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Most of you don’t know that I contribute news round-ups for the Knowledge Alliance. Some of these issues have certainly grabbed my attention about the future of education from a reform  and technology standpoint, and I wanted to highlight some of my faves.

Spring has Sprung for More Reform - When every student has access to a computer, “educational use for technology will be transformed.” Some are still struggling to identify evidence supporting successful school integration, offering family vouchers, overhauling how teachers are paid, and eliminating tenure. There is a surge to produce evidence-based reforms in education, but some think, “insisting on evidence for educational programs slows down the process of innovation.” Education Northwest’s Steve Fleischman suggests asking three questions before moving forward with reform. In the meantime, StudentsFirst is stepping up on education reform legislation, producing a newly released video that encourages legislators to continue their progress.

In other ed reform news, read predictions from the Council on Foreign Relations’ Independent Task Force on U.S. Education Reform and National Security, chaired by Joel Klein and Condoleezza Rice, and the state of the public education system in terms of national security.

Rising Tide of Data - Using data to make informed decisions only works if there is proper forethought, otherwise this “thinking may do as much harm as good.”

Value-Added Evaluation Impact - Teachers are starting to feel the impact of the value-added evaluation factors. Teachers once praised for their impact in the classroom have since been fired. The Carnegie Foundation highlights what good evaluation looks like, but we continue to see reports that value-added evaluations are hurting more than motivating good teaching practices – is fear ever a good motivator to be better?

Economic Impact Survey - The American Association of School Administrators released findings on the impact of the “economic downturn on schools,” and includes questions on the implications of federal education policies.

You all know how I feel about digital learning in the 21st century, HUGE FAN! Not only do I follow what Edutopia is all about, and keep up with what the DoEd is trying to do in their technology areas, but I follow TED religiously. I am super excited about this stuff that is happening. Education….for FREE! From fantastic, knowledgeable people. I am super psyched about this movement.

TED-Ed: Learning about neuroscience from world-renowned head neuroscientists on TED was sparked by a new campaign to offer free video lessons for high school and college students. TED’s online presence “sparks curiosity.” Is this the wave of the future? Keep reading.

Education of the Future: Khan Academy, which offers roughly 3,000 online classes, launches lessons on the iPad for FREE. 60 minutes reports that Khan Academy has the propensity to reach students from all over the world, transforming how students learn at every level.

Race to the Top

The Department of Education released state reports profiling first-year progress under Race to the Top. The 12 state-specific reports provide summaries of Race to the Top accomplishments and setbacks in the four assurance areas, 1. Raising academic standards, 2. Building robust data systems to improve instruction, 3. Supporting great teachers and school leaders, and 4. Turning around persistently low-performing schools. Read the DoEd press release.

Which States won Race to the Top money, but may have it taken away and why?

States face delays in implementing Race to the Top: Meeting U.S. Department of Education standards, several States won a chunk of Race to the Top dollars (total 4.3 million) to implement ambitious reforms. Word on the street is that three of the 12 winners are actually on schedule, six States are delayed, and three (New York, Florida, and Hawaii) have major issues and could lose their money.

Learn what the U.S. Department of Education is saying about New York, Florida, and Hawaii.

What happens to NY because they haven’t implemented the teacher evaluation system yet?

NY could lose $60 million in Federal Funding over the missed deadline.

The “Good” States

Which State is doing a good job with $75 million they won from Race to the Top?

In other Race to the Top news, education seems to be taking a back burner in GOP talks lately, but the presidential candidates do have some things to say on the Race to the Top and NCLB. Read this teaser article.

NCLB

The 10^th anniversary of NCLB generated some great debate last week, and I wanted to include one more fantastic NCLB wrap-up article. With the help of education experts in DC, the National Journal: Report Card, Grading NCLB reveals seven objectives and laws that experts feel spotlight student achievement, and grades its success rate. *Spoiler, “Some experts told NJ that the more frequent use of data has made a big difference in helping schools understand student progress. Others said that the data don’t add up to a coherent picture of student achievement.”

ESEA

As you may recall, the House put out two draft bills with the final components of ESEA. Needless to say, there has been a lot of chatter and reporting about ESEA this past week.

Penn Hill prepared a spreadsheet detailing the ESEA proposal comparison of select provisions – current law, Senate Help Bill, Senate Republican Bills, Administration Waiver Packages, and House Republican Draft Bills.

Rick Hess considers the Harkin-Enzi bill passed by the Senate Education Committee a “modest improvement”, but feels the new House bills provide valuable transparency and gets rid of unrealistic regulations and policing requirements.

In other ESEA news, reporters are surprised that the House proposal appears to align more closely with the Obama administration than the Senate. Interesting! Read about it in the article ESEA Reauthorization Update- Good, Bad and the Bizarre.

In addition, some reporters insist that education reform is a mindset and not a set of particular policies.

US rankings

I can’t tell you how I know, but you should look out for a very important person *cough, the President* who may or may not discuss US rankings in education on a worldwide spectrum. Education Week announced the release of Quality Counts 2012: a report detailing the nation’s placement and rank among other world public education systems. The report provides lessons learned, and the risks and strategies U.S. policymakers have to make to meet the grade. Read the Executive Summary.

Are we feeling pressure yet? Some reporters seem to think so, as stated in article U.S. Education Pressured by International Comparisons.

Research

The report: The Long-term impacts of teachers, teacher value-added and student outcomes in adulthood, was released in December this year, using a value-added approach to evaluate teachers based on their impacts on individual students’ test scores instead of using the average test-score gain.

Children have a lot to gain from a good teacher, why not fork out the cash, right?

Columnist Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, states in the article The Value of Teachers, that the aforementioned report delivers one good answer to mitigate some education issues: “more good teachers. Or, to put it another way, fewer bad teachers. The obvious policy solution is more pay for good teachers, more dismissals for weak teachers.”

Here is another perspective on the report: What to Think about Big New Teacher Value-Added Study

I don’t know if you have the same twitter account “follows” as I do, but Ed Week posted the question, “Overpaid? Underpaid? Let’s get specific. How much do you think a starting H.S. math teacher should make? Respond using #TeacherSalary.”

Be on the look out for more articles and research highlighting expectations, merit pay, how to measure effective teacher quality, etc.

Dear Media, you have poor timing. Other researchers are, for lack of a better term, peeved that this report went out on the wire prior to peer review publication and public discussion. The Politicization of Research demonstrates the battle of one common denominator that contributes to misconception and faulty take-away’s from the research community –  the media.

I was reading up on the 10-year anniversary of No Child Left Behind and saw some hilarious comments. Personally, I think that NCLB enlightened the education world a little bit, but was also unrealistic on some levels. I am very middle of the ground when it comes to this overall provision.

Here are some articles highlighting NCLB and/ or ESEA:

Education Week: NCLB a Landmark Law for Children – George Miller (House Education and Workforce Committee)

Education Week: Perspectives on the Law (17 writers contribute essays on the subject) – awesome

Education Week: Predictions for 2012

Education Week: NCLB Lessons – Lamar Alexander gives his 10 cents

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Sunday Marks a decade of No Child. Did the law do any good?

Washington Post: Unorthodox education predictions for 2012

New America Foundation: The Top Early Ed News of 2011

There are so many more articles to highlight, but I thought those listed above were perfect.

And here is the comment I laughed at:

“Saying No Child Left Behind did good is the equivalent of saying Bernie Madoff did good, because he “brought attention” to financial issues.”

I remember reading a newspaper article a couple years ago talking about a teacher using cell phones as a means to teach his students. His whole premise of disregarding school policy was based on “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” My 12 year old brother just received an iPod touch for Christmas. Within 2 hours of opening his present, he downloaded 12 apps, and posted a picture of a Mountain Dew can on Facebook. Along with exploring the inner workings of the iPod, he asked question after question about how it worked, passwords, usernames, downloading info, etc. Upon discovering some rather noisy apps, he asked “How do I silence this thing to make sure it doesn’t go off at school.” My parents automatic reply was, “You weren’t planning on taking that to school, were you.” Both he and I looked at each other, rolled our eyes and exclaimed “Duh!”

Not to sound to cliche, but in a stage of life where the world is at our fingertips (ok, that was cheesy), maybe we need to take the teacher’s advice, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” I found some articles talking about the benefits of students using social media as a way to become proactive in their learning.

From NBC News Education Nation 2011: Social Media Belongs in the Classroom by Jason Falls argues that social media is such a huge part of business now that proper education needs to become part of mainstreamed curriculum.

My argument FOR this movement is based on my current experience working as a proposal analyst at an IT firm in Maryland. I have noticed that several government agencies require systems that allow their internal networks to have live conversations, video stream, chat, and want  systems that allow safe and protected ways to communicate. Many business and government entities use some sort of social medium to connect with others in their field, and most are working with clients through these mediums. And where businesses were restricted to certain regions, these social mediums also provide worldwide access to necessary communications both internally and externally.

In the Reuters article, Can Crowdsourcing Shake Up Education by Deborah Cohen covered a story about a new platform that allows k-12 teachers to share their best lesson plans with other educators across the country.

While looking for a job in education policy, I had the opportunity to speak with persons from the Department of Education Technology Development department, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, PBS, and other innovator’s in technology. As you recall from the About Me section, one reason I went back to school was to learn more about the idea of using technology in the classroom. As our society has the propensity for more convenience and efficiency through technological advances (what, with the latest releases of the iPad 2, iPhone 4S, 2011 MacBook AirBarnes and Noble Nook…need I go on?), our education system is lagging behind and technology is kicking its butt.

Read More about Technology in the Classroom

Department of Education: Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students

Education World: Skype in the Classroom

Sure there is and will be more speculation on how this movement could harm student security. As with anything new, challenging, and innovative, professionals offering technology for the classroom recommend that students are not only trained on the technology itself, but the PROPER ways to use these technologies, especially when it comes to safety and protecting student identity.

There is a way that teacher’s can use social media as a way of enhancing the learning experience. I just can’t wait to hear the political conversations revolved around what I see becoming a major issue for student learning in the next year.

During my studies and having attended various political forums discussing the economy of education, there is a consistent debate on teacher earnings and teacher quality, and if these factors effect student achievement levels Some researchers argue that a low salary for teachers is directly connected to student achievement levels. Others argue that lower salaries for teachers directly relates to teacher shortages. Regardless of the findings, I don’t need to spell out how detrimental it is to have qualified teachers in the classroom.

So, what happens when qualified teachers find out that they won’t earn enough money to live  after they retire? How do you think it makes them feel? While the government isn’t necessarily in the business of paying people while patting them on the back for their accomplishments, it is important to realize that the contributions of a ‘happy people’ goes a long way. Sure I haven’t demonstrated my last arguments on research, religion or whatever, but my point is that teachers deserve more than respect, qualified or not. Deserve what, you ask? Money, allegiance, promised blessings, respect, etc., for taking on a social responsibility to ‘raise’ and ‘educate’ the future leaders (our children). Respect alone doesn’t pay the bills. Money alone does not solve the problem either.

Today I read a couple articles on the BBC talking about the strikes that closed down schools across the UK and Ireland. This is what happens when all teachers get is respect.

Over half of UK Schools Closed by Pension Strike

UK Schools Disrupted by Pension Strike