Teacher turnover has a significant and negative effect on student achievement in both math and English/Language Arts. That is the finding of a research team led by Matthew Ronfeldt of the University of Michigan in their recently released study, How Teacher Turnover Harms Student Achievement. Two weeks ago, I wrote here about recent research connecting…
We talk a lot about leaders. The nation is considering who best to serve as its next president. Fans are analyzing the playing styles put in place by the coaches of their favored NCAA basketball tournament teams. Speculation abounds about where Peyton Manning will next play as quarterback. We tend to think a lot about…
Questions posed by an Alabama school superintendent in a letter addressed to his successor in 50 years present many of the most vexing present questions in education policy. Superintendent Cranford Burns of Mobile wrote the letter to be inserted in a time capsule for release in 50 years. Superintendent Burns’ questions include: Should the school…
“Poverty is not a learning disability,” declared Pedro Noguera of New York University during a recent guest lecture at Vanderbilt. His presentation on economic influences on student achievement advocated a community-wide focus to improving schools and educational outcomes for students in predominately low-income areas. Although he oriented much of his discussion around models in urban…
Last Saturday, hundreds of attendees gathered on the campus of Fisk University in Nashville to participate in Teach For America’s Southern Educational Equity Summit, an all-day conversation about promoting reform across the South. The setting befit the occasion, as many of the most prominent leaders of the Nashville and national civil rights movements began their…