City Teachers Would Be Able to Earn More Under New Contract

On Wednesday, The Baltimore Sun reported that a new contract would enable ambitious and effective Baltimore teachers to move quickly through the ranks and earn up to $100,000 a year, as well as give teachers more input on working conditions in their schools.

Read the full article at The Baltimore Sun

Is this fair?

Would a contract like this be effective in other cities?

New Online Course from Marcia L. Tate on Brain-Engaging Strategies

Based on Marcia Tate’s best-selling books, School Improvement Network and Corwin announce a new online course from Marcia L. Tate, Growing Dendrites: 20 Strategies That Engage the Brain. Participants in Tate’s online course will see how to improve students’ retention of what they have learned by learning and practicing the rich brain-compatible strategies she offers in the course. Marcia L. Tate has helped thousands of teachers every year discover the power of brain-compatible teaching and now her classroom-proven practical techniques are available through this rich multi-media online professional learning experience.


Through the 10 completely interactive modules of Marcia Tate’s course, participants learn about the research behind brain-compatible teaching and develop concrete strategies that can be applied directly in the classroom. Participants will also have the opportunity to hear directly from Marcia via live webinars. As with all Corwin-SINET online courses, Marcia’s course allows participants to see actual educators applying the course content: 20 strategies that engage the brain, at both elementary and secondary levels all across North America.

Read the full article HERE

The Education Nation Interactive Summit

During the week of September 26th, NBC News will highlight education stories broadcast live at Rockefeller Plaza. The stories will focus on the challenges and opportunities in education today.

To learn more and to view videos from the summit visit Education Nation

Getting Great Teachers in the Classroom and Getting Them to Stay

This week, edweek.org released an article about keeping great teachers in the classroom. They reminded America that:

"According to the United States Education Department, the country will need 1.6 million new teachers in the next five years. Yet a recent report by the nonprofit National Commission on Teaching and America's Future reports that 'approximately a third of America’s new teachers leave teaching sometime during their first three years of teaching; almost half leave during the first five years. In many cases, keeping our schools supplied with qualified teachers is comparable to trying to fill a bucket with a huge hole in the bottom.'"

Read the entire article at Teacher Magazine.

So how do we keep great teachers in the classroom? How do we get them there in the first place?

New Courses and New Observation Tool for PD 360

PD 360, the world’s largest online community, video and professional development distribution network for teachers and educators announces significant enhancements to their content and technology. Included are new courses from the leading authors and experts on diversity in the classroom, teaching, and educational leadership, as well as a cutting-edge classroom observation tool that works on an iPad, iTouch, or iPhone and integrates with PD 360.

To ensure the highest quality professional development, School Improvement Network and Corwin have joined forces to develop several exciting new job-embedded training courses for PreK-12 educators from experts such as Michael Fullan, Marcia Tate, Charlotte Danielson, Glenn Singleton and many others. Utilizing the easy-to-use tools powered by PD 360 technology, each course is unique and in depth with live author collaboration, facilitation by the authors themselves, networking with experts and participating peers, and more.

To learn more about the new online courses or the new observation tool integrated with PD 360, click HERE

Promise Neighborhoods Include Charter Schools

Yesterday, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan released the results of the winners for those who applied for the development of "Promise Neighborhoods." The communities are inspired by the Harlem Children's Zone in New York. The 21 winners will divide $10 million in funds from the Office of Innovation.

Read the full article at GOOD

Kansas City, Missouri Schools Chose PD 360 for School Turnaround Efforts

Needing more than incremental change, Kansas City, Missouri started by closing just under half of its public schools, and then partnering with School Improvement Network to help them with a metamorphosis. “Their report card will be our report card,” says CEO Chet Linton.

Kansas City has customized its use of PD360’s on-demand professional development content by embedding it within its new online curriculum frameworks as well as providing the content to teachers as part of on-going feedback from the new e-walk observation system.

To learn more about how Kansas City is making school improvements with PD 360, read the full article HERE

Michael Fullan Explains How to Create Motion Leadership

School Improvement Network and Corwin have produced an online learning experience with Michael Fullan that can't be had anywhere else. Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy is a content-rich online course that dives deep into what it takes for any school leader to put real and measurable change in motion. The course is divided into eight self-paced modules. Through each module, participants join Michael on a journey that explores change leadership—visiting, through video, successful schools and effective administrators that have accomplished significantly profound institutional change that works. Developed in direct collaboration with Michael, the Motion Leadership course is intended for leaders as well as leadership teams as they focus on putting practice into theory.

Learn More

The Future of STEM Education—"Change the Equation" from President Obama

Today, President Obama announced "Change the Equation," an effort to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the United States. The President reminded Americans that, "One assessment shows American 15-year-olds ranked 21st in science and 25th in math wehn compared to their peers around the world."

Read President Obama's full remarks.

What Can We Learn From President Obama's Back to School Speech?

Yesterday, President Obama gave his second annual back to school speech at Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spoke about the need for education in life beyond just for getting into a great college or getting the perfect job. So what are some of the things we can learn from the President's speech?

-"Nobody gets to write your destiny but you.  Your future is in your hands.  Your life is what you make of it.  And nothing -- absolutely nothing -- is beyond your reach, so long as you’re willing to dream big, so long as you’re willing to work hard."

-"You’ve got an obligation to yourselves, and America has an obligation to you, to make sure you’re getting the best education possible.  And making sure you get that kind of education is going to take all of us working hard and all of us working hand in hand."

And with a little help from Tamerria Robinson (a 12-year-old girl in Georgia) we learn, "'I try to achieve my dreams and help others do the same."  "That," she said, "is how the world should work."

Read the full speech at The Whitehouse Press Office

Equity 101 Session 7

Equity Culture: Practitioner Interview with Dorothy Kelly

Thursday, September 16 at 9 a.m. (PDT), 10 a.m. (MDT), 11 a.m. (CDT), 12 p.m. (EDT)

Engage in this informative webinar as Curtis Linton interviews Dorothy Kelly on how she worked to build an equitable culture for students. Dorothy Kelly has worked over 26 years as an educator, serving 19 years as a middle school assistant principal and five years as a district-wide administrator. She recently retired from the School District of Clayton where she was an assistant principal at Wydown Middle School and the Director of the Clayton Voluntary Student Transfer Program. This program is a highly successful desegregation program in which African American and African descent families from the city of St. Louis attend St. Louis suburban school districts. In describing an equitable school culture, Dorothy says:


“An equitable school culture involves a leader who is hyper focused on achievement, and his or her attitude and actions permeate all aspects of teaching in the building. Teachers, counselors, students, and parents know the goals and purpose of what and how students are learning. All who enter the door are welcomed and feel confident that children will be nurtured and taught well. A healthy school culture exists when students have support in their learning endeavors, whether they need special education or gifted education. Those children would not be able to tell the difference—they would simply know they are cared about and are having fun while they learn.”

Learn More

Register for Session 7

•Follow Curtis on Twitter @curtislinton

•Follow the Equity 101 conversation with #equity101 on Twitter

Homework for Equity 101, Session 6

Watch the PD 360 video segment School Culture: Professional Attitudes from the program How to Increase Minority Student Achievement featuring Bonnie Davis discussing that teachers who have true pride in their work do not let students fail.
Elementary version: http://www.pd360.com/index.cfm?ContentId=883
Secondary version: http://www.pd360.com/index.cfm?ContentId=832

Describe two colleagues/mentors/administrators that you have personally worked with who:

1. Explicitly exhibited positive professional attitudes towards equity. He or she strongly believed in the potential of every one of his or her students, and worked to assure that none of them failed. He or she also showed strong cultural competency towards all students.

2. Clearly did not show a strong professional attitude towards equity. He or she placed all learning responsibility explicitly upon the students, and showed little responsibility for student failure. He or she also often engaged in deficit thinking in assuming that the student lacked certain skills and/or ambition to succeed.

Describe each of these colleagues in terms of what they were like to work with, the impact they had on students and other educators, and the ways in which they seemed to enjoy or not enjoy their work.

304 Schools Receive Blue Ribbon Recognition

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recognized 304 schools as 2010 National Blue Ribbon Schools. The schools—254 public and 50 private—will be honored at an awards ceremony Nov. 15-16 in Washington, D.C. In the past 28 years, more than 6,000 of America's schools have received this coveted award.

To learn more and to see a complete list of winners, read the full article at the U.S. Department of Education

Minnesota Sees Its Share of $10 Billion

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that Minnesota will receive $166.7 million to support education jobs. Minnesota is one of the first to submit their application for funds and receive the money within days. The $10 billion education fund will support education jobs in the 2010-11 school year and be distributed based on population figures.

To learn more go to msnbc.com

Teachers in a New Role at School

What if your teacher was also your principal? For Brick Avon Academy students in Newark, this idea has become a reality. Dominique D. Lee became the main founder of Brick Avon after he was disgusted with a system that produced ninth graders who could not name the seven continents or the governor of their state. Lee and five other teachers who worked with Teach For America are now taking the reigns in one of the first teacher-run schools in the New York region.

To learn more, read the full article at The New York Times

Are teacher-leaders an answer to weaknesses in education?

How New Tests Could Change U.S. Education

With the recent naming of the Race to the Top grant winners, measurement of teacher success has been a top priority for the U.S. government. Standardized bubble tests have played an ever increasing role in teacher evaluation, but now Secretary of Education Arne Duncan envisions a different kind of test. He says the new tests will be computer-based and include students' ability to read complex tests, synthesize information and do research projects.

There will be two groups of states that will experiment with different tests in order to determine the most effective assessments in both English and math.

Full Article at The New York Times

Will the new tests be more effective?

The Future of U.S. Education: Arne Duncan Answers High School Students' Questions

Today the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, answered some tough questions from high school students across the country. Questions ranged from, "Should education be nationalized?" to "How can the U.S. government help private and faith-based schools in order for them to have the same resources as public schools?"

What to do about inequalities in education? Duncan said, "We want a child in Mississippi held to the same standards as a child in Massachusetts."

What changes are in store for our nation's education?

Listen to the entire Q&A at NPR

Math Camp Making a Difference in Detroit

Only 59% of Detroit Public School students graduate from high school. Against the odds and amidst a $363 million budget deficit, two Wayne State University professors are taking the initiative to make a difference. Math Corps, started in 1990, is a math camp for students in grades 7-12. There is a belief that not only can this math camp change the lives of the students who attend, but that Math Corps can help change the entire city of Detroit.

See the full story about Math Corps HERE