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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
There is a growing belief that students can provide valuable feedback on a teacher’s performance in the classroom. Student perception surveys are increasingly seen as a low-cost and reliable tool for gathering data and feedback on the quality of teaching in individual classrooms. However, incorporating student surveys into formal, high-stakes teacher evaluation and development systems has its challenges. In this paper, Jeff Schulz, Gunjan Sud, and Becky Crowe highlight the experience of states, districts, charter management organizations, and teacher preparation programs that are “early adopters” of student perception surveys. (Bellwether)
During fiscal 2012, New York City’s school district, the largest in the country with nearly a million students, spent more money on each one of them than any other large public school system in the country. New York spent $20,226 per pupil, according to updated Census data released Thursday on the finances of the country’s public schools. (Washington Post)
The Common Core State Standards have roiled state legislatures across the country and frustrated some parents. But what do kids think of them? We visit a school in California’s Bay Area to find out. (NPR)
A bill to scrap Oklahoma’s Common Core academic standards was approved Friday by the Oklahoma Legislature and now goes to Gov. Mary Fallin. (The Oklahoman)
New Jersey
Newark City Councilman Ras Baraka won the city’s mayoral election last week with education as a main campaign platform. A former high school principal and the son of famous poet and civil rights activist Amiri Baraka, Ras Baraka won the election by some 8 percentage points despite being heavily outspent. (Education News)