Incentives for Hard-to-Staff Positions

On November 20, the Center for American Progress released "Financial Incentives for Hard-to-Staff Positions: Cross-Sector Lessons for Public Education." This report examines research from other sectors, such as the military, and suggests a variety of options to help education leaders overcome the problem of recruiting and retaining qualified teachers in hard-to-staff areas. Check out the executive summary (links to a pdf of the entire document). You can also check out Public School Insights thoughts on this piece.

I also personally enjoyed Ariel Sacks reaction to this report. Ariel is a teacher who presented at the CAP’s release, and she has some very interesting words about how she feels after being at a meeting of the policy community. My favorite quote? “I actually had the heated thought, "Well if this is what our profession is being turned into, maybe I will leave after all. Most of these people obviously wouldn’t care.”

I think her piece is a great reminder that in the policy community’s haste to develop what we consider innovative solutions to challenging circumstances, we have a tendency to ignore the reality of those actually in the classroom…which may not be the best way to create lasting change.

Labels: hard-to-staff, research, teacher pay

Major Policy Speech

In her first major policy speech since her election as AFT president, Randi Weingarten spoke at the National Press Club yesterday, outlining both provocative and proven approaches to improve public education. She also expressed her desire to seek common ground on various contentious issues often thought to be off-limits for teachers unions.

Check out a summary of what she said (it links to a pdf of the speech itself).

Labels: policy, union

Selected Events: Week of Nov. 17, 2008

Around the Washington, DC, area? Consider going to one of the following events…

Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 8:30am-1:30pm: Education Policy in Transition: A Report of the National Academy of Education White Papers Project
Join leading education researchers and policy leaders, including education advisers to President-elect Barack Obama, Congressional staffers for education, and other policymakers in a discussion of the findings and recommendations from the white papers, including topics on teacher quality; standards, assessments and accountability; science and mathematics education; and equity and excellence in American education. Learn more and register here.

Wednesday, November 19, 4-5:30 pm: The Future of Education Research: An Address by Anthony S. Bryk
Anthony S. Bryk, one of the nation’s preeminent education researchers, became president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching this fall. In his first major policy address since taking the helm of the prestigious institution, Bryk will discuss his revolutionary new vision for research and development in American schooling, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for his organization, and the lessons they hold for the future of school reform. Learn more and register here.

Friday, November 21, 2008, 8:30am-2:30pm: 2nd Annual Calder Research Conference: The Ins and Outs of Value-Added Measures in Education: What the Research Says
Join distinguished panelists to discuss value-added measures and credentials; how these measures apply across time, tests and contexts; and whether disadvantaged schools lose the best teachers. Learn more and register here.

If you have an event you would like to promote on this blog, e-mail epsa@gwu.edu.

Labels: events

New Brief on KIPP

Columbia University’s Jeffrey Henig recently released a brief reviewing seven studies on the effectiveness of KIPP charter schools. Some of his conclusions? Students who enroll and stay in KIPP schools tend to perform better on standardized assessments than similar students in more traditional schools. However, Henig adds caveats to this finding, discussing unobservable biases in student motivation and support, as well as high (and seemingly selective) student attrition. He also points out that few studies actually examine the KIPP “process,” which includes high teacher turnover, and the implications of that process on the expansion and sustainability of the KIPP model. Ultimately, Henig provide recommendations to policymakers on how to best utilize the existing evidence on KIPP in informing education policy and reform strategies.

Learn more by checking out the executive summary or the full policy brief (both accessed from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice). You can also read the Washington Post’s Jay Mathews’ response to Henig's analysis.

If you are interested in more data on KIPP schools, check out SRI International’s three-year study of Bay Area KIPP schools, which found some promising short-term academic results but could not draw any long-term conclusions given the high and seemingly selective student attrition at these schools.

Labels: charter, KIPP, research