Great teachers and support professionals, with the right policy supports and resources, are the ideal agents of permanent change – the true education experts. That’s why NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign is partnering with educators in struggling schools to provide additional professional development, trainings and resources that will help teachers and support professionals be the leaders in their profession. Read the stories below to learn more about the professional educators working in priority schools.
Eleven schools in the city will use SIG funding for the Transformation model and a new performance pay plan. In most cases, Transformation requires replacement of the principal. But a WNYC online report says the city is hoping the requirement has some flexibility. “Though…
In a sunny courtyard at Los Angeles’ sprawling Jefferson High School, three freshmen girls are writing a radio script about a tornado. Teacher Nicolle Fefferman has asked her class to write scripts about being caught in a natural disaster. The…
What happens when you give educators power? What happens when you let them decide how to spend their school’s budget or schedule their students’ time? Good things, it turns out. “My kids love coming to school,” says Las Vegas fifth-grade…
A discussion over on National Journal’s Education Experts blog has policy experts and education leaders (including Education Secretary Arne Duncan and former Secretary Margaret Spellings) talking about the “either/or” debate between having stakeholder support vs. bold ideas for reform. NEA…
Teacher quality plays a critical role in influencing student outcomes. At priority schools, where achievement gaps may exist and where students may need to overcome significant skills gaps, it is imperative that all classrooms are lead by highly qualifed teachers.…
By Barbara Moldauer Smack in the middle of America’s heartland, a mid-sized Midwestern city is turning conventional wisdom on its head. Union leaders and district administrators in Evansville, Indiana, are confronting challenges as partners, not adversaries. In 2009, they developed…
By Kathy Wiebke and Daniela Robles Isaac School District is a district that parallels many districts in the nation. Labels that indicate low performance, multiple messages that led in numerous directions, and teachers that strive to do what is asked…
In the fall of 2000, then-Superintendent of Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools (MCPS) Jerry Weast identified Broad Acres Elementary School for “reconstitution,” which meant removing its new principal and bringing in a new teaching staff. But Montgomery County Education Association…
What happens when the school district administration and the educators’ union get together to try to improve schools with low student test scores? We’ll get an important answer to that question in Evansville, Indiana, this year because of the innovative…
Too many school improvement efforts start with the idea of doing something to teachers – or maybe for teachers, if you’re lucky. But hardly ever do they consider doing something with teachers. That’s why CommPACT, a union-led partnership in eight…
Educators in priority schools are rising to a superhero challenge every single day. Nominate educators in your community and support others at classroomsuperheroes.com
Keith G. Pemberton is a social worker at Oak Hill Elementary School in High Point, N.C., where he has built a strong and steady pipeline for parental involvement, specifically among fathers and male mentors. Check out his Classroom Superhero profile and leave some words of encouragement.
