The Answer Sheet: Teachers


Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 09/28/2011

A film on education that gets it right
By Valerie Strauss
A teacher writes that every policymaker should be required to see the new film “American Teacher,” which powerfully reveals the huge challenge we face in our efforts to attract and keep the best teachers.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:00 AM ET, 09/28/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 09/19/2011

10 Tips for new teachers (expect to make ‘hideous’ mistakes, etc.)
By Valerie Strauss
A veteran teacher provides 10 tips for new teachers, bits of advice you probably won’t find on traditional lists.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 09/19/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 08/03/2011

How to improve teacher education now (and why Teach for America isn’t the answer)
By Valerie Strauss
Former Teachers College president Arthur Levine writes why it is now time to change the way teachers are prepared for their jobs and how we should do it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  07:00 AM ET, 08/03/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Guest Bloggers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 08/01/2011

Teacher: What Save Our Schools march accomplished — and didn’t
By Valerie Strauss
A veteran teacher assesses how much the Save Our Schools March in Washington accomplished in and what the next steps are to try to get a change in Obama administration education policies.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 08/01/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Anthony Cody, Teachers

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 03/03/2011

Value-added assessment: Theory vs practice
By Valerie Strauss
Conflating the importance of teacher quality with the ability to measure it carries big risks, and can lead states, districts and the media to miss the trees for the forest.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:00 AM ET, 03/03/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Matthew Di Carlo, Teachers | Tags:  la times, la times teacher, los angeles times, los angeles times teachers, los angeles times teachers series, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation, teachers, teachers and value-added, teachers database, value added

Posted at 03:31 PM ET, 03/02/2011

School reform through confrontation
By Valerie Strauss
Increasingly in state after state, battles over school reform have become confrontational: Wisconsin, Indiana, etc. What are the consequences?

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:31 PM ET, 03/02/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  collective bargaining rights, indiana, indiana collective bargaining, labor movement, no child left behind, teachers, wisconsin protests, wisconsin senators, wisconsin teachers

Posted at 12:47 PM ET, 03/01/2011

Jon Stewart's hysterical defense of teachers
By Valerie Strauss
Jon Stewart (finally) does a hysterical bit about the preposterous attacks on the nation’s public school teachers, who have been accused by school “reformers” of being lazy, greedy and lousy at their jobs.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:47 PM ET, 03/01/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Laugh and cry, Teachers | Tags:  diane ravitch, jon stewart, school reform, the daily show, wisconsin protests, wisconsin teachers

Posted at 05:28 PM ET, 01/31/2011

Letter to President Obama: Who is a 'highly qualified' teacher?
By Valerie Strauss
More than 50 organizations sign a letter to President Obama about legislation that would codify a Bush-era regulation that allows states to label teachers as “highly qualified” when they are still in training – and, in many cases, just beginning training – in alternative route programs. alternative route programs.Bamajoin in

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:28 PM ET, 01/31/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  continuing resolution, definition of highly qualified, education groups, h.r. 3082, highly qualified, highly qualified teacher, letter to obama, president obama, public school teachers

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/31/2011

Legislation: Teachers should grade parents
By Valerie Strauss
In the you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up category, a Florida (of course) state legislator is pushing legislation that would require some elementary school teachers to grade parents on how involved they are at their children's schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 01/31/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  bill for teachers to grade parents, florida bill teachers, florida legislature, florida schools, legislation teachers parents, parents, teachers, teachers grading parents

Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 01/25/2011

Teaching without classroom teachers
By Valerie Strauss
Florida is the state that keeps on giving, at least to education writers. What it gives to its students is another question. One thing it isn’t giving to all of its students these days is classroom teachers.

By Valerie Strauss  |  08:00 AM ET, 01/25/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  florida, florida education, florida schools, florida virtual school, gov. rick scott, online classes, rick scott, virtual classrooms

Posted at 05:36 PM ET, 01/20/2011

Pensions for teachers vs. chancellors
By Valerie Strauss
It seems fair to note that after making a public stink about the awfulness of pensions for public school teachers, former New York City Schools chancellor Joel Klein has himself accepted a $34,000 pension check.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:36 PM ET, 01/20/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  chancellor klein, joel klein, klein pension, new york city schools, pensions, ponzi schemes, schools chancellor, teachers pensions

Posted at 03:00 PM ET, 01/01/2011

Goofy: Teachers are people too
By Valerie Strauss
Because so much in school reform seems goofy to me, here's Goofy in a short 1952 film about being a teacher.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:00 PM ET, 01/01/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  being a teacher, goofy

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 12/23/2010

Congress approves weird definition of 'highly qualified’ teachers
By Valerie Strauss
So they’ve gone ahead and done it. U.S. legislators have passed legislation that includes a provision that will turn into law a definition of a “highly qualified” teachers that would include people with only a few weeks of training.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 12/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  congress, continuing resolution, highly qualified teachers, teachers

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 12/10/2010

Valerie vs. Jay on Teach for America, KIPP, etc.
By Valerie Strauss
My friend and colleague Jay Mathews, the most knowledgeable education reporter ever, challenged me to a debate. It evolved into a discussion about Teach for America. Here it is.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 12/10/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  education programs, education schools, jay mathews, kipp, mathews strauss debate, teach for america, teach for america debate, teacher education, teachers, valerie strauss

Posted at 02:10 PM ET, 12/09/2010

Teachers: What we need to do to fix schools
By Valerie Strauss
Fourteen teachers from urban schools around the country worked for a year to study how to improve troubled schools. Here are the results.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:10 PM ET, 12/09/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers, Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  larry ferlazzo, quality teachers, school reform, teacher assessment, teacher development, teacher planning, teachers, teachers leadership network, urban schools, urban teachers

Posted at 02:00 PM ET, 12/09/2010

Teachers: How much more can we take?
By Valerie Strauss
Established, expert teachers tell their personal stories about how the joy is going out of their profession and why they are thinking the previously unthinkable: getting out.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:00 PM ET, 12/09/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  teachers, teaching profession, urban schools, urban teachers, veteran teachers

Posted at 01:16 PM ET, 11/21/2010

Teacher runs into power of Teach for America
By Valerie Strauss
A teacher writes about difficulty finding a job in an urban school district because of choosing traditional training rather than Teach for America or a similar alternative program.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:16 PM ET, 11/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  diane ravitch, teach for america, teacher training, teachers, wendy kopp

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 11/16/2010

Teacher: ‘Maybe it is time for me to go’
By Valerie Strauss
A teacher looks back on a quarter-century in the classroom and says that, for the first time, she is being told what to teach, how to teach it and when, preventing her from helping her students in the way she knows they need. "Hold me accountable, but let me do it my way," she says.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 11/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  literacy, literacy blocks, race to the top, teachers, veteran teachers

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 11/08/2010

A public school teacher’s distress
By Valerie Strauss
A school teacher writes a letter about why she fears for the future of public education.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 11/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  charter schools, diane ravitch, no child left behind, school reform, tax levy, taxes, teachers, toldeo schools

Posted at 11:19 AM ET, 11/04/2010

Some good news for California teachers
By Valerie Strauss
Public schools teachers in California got some good news from the midterm elections: Their candidate won in the race for state Superintendent of Public Instruction is still good news.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:19 AM ET, 11/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  california, california teachers, cft, charter schools, dfer, diane ravitch, gloria romero, state superintendent, tom torlakson

Posted at 11:55 AM ET, 10/10/2010

How to save schools right now: Let teachers teach
By Valerie Strauss
A teacher writes: "We don’t have to wait for Superman to save our public schools. We can save our schools ourselves. .... The answer can be stated in seven words that even a child could understand: Train teachers well -- then let them teach."

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:55 AM ET, 10/10/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  dangerous minds, louanne johnson, superman, teachers, waiting for superman

Posted at 03:26 PM ET, 10/04/2010

What public school teachers really need
By Valerie Strauss
A teacher at the SEED Public Charter School in Washington D.C., which was featured in the film "Waiting for Superman," explains what makes his school work for teachers.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:26 PM ET, 10/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  center for teaching quality, certified teachers, charter schools, dan brown, davis guggenheim, guest bloggers, school reform, seed charter, seed public charter school, seed school, superman, superman film, waiting for superman

Posted at 04:37 PM ET, 09/28/2010

About the suicide of an L.A. teacher
By Valerie Strauss
A Los Angeles teacher took his own life, reportedly depressed because of his evaluation in a database created by the Los Angeles Times. Let's be clear: the newspaper isn't responsible.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:37 PM ET, 09/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  l.a. teacher, la teacher, los angeles teacher, los angeles times, teacher database, teacher evaluation, teacher suicide

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 08/31/2010

Surviving back-to-school night
By Valerie Strauss
Two problems that can mar back to school night -- the annual event when parents and teachers get together at the start of the new year -- are the parents and the teachers

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 08/31/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  back to school night

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 08/25/2010

'Impossible' working conditions for teachers
By Valerie Strauss
Will Fitzhugh writes about a recent trip to Florida, where he did a workshop with teachers on student research papers -- and then realized that the teachers can't use what they learned in the classroom.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 08/25/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  class loads and teachers, class size, florida teachers, history papers, research papers, right to work state, teachers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/29/2010

Study: Error rates high when student test scores used to evaluate teachers
By Valerie Strauss
I don’t understand all of a new statistical study about error rates when student test scores are used to evaluate teachers and schools, but I do get this: The rates are so high that they should give pause to even the most ardent admirers of such evaluation systems.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 07/29/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  error rates and value-added, evaluating teachers, high-stakes decisions and teacher evaluation, mathematica study, teacher evaluation, value-added measures

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/13/2010

The myth of teacher tenure
By Valerie Strauss
An education and law professor argues that getting rid of teacher tenure will not solve the problem of incompetent teachers or noncompetitive student achievement in the global marketplace

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 07/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  ayp and teachers, eliminating teacher tenure, eliminating tenure for teachers, myth of tenure, no child left behind and teachers, teacher tenure, teachers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/12/2010

Bill Gates' troubling involvement in school reform
By Valerie Strauss
Bill Gates is surely smart and rich, but his involvement in public education is highly troubling for a number of reasons. Here's why.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 07/12/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  bill gates, bill gates and teachers, bill gates at aft convention, gates foundation and education, gates foundation and race to the top, gates speech to teachers, teachers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/11/2010

A new look at Teach for America
By Valerie Strauss
Here's a new look at the independent research on the effectiveness of Teach for America teachers.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 07/11/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  research on teach for america, research on tfa, teach for america, teachers and attrition

Posted at 12:26 PM ET, 06/25/2010

The long-lasting power of a great teacher
By Valerie Strauss
A colleague writes about one special high school teacher and the powerful connection they forged. He just learned of her death, and what she left for him.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:26 PM ET, 06/25/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  great teachers, great teaching, powerful learning experiences, teachers

Posted at 11:30 PM ET, 06/24/2010

Principal: How to REALLY turn around a school
By Valerie Strauss
A principal talks about how he and his staff successfully improved a school--but not in the way advocated by today's school reformers.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:30 PM ET, 06/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  obama and school reform, race to the top, school reform, school restructuring, teachers, turning around schools

Posted at 05:30 AM ET, 06/20/2010

Teacher: 'Worst year in the classroom' in decades
By Valerie Strauss
A public school teacher describes the conditions under which he is being forced to teach.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:30 AM ET, 06/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  board certified teacher, diane ravitch, race to the top, teachers

Posted at 01:13 PM ET, 06/17/2010

Teachers cover Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance'
By Valerie Strauss
Whoever said teachers don't know how to have fun haven't been to Holmes Middle School in Alexandria, Va. This week some of them treated kids to a dance performance of Lady Gaga's huge hit "Bad Romance."

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:13 PM ET, 06/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  bad romance lyrics, lady gaga, lady gaga and bad romance, teachers, teachers cover lady gaga, teachers sing "bad romance"

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/12/2010

New controversy at Rhode Island school
By Valerie Strauss
One of the two newly named principals at the Rhode Island school were all the teachers were fired and then rehired had on his resumé a serious exaggeration of student achievement in math at his former school.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 06/12/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  central falls high school, central falls school, obama and central falls, rhode island school, teachers fired, teachers rehired at rhode island school

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 06/08/2010

Teachers council blasts Arizona policy on accents
By Valerie Strauss
The National Council of Teachers of English has finally issued a condemnation of a policy in Arizona in which teachers who speak English with a heavy accent or exhibit poor grammar are being removed from classes for students still learning English.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:00 AM ET, 06/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  arizona, arizona audits teachers with accents, arizona teachers, ell learners in arizona, english language learners in arizona, national council of teachers of english, teachers, teachers with accents

Posted at 09:14 AM ET, 05/17/2010

The real world of teachers
By Valerie Strauss
How much do teachers earn? Here's a look at one state, in which teachers are among the highest paid in the nation, but who still earn on average less than firefighters, cops, engineers and business middle managers.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:14 AM ET, 05/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  how much do teachers earn?, new jersey teachers salaries, salaries, star-ledger, teacher earnings, teacher salaries, teachers

Posted at 02:52 PM ET, 05/16/2010

Tentative agreement reached on Rhode Island teachers
By Washington Post Editors
The teachers at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island who were all recently fired may get to keep their jobs after all. A tentative agreement has been reached between the teachers union and school district officials and will be voted on tomorrow.

By Washington Post Editors  |  02:52 PM ET, 05/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  central falls high school, deal in central falls, president obama and central falls, teachers and central falls

Posted at 11:17 AM ET, 05/12/2010

In Arizona, bad ethnic studies bill becomes law
By Valerie Strauss
If you think that Arizona state government officials would have something better to do with their time than to go after an ethic studies program that they don’t like, you’d be wrong. The governor signed a bad bill into law today, proving that some adults can't seem to learn from their own mistakes.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:17 AM ET, 05/12/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  arizona governor signs bill, arizona law, brewer signs bill, ethnics studies and arizona, ethnics studies program and arizona, tuscon ethnics studies

Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 05/02/2010

Heavily accented teachers removed from Arizona classrooms
By Valerie Strauss
School districts in Arizona are under orders from the state's Department of Education to remove from classrooms teachers who speak English with a very heavy accent or whose speech is ungrammatical.

By Valerie Strauss  |  08:00 AM ET, 05/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  accented teachers being removed in arizona, arizona and immigrants, arizona and teachers, arizona immigration law, teachers

Posted at 04:14 PM ET, 04/29/2010

Obama awards Teacher of the Year
By Valerie Strauss
President Obama presented Sarah Brown Wessling from Iowa with the 2010 National Teacher of the Year award today at a ceremony in the Rose Garden. He also supported legislative efforts to provide funding to states to keep hundreds of thousands of teachers from being laid at the end of the school year.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:14 PM ET, 04/29/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  president obama, sara brown wessling, teacher of the year, teacher of the year winner, teachers, wessling and teacher of the year

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 04/28/2010

How to measure student growth
By Valerie Strauss
By Lisa Guisbond. Growth models are pitched as a thoroughly modern, scientific way to .answer the age-old parental question: “What did you learn in school this year, my dear?” It seems reasonable enough: Test students at the beginning and the end of the year and measure the “growth” in test scores to see if student achievement is improving. Given the narrow and limited nature of the data used to measure this growth, however, there’s often less than meets the eye in the results. Fortunately, there are better, if little known or understood, ways of both measuring and stimulating real growth in learning.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:00 AM ET, 04/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers, Teachers, Teachers, Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  Race to the Top, growth models, how to evaluate teachers, nclb, no child left behind, schools and growth models, standardized tests, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation, teachers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/27/2010

VP, Jill Biden pay respect to teachers
By Valerie Strauss
At a time when it has become almost a national sport to bash teachers, Vice President Joe Biden and the Second Lady, Professor Jill Biden, took a different, and welcome, tact yesterday by hosting the 2010 State Teachers of the Year.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 04/27/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  Biden and teachers, Bidens host teachers, Jill Biden and teachers, Teachers of the Year, Vice President Biden and teachers, teacher of the year, teachers

Posted at 04:30 PM ET, 04/23/2010

Even more education trouble in Florida
By Valerie Strauss
The Florida Legislature doesn't give up trying to drastically change the public education system: Now it is considering legislation that, if ultimately approved by lawmakers and then the voters in a referendum, would allow direct public funding of religious schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:30 PM ET, 04/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  Florida and education, Florida and teachers, Florida vouchers, church and state and Florida, referendum on Blaine Amendment and Florida, teachers tenure bill and Florida

Posted at 01:50 PM ET, 04/15/2010

Crist vetoes bad bill, Florida teachers win
By Valerie Strauss
Teachers in Florida can breathe a temporary sigh of relief now that Gov. Charlie Crist has announced that he intends to veto legislation that teachers said would have devastated their profession and harmed public education.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:50 PM ET, 04/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  Crist and teachers, Crist and veto, Crist vetos bill, Florida governor vetoes bill, Florida teachers, Senate Bill 6 and veto, Senate bill 6 vetoes, crist and teachers, crist helps teachers, crist veto, florida and race to the top, teachers bill vetoed

Posted at 11:36 AM ET, 04/15/2010

New York to close teacher 'rubber rooms'
By Valerie Strauss
New York City will close the "rubber rooms" it has maintained where teachers sit doing nothing while collecting pay and waiting for disciplinary hearings, the Associated Press is reporting.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:36 AM ET, 04/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  NY rubber rooms, New York teachers, rubber rooms, teachers, teachers and rubber rooms, teachers unions

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/15/2010

When school reform made teachers sick -- literally
By Valerie Strauss
There is a story in Diane Ravitch’s new book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” that policymakers should be forced to read whenever they are imposing yet another school reform plan on a beleaguered school district. It is about school reform implemented so forefully that teachers got sick. Not sick and tired of being told what to do by people who had never been in front of a classroom, but physically ill.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 04/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  Diane Ravitch, San Diego school reform, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, school reform

Posted at 03:19 PM ET, 04/14/2010

Teasing teachers in Florida
By Valerie Strauss
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has become a big tease, but it’s hard to know if he is teasing teachers or his fellow Republicans in the state Legislature. Crist has until Friday to decide what to do about legislation sent to him that would, among other thing, end teacher tenure in Florida, link teacher pay to student test scores, eliminate experience and advanced degrees as a factor in teacher evaluation, create a slew of new standardized tests for kids to take. If he listens to one person on what to do, it should be the superintendent of Manatee County schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:19 PM ET, 04/14/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  Bush and teachers, Crist and teachers, Crist and teachers bill, Florida education, Florida school reform, Florida teachers, Florida teachers tenure bill, Jeb Bush, Senate Bill 6, bush and Florida educaiton, bush and teachers bill

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/12/2010

Even Megan Fox knows Calif. has an education crisis
By Valerie Strauss
"Crisis" is an overused word, but it is actually an understatement to explain what is happening in California public education, where massive budget cuts have left many schools without nurses, janitors, librarians and counselors, and sports programs. Teachers are being laid off in droves--and more cuts are in the offing. A video starring Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green tells it all.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 04/12/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  California and schools, California budget crisis, California education cuts, Fox and Green video, Megan Fox, Megan Fox and David Austin Green, Megan Fox and teachers, Megan Fox video

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 04/10/2010

Diane Ravitch’s letter to Florida lawmakers
By Valerie Strauss
Here is a letter that education historian Diane Ravitch wrote to Florida lawmakers putting into historical context some of the controversial issues in legislation now on the desk of Gov. Charlie Crist that would change public education in the state. She explains why she thinks that public education would be harmed if the legislation becomes law.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:00 AM ET, 04/10/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  Crist and teachers and bill, Crist and veto, Diane Ravitch, Florida, Florida and teachers, Florida teacher tenure bill, Gov. Charlie Crist, Gov. Crist, House Bill 7189, Senate Bill 6, performance pay for teachers, standardized tests, teacher tenure bill, teachers, teachers and job security, teachers and performance pay

Posted at 04:37 PM ET, 04/06/2010

More for Florida educators to be angry about
By Valerie Strauss
Florida's teachers are already outraged about legislation expected to become law that would end tenure, require the creation of more standardized tests and link teacher pay to test scores. Now there's a bill that would allow corporations contribute money to a fund that provides school vouchers and then deduct it from their taxes.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:37 PM ET, 04/06/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  Florida, Florida tax credits, Florida teacher tenure bill, Florida vouchers, Senate Bill 2126, Senate Bill 6, Standardized test, school voucher, standardized test, teacher tenure bill, teachers

Posted at 09:09 PM ET, 03/30/2010

How about merit pay for parents?
By Valerie Strauss
One teacher's idea: Take funding for merit pay and move it from the teacher column into the parent column to provide more incentive for parents of low-performing students to follow-through in helping their children succeed.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:09 PM ET, 03/30/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  parents, teachers, teachers unions

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 03/15/2010

On Obama (and Jay Mathews) and teacher accountability
By Valerie Strauss
Let's get real about "teacher accountability." Using student standardized test scores to judge the effectiveness of teachers is wrong--and saying so doesn't make anyone an opponent of holding teachers accountable.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 03/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  No Child Left Behind, President Obama

Posted at 12:45 PM ET, 03/11/2010

The school message hoax: Press 1 to lie about your kid's absence
By Valerie Strauss
A school phone announcement gaining popularity on YouTube that tells parents to press 1 if they want to lie about why their child is absent, and to press 2 if they want to make excuses for why their child hasn't done homework, and on and on, is a hoax, but a funny one at that.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:45 PM ET, 03/11/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  school hoax

Posted at 03:53 PM ET, 01/15/2010

Teachers, students and sex
By Valerie Strauss
A 29-year-old female teacher and track team coach in Anne Arundel County in Maryland has been charged with three counts of fourth degree sex offense--a misdemeanor--for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student. But if that had happened in Georgia, the teacher wouldn’t have broken any laws. Student-teacher sexual relations are disturbing in all cases, but they are not necessarily illegal.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:53 PM ET, 01/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  teacher-student sexual relationships

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 01/13/2010

What makes an effective teacher?
By Valerie Strauss
"Teach for America" founder Wendy Kopp is going to Capitol Hill later today to explain the qualities that her organization believes make the most effective teachers in low-income communities. Those qualities don't include knowing the subject matter. Not everybody agrees.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:00 AM ET, 01/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  Teach For America, teaching

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 09/15/2009

Students: What Makes a Good--and Bad--Teacher
By Valerie Strauss
Now that school is in full swing, The Answer Sheet asked some smart teenagers to answer this question: What are the qualities that you see in teachers you like the best, and the teachers you think are ineffective?

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:30 AM ET, 09/15/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  bad teachers, good teachers, teachers

Posted at 01:00 PM ET, 09/14/2009

Readers: Should Teacher Pay Be Linked to Student Test Scores?
By Valerie Strauss
Please post your answer, and I will blog on the best reader comments them later this afternoon. The Issue: Most public school teachers are paid today under a system that is close to 90 years old and involves allowing teachers to earn salary increases through experience and additional coursework. There is a "pay for performance" movement that would allow teacher salaries to be linked to how well a teacher does his/her job--especially by how well their students do on standardized tests and on their evaluations.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:00 PM ET, 09/14/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers | Tags:  pay for performance, school reform, teachers

Posted at 01:00 PM ET, 09/08/2009

Teach Your Child to Be Their Own Advocate
By Valerie Strauss
There are many things that experts tell parents they ought to do for their child at the start of the school year: *Help kids create a schedule to do homework and outside activities. *Create a quiet work space for them...

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:00 PM ET, 09/08/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  Parenting, Teaching Kids to Advocate

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 09/08/2009

CHECKING IT OUT: What's a ‘highly skilled’ teacher in D.C.?
By Valerie Strauss
Back in the day at Everglades Elementary School in Miami, I had a fifth-grade teacher named Berry Shaw. She was known as the second toughest--read that, second meanest--teacher in the place, and I quaked on the first day of class....

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 09/08/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  D.C. schools, Highly Skilled Teachers, Michelle Rhee, Teachers