHers: Engaging Girls and Women in Technology through Making, Creating, and Inventing
Intel Corporation
The "maker" movement--a tech-inspired, do-it-yourself approach to innovation--has great potential to change the future of STEM fields worldwide, particularly for girls and women, according to this report from Intel Corporation. The report suggests that, although "making" provides new avenues of engagement for underrepresented groups and is equally popular among boys and girls, females face more barriers than males to participation, such as lack of access to tools, lack of mentorship, and exclusion based on gender. The report outlines recommendations for key stakeholders, including parents, educators, policymakers, and those in the private sector, with the goal of increasing STEM interest, participation, and job opportunities among girls and women.
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Policy brief: Understanding Conscientiousness and Its Role in Improved Student Achievement
In today's rapidly changing global economy, "21st century skills" means much more than proficiency in basic academic subjects. One of the most important noncognitive competencies for student success is conscientiousness, which encompasses traits such as perseverance, self-regulation, resilience, and responsibility. This McREL policy brief provides an overview of conscientiousness and its relationship to student achievement, and presents issues for policymakers to consider.
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North Central Comprehensive Center (NCCC) launches new website
The NCCC--operated by McREL International and serving Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming--launched a new website to support the State Education Agencies in their communication efforts and in the implementation of state-, district-, and school-level initiatives in the region. Visit the site here.
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December 3-6 in San Diego, California. Visit us in booth #411.
December 6-10 in Phoenix, Arizona.
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New on the McREL blog
In the blog post, "Taking Some of the Stress Out of Professional Development," McREL researchers Sarah Gopalini and Jesse Rainey suggest several effective strategies for setting a positive tone in professional development sessions.
McREL's director of the North Central Comprehensive Center, Kathleen Dempsey, looks at how student work can inform instruction in her blog post, "An AWSM Way to Increase Middle Schoolers' Math Success," describing McREL's formative assessment pilot program (AWSM) for middle school math students and teachers.
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McREL's Summer of Learning 2015
We've added new workshops and institutes to our 2015 summer professional development line-up. Held at our headquarters in Denver, Colorado, our workshops and institutes combine insightful research with best practices for educators at all levels to help improve students' odds of success. Discounts are available for early registration and groups of five or more.
The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching
June 22-23, 2015
Learn more and register here.
Institute: Balanced Leadership for District-Level Leaders
June 24-26, 2015
Learn more and register here.
Classroom Instruction That Works
July 13-15, 2015
Learn more and register here.
Facilitator training: Classroom Instruction That Works
July 13-17, 2015
Learn more and register here.
Institute: Balanced Leadership for School-Level Leaders
July 20-25, 2015
Learn more and register here.
Classroom Instruction That Works with English-language Learners
July 27-28, 2015
Learn more and register here.
Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works
July 29-30, 2015
Learn more and register here.
Helping All Students Achieve with a Multi-Tiered System of Support
July 29-30, 2015
Learn more and register here.
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One million classroom observations conducted using Power Walkthrough�
McREL is pleased to announce that in October our Power Walkthrough system for conducting classroom observations was used for the one-millionth time.The millionth walkthrough took place at Strathmore Secondary College, a public secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. Since first used in 2007 by schools in Twin Falls, Idaho, Power Walkthrough has helped school leaders in 45 U.S. states and 16 countries improve instructional practice in their schools. Read our press release here.
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McREL's Principal Evaluation System approved for use in North Dakota
McREL's Principal Evaluation System, based on our groundbreaking Balanced Leadership� research and professional development program, has been approved by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction for use by schools and districts in the state. Read our press release here.
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Changing Schools: Coaching that makes a difference
Our latest issue of Changing Schools magazine offers multiple perspectives on coaching and ways to develop the next generation of great teachers and school leaders.
Highlights include:
- A new integrative approach to leadership coaching
- The importance of informal observations
- Winning with peer coaching
- A profile of a growing district using coaching to help reduce variability
- Altering our mindset about teacher evaluation
Read the issue here.
Bryan Goodwin suggests ways to "get all students to speak up"
In the classroom, researchers have found that a small percentage of students, usually high performers, tend to dominate discussions. McREL CEO Bryan Goodwin, in his latest "Research Says" column in ASCD's Educational Leadership magazine, offers suggestions for restoring the balance of student engagement in classroom discussions, noting, "Those who remain quiet tend to be low performers, the very students who could most benefit from participation." Read his article here.
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McREL is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to improve education through applied research, development, and service to teachers and leaders at schools, districts, networks and agencies, and higher education institutions.
Having the right people at McREL is important to our mission. Our employees are passionate about the work they do, not only because they are helping to enhance lives, but also because they are surrounded by diverse, enthusiastic, and innovative thinkers.
We are seeking qualified candidates for the following roles:
Executive Director of Research, Evaluation, and Expertise
Chief of Staff
Director of Client Solutions--Pacific Region
Follow our @McRELJobs Twitter feed and never miss an opportunity to join our staff.
Learn more about our work culture and employment listings at our Careers at McREL site.
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