What’s the Problem? Efforts to improve schooling increasingly narrow in on improving individual teacher’s instruction. That makes sense given that having an effective teacher is the greatest in-school factor associated with student success. But, this focus on the individual is shortsighted: It fails to recognize the potential of social capital. Social capital refers to those
How can teachers’ workplaces support the cultivation of more effective ways of reaching their students? Most current reforms point to the improvement of teaching as the main vehicle for improving student learning. For example, discussions of teacher effectiveness and teacher quality in all their various forms assume a need for widespread improvements in teaching skills.
Evaluating teacher education: what we first need to know about teachers and their work, by Gerry LeTendre. With tomorrow’s release of rankings of teacher education programs via US News and World Report, we now have an opportunity to look at what schools are ranked on, and what is missing. The NCTQ teacher preparation project advocates