In Michigan, 98 percent of teachers were rated effective or better under new teacher-evaluation systems recently put in place. In Florida, 97 percent of teachers were deemed effective or better. Principals in Tennessee judged 98 percent of teachers to be "at expectations" or better last school year, while evaluators in Georgia gave good…

Returning from spring vacation, Dowan McNair-Lee's students find their desks in neat rows, facing forward. For the previous seven months, the 8th graders had sat in clusters, facing one another, to facilitate discussion. But janitors used the break to ready the classroom for the year-end tests that are only two weeks away. The new arrangement is…

The author reports on a move by the online social-networking site Ning to start charging for its services which has raised worries that new fees could stifle educators' technological collaboration and creativity and touch off similar moves by other companies that provide comparable services heavily used by educators. Ning, which provides a…

The phrase "21st-century skills" is everywhere in education policy discussions these days, from faculty lounges to the highest echelons of the U.S. education system. Broadly speaking, it refers to a push for schools to teach critical-thinking, analytical, and technology skills, in addition to the "soft skills" of creativity, collaboration, and…

This article discusses how math teachers at San Marcos High School turned to an online curriculum and in-class assessments to increase student achievement. Setting aside their 7-year-old textbooks, teachers filled the void largely with an online math curriculum, called Agile Mind, that comes equipped with an array of assessment tools. The idea was…

Leaders in a handful of school districts are pondering the idea of "front-loading" teacher compensation by paying novices more than they would typically earn under traditional salary schedules. Boosting new teachers' salaries, officials in Denver, the District of Columbia, and New York City contend, would increase the applicant pool and…

Scores on state tests have increased consistently and significantly in the five years since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) became law, and there's some evidence that gains that started in the 1990s accelerated after the law's enactment, a new report concludes. The authors of the report, which was set for release this week, are quick to say…

A growing number of educators around the country are turning to technology and different teaching and learning approaches to give students personalized learning experiences that mirror the customized experiences they take for granted outside of school. To meet students' individual needs, they are putting in place 1-to-1 computing programs and…

The main federal special education law's promotion of a practice that can identify children with learning disabilities and give them early help has brought new attention to the method. Known as response to intervention, or RTI method aims to catch specific learning disabilities before the students fall far behind their classmates. In the best…

High school exams that are based on state standards are changing what and how students learn, whether or not they have high stakes attached to them, a report on two school districts suggests. Because of such tests in Virginia and Maryland, teachers are focused on ensuring that students are prepared to take and pass the exams, according to case…