WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation
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Blogs on Accountability

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3
Handling Teacher and Student Testing Burnout
Ben JohnsonFebruary 27, 2013
Tags Accountability, All Grades

I am so fed up with testing. In the state of Texas, out of 180 days of instruction, there are over 35 days of testing of one form or another. That is nearly 20 percent of the instructional year spent on state standardized testing. That does not include the district benchmarks, SAT, PSAT, ACT, AP course testing and even a few more!

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8
Changing the Education Conversation
Anne OBrienFebruary 7, 2013
Tags Accountability, Education Reform

We hear so many negative things about public education in America -- most notably, that our schools are failing. And the reasons often cited involve educator shortcomings, for example, that colleges of education are doing a terrible job of preparing new teachers, or that the students in those colleges are not the high quality individuals we want teaching our children. We also hear that teachers unions care only about adult interests and that as a general rule the professional development teachers receive is a waste of resources.

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36
How Will Common Core Change What We Do?
Erin PowersFebruary 5, 2013
Tags Accountability, Common Core Standards, Curriculum, Education Reform, Integrated Studies, All Grades

As full implementation of Common Core State Standards nears, educators are searching for answers to three questions: 1) What are the CC State Standards? 2) How will they change what I do? and 3) Why are they here? Some of the details are frustratingly elusive as various groups -- publishers, school districts, states, and universities -- jockey for positions in the first post-NCLB initiative.

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4
The Power of Educational Coaching
Ben JohnsonJanuary 31, 2013
Tags Accountability, Leadership

I squirmed a bit in the center seat as I responded to questions. One educator after another around the circle asked me probing questions that made me think about my actions. I knew they understood me because they often rephrased what I said. Vocalizing my thoughts helped me to see clearly what my real issues were. Even still, I was hesitant to reveal my concerns, but at the same time I was curious to see where it would lead; I was being coached!

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Won’t Back Down: An Engaging and Misleading Film
Mark PhillipsSeptember 26, 2012
Tags Accountability, Community Partnerships, Education Reform, Parental Involvement

The film Won't Back Down is scheduled to open in wide release on September 28. Yet, weeks in advance of this date, there has been a veritable deluge of extremely strong emotional and critical responses. Both the film and the responses deserve our attention, because they are each symptomatic of the polarization that is plaguing both public education and national politics in this country. Every teacher and parent should see the film, but should also be fully prepared to view it critically.

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55
How Can We Make Assessments Meaningful?
Heather Wolpert-GawronJuly 31, 2012
Tags Accountability, Comprehensive Assessment, Rubrics, Student Engagement, Teacher Development, All Grades

I think meaningful assessments can come in many shapes and sizes. It fact, to be thoroughly engaging and to draw the best work out of the students, assessments should come in different formats.

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9
What Parents and Educators Want from Assessments
Anne OBrienJuly 30, 2012
Tags Accountability, Comprehensive Assessment, All Grades

Our national obsession with assessment continues. Despite their rhetoric expressing concern about the role that standardized tests play in our education system, politicians persist in valuing these tests almost exclusively when it comes to accountability -- not only for schools, as has been the case since the inception of No Child Left Behind, but for teachers as well, with a national push to include the results of these tests in teacher evaluations.

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3
From Senior to Freshman: The Post-Varsity Playbook
Todd FinleyJune 28, 2012
Tags Accountability, Comprehensive Assessment, Integrated Studies, Place-Based Learning, , Student Engagement, High (9-12), English Language Arts

Of the thousands of 18.5-year-olds that I've taught, some could not manage the challenges of college while others attacked higher education responsibilities with full uh-rah commitment. It is from observing the later group's mojo that I derived the following strategies.

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13
Should Students Evaluate Their Teachers?
Ben JohnsonMay 9, 2012
Tags Accountability, Primary (K-2), Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

"This course was a complete waste of my time and money!" (What? No way!)

"We need a better instructor that actually knows what he is doing." (I bet I know who wrote that one.)

"The teacher is a great person, however I don't feel he knows how to teach what he knows." (Seriously?)

I was teaching college algebra for the first time, and these were some of the comments (and my reactions as I read them)

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1
Case Study: What Does it Take to Turn Around a School?
Rick WinterApril 12, 2012
Tags Accountability, Charter Schools, Community Partnerships, Comprehensive Assessment, Primary (K-2), Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5)

How does a school go from struggling to success? My goal in this blog is to share success stories and resources to help you make a difference in all the schools with whom you make contact. There is a role for everyone here: principal, superintendent, teacher, parent, school board member, politician, community member and taxpayer.

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