From Valerie Strauss’s blog in the Washington Post: What if Finland’s great teachers taught in U.S. schools?
“Many governments are under political and economic pressure to turn around their school systems for higher rankings in the international league tables. Education reforms often promise quick fixes within one political term. Canada, South Korea, Singapore and Finland are commonly used models for the nations that hope to improve teaching and learning in their schools. In search of a silver bullet, reformers now turn their eyes on teachers, believing that if only they could attract “the best and the brightest” into the teaching profession, the quality of education would improve…”
From the New York Times: Schools Add to Test Load, Just to Sharpen Questions
“English tests? Check. Math tests? Check. Summer vacation? Not so fast.
“Students in New York State sweated their way through some of the toughest exams in state history this spring. Now hundreds of thousands of them will receive a reward only a stonyhearted statistician could appreciate: another round of exams…”