We’ve all had a class where we ask ourselves, “Why did this person become a teacher?” And as much as we’d like to believe every educator is another Jaime Escalante, the fact of the matter is that most aren’t. So what does it take to be a great educator? Are teaching skills innate, or can they be learned? Alas, the age-old question of [...]
A new trend in school leadership is emerging. School districts are beginning to hire nontraditional candidates--from leaders at non-profit organizations to top corporate executives to former government officials--to be their new superintendents. States such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania are taking measures to create a process whereby nontraditional candidates may be hired as school administrators. So what began this interest in choosing those [...]
The number of students taking Advanced Placement exams has been rising from year to year. In 2010, just under two million students took over three million AP exams, up about 10% from 2009. The College Board, which sponsors the AP exam, offers thirty-four courses that, if a student scores high enough on the exam, can transfer over to college credit. Fifty-eight percent of [...]
Back in tenth grade US history class, I was indoctrinated into the wonder of National History Day. This event was a celebration of world and American history, designed to encourage students to pursue what might not be taught in the textbooks. The two main components of this contest were a research paper and some sort of visual project. Prior to this exercise, I [...]
In 2009, legislatures in New York and California, among other states, enacted laws that limit, to one degree or another, the use of student achievement data in teacher performance evaluations. New York's legislature prohibited the use of student test scores in teacher tenure decisions. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was publicly opposed to these laws, saying, "Believe it or not, several states, including [...]
For incoming college freshmen, it’s the number one most frequently asked question: “What’s your major?” Choosing a major can be a Big Deal. It outlines what courses you’ll be taking, what professors you’ll have, what internships you’ll apply for, and how you approach your college experience as a whole. But making a decision like that can often be overwhelming. What if you don’t [...]
Soon after the Obama administration allocated billions of dollars in Federal aid to our Nation's schools, dozens of new companies sprang up looking to capitalize on the funds. Under the rules of the stimulus package, school districts are permitted to hire companies or a nonprofit to help in the turnaround, but the availability of such companies is slim. Companies formerly involved in markets [...]
In a recent interview on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" program, Eva Moskowitz, the founder and CEO of the Success Charter Network, discussed her opinion that class size is not nearly as important as people make it out to be. The theory has been that a smaller class size enables teachers to spend more time one-on-one with their students, thus improving the quality [...]
Much of the push for education reform revolves around smaller schools, smaller class sizes, and as much one-on-one time with teachers as possible. Yet some schools have eschewed this model, opting to focus instead on changes that don't require a complete overhaul of the entire school system. In Brockton, Massachusetts, Brockton High School, which caters to over 4,100 students, proved that the focus [...]
Although solid, accurate content continues to be at the core of successful instructional programs, the means by which content is delivered to students and teachers has taken on a variety of forms that have gone way beyond traditional print products. Here are some of the "non-print" projects we've been involved in lately at Publishing Solutions Group: PSG prepared Spanish translation and audio recordings [...]