Teachers are the single most important school-based factor affecting student achievement. Unfortunately, low-income students and students of color have less access to effective teaching than other students—a reality that has contributed to massive educational inequity. There’s no question that we...
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Dr. Celine Coggins founded Teach Plus in 2007 to create policy and practice leadership paths for excellent teachers. During her 10 years at the helm of Teach Plus, Celine set the national agenda for the organization that speaks to both...
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Improving how we prepare teachers is critical if we want to provide better opportunities for all children. And while that won’t be easy, there are steps we can take now to help ensure teachers are effective on their first day...
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“Pretty much everything you could do under No Child Left Behind is still authorized,” notes Stephen Sawchuck in a recent edition of his Education Week Teacher Beat blog that explores the differences between Title II-A in ESSA and NCLB. I’ve...
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The year was 2013. Opposition to the Common Core—and to the new assessments aligned to these more rigorous standards—was running high. And states were suddenly questioning their prior commitment to using high quality assessments, like PARCC and Smarter Balanced, to...
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The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gives all states the chance to dramatically change the way they approach and think about public education. “Making the Most of ESSA” is a reference guide designed to help policymakers and other stakeholders leverage...
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Sailors for centuries have used the North Star to gauge their relative location to their ultimate destination. Its remarkable light and reliability as a celestial marker, even as the earth spins, means that no matter where ships sail, they can...
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Recognizing the complexity of challenges facing public education, funders regularly collaborate to pool knowledge, align strategies and attract more resources. Over the past five years, Education First has provided strategy-setting, facilitation and management support to several funder collaboratives aiming to...
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When schools, teachers and community leaders work together, more students succeed. But it isn’t always easy—districts often encounter challenges when trying to find the time and resources to collaborate. And far too often, teachers simply don’t have sufficient time to...
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As part of our Districts Rising publications, we sat down with new Boston Public Schools Superintendent Tommy Chang to talk about his vision for the 56,650-student school system. Chang came to BPS after being an instructional superintendent in the Los...
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