AM News: Mixed Reactions To "Irreplaceables" Report

'Irreplaceable' Teachers Retained Poorly, TNTP Education Report Finds HuffPostEdu: The study, called "The Irreplaceables," took several years for TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project) to produce, and asserted that a high rate of teachers moving in and out of the profession isn't necessarily bad. Other coverage here.

Games to Sharpen the Brain WSJ:  If two start-ups have their way, videogames might cure more than just boredom. They could also be used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. via GothamSchools.

N.J. Mom Puts Kids To Bed With Math NPR:  An astrophysics graduate and mother of three kids, she started a ritual when each child was 2 years old: a little bedtime mathematical problem-solving that soon became a beloved routine... Bedtime Math is gaining fans among children and math-shy parents around the country.

Program Shapes the New Faces of Conservation Schoolbook: This is not the kind of program where a poor young adult from a city goes to a farm for a week to get a glimpse of something beyond a high-rise. 

Ever-Growing Past Confounds History Teachers NPR: Neal Conan talks with Rees, a Colorado State University history professor, about the difficult decisions he faces about when to stop teaching a piece of history, to make room for something new.

Nearly 250 Communities Apply for Promise Neighborhood Grants Politicks K12: The department is aiming to allocate $27 million for up to seven "implementation" grants—which help communities create actual Promise Neighborhoods, and $7 million for up to 14 "planning grants", which help communities figure out what services they need.  

School dress codes aren't just for students anymore USA Today: The Wichita School District is just one of a growing number in the nation cracking down on teacher apparel.

Comments

[Bruce]

Professor Koedel and others are showing poor critical thinking skills in relation to the TNTP report. The cited Harvard study of 2011 attempted to demonstrate that, 20 years ago, having a teacher highly effective at raising one's test scores had some positive benefits on one's life trajectory (unsurprising when put like that, particularly in relation to tests with significant outcomes for students, like the SATs). Assuming that was true 20 years ago, it by no means follows that it is true today. In other words, having a teacher who relentlessly focuses on test prep to the exclusion of all else has not been demonstrated to be more advantageous for today's students than having a teacher with a more holistic and better balanced approach, since there were so few of the former 20 years ago when those students were being benefited.

[Sarah]

Agreed with Bruce. There’s a focus on teaching for a test that was never there in our glory days as a nation. So really, has it gotten us anywhere?

[Sarah]

Math before bed, as silly as this is going to sound, is one of the therapeutic things I do to this day before nodding off. I picked it up as a kid.