Author Archive

Some States Will be Left Behind (SSWLB?)

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Education Week reports that Hawaii’s teacher furlough might affect the state’s chances of wining part of the federal government’s Race to the top grant money. The article notes that fewer than half of the states are likely to win money. The grant process, just released, will funnel $4 billion to the winning states. Information that has been released about the process has already caused several states to rescind laws that prevent using results of state tests to evaluate teachers. Stay tuned to this blog for news on Race to the Top as it becomes available. Here is the link for the entire Education Week article.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/11/12/313413hiteacherfurloughs_ap.html?tkn=RSTFNJdV1%2Fuwf993yvUL6579oR1kR5GRR3Jx

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Nobody interviews for a living.

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Interviews are less predictive of job performance than work samples, job-knowledge tests, and peer ratings of past job performance. Even a simple intelligence test is dramatically more useful. This is according to Dan and Chip Heath, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. The article can be found in the January issue of Fast Company. (www.fastcompany.com) They cite studies that show that the only thing interviews correlate with is the ability to interview. People who think they are good at judging people in interviews need to think again. A college transcript is based on four years of the cumulative evaluation of 20 to 40 professors. If you think you can do better after an interview, I admire your self-esteem but not your judgment. So what does an administrator do? Simple, watch someone teach. Better yet, get input from people you trust who have seen the person in action. They are more likely to see the real thing as anyone can turn it on when the boss walks through. Listen carefully for indications of teaching talent rather than superficial judgments like those you would gather during an interview.

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Hard times at Harvard

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

If you have tightened your belt due to the economy lately, you are not alone. According to the October 9, 2009 New York Times, a decrease in its endowment has caused Harvard to make the following cuts. No more hot breakfasts in most dorms. No more pastries at the Widener Library. Varsity athletes no longer can count on free sweat suits and professors will have to go without cookies at faculty meetings. It has always been difficult for the rest of us to feel sorry for those at the richest university in the world, but now we have some rational for such feelings. I haven’t posted the article, as I am certain all of my readers have better things to do. I hope you find some humor in this as I did.

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The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

This book by Malcolm Gladwell is still a best seller after 260 weeks. This summary explains how connectors, mavens, and salemen impact all phases of our lives and how these concepts can be used by educators. Also included are other interesting stories including how New York City reduced crime in the 1990’s.

Click here to download the summary of this book.

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Is Obama Bush III on Education?

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Nick Anderson of the Washington Post reports on September 25, 2009 that Teacher Unions are not happy with what they are seeing from the Obama administration as they approach the reauthorization of NCLB.
“It looks like the only strategies they have are charter schools and measurement,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “That’s Bush III.”
Standardized testing, school accountability, performance pay, charter schools — all are integral to President Obama’s $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” grant competition to spur innovation. None is a typical Democratic crowd-pleaser.
Click here to download the entire article.

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Author Archive

Some States Will be Left Behind (SSWLB?)

Nobody interviews for a living.

Hard times at Harvard

The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

Is Obama Bush III on Education?

Book Summaries