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