News Digest

Kindergartners in Georgia — many of whom don’t yet read — could soon play an important role in deciding which teachers get raises or get fired. Under a new pilot program, 5-year-olds will be guided through a survey that includes such statements as “My teacher knows a lot about what he or she teaches” and “My teacher gives me help when I need it.” As the youngsters circle a smiley face, a neutral face or a frowning face, they will be playing their part in new high-stakes teacher evaluations. The article is in The Washington Post.

Sixty-seven of the 68 students studying to be teachers at the middle and high school levels at the Amherst campus are protesting a new national licensure procedure being developed by Stanford University with the education company Pearson. The UMass students say that their professors and the classroom teachers who observe them for six months in real school settings can do a better job judging their skills than a corporation that has never seen them. The post is from The New York Times SchoolBook blog.

Some Michigan lawmakers said they might have to spend a recommended $6 million to sample teacher evaluation systems to get the job done right. The Michigan Council on Educator Effectiveness is calling for a year of a pilot program that looks at several ways of evaluating teachers in rural and urban districts before settling on a plan that could be used statewide.  The article is from Michiganlive.com.

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Stanford education professor Pam Grossman writes in the Huffington Post: If we want to build an education system built to last, we need to prepare teachers for the long haul and support them in staying in the classroom. By treating teaching as a revolving door occupation, we shortchange both our students and our society.

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