The Stock Mark Report

Study panel says no difference in teacher programs

Mark Stock — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:21:06 +0000

As many of our readers would know, in recent years Teacher Colleges and Colleges of Education have come under fire for their teacher preparation programs, spawning various alternative routes to teacher certification.

Recently, a panel of experts released a report after a 6 year study indicating that they can find no real differences in teacher quality in either approach.

Story here.

I personally think this will give more credibility to alternative certification efforts around the country. If traditional programs are not superior - then why not continue to expand the alternatives?

cross posted at “What’s Working in Schools.”

How to identify barriers to change

Mark Stock — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 23:11:41 +0000

Dr. Scott McLeod at Iowa State has an excellent leadership/technology blog called “Dangerously Irrelevant.” He recently shared this group activity that I think is a great way of identifying barriers and solutions to new program implementation.

Check it out right here.

CA looks to give administrators more authority in teacher discipline

Mark Stock — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:30:19 +0000

Following the controversy in FLA, now CA is looking at ways to give school administrators more flexibility in teacher discipline and dismissal issues.

It seems as budgets get tight and schools have to cut back, who stays and who goes become more and more of an issue.

Tenure is more and more of a hot topic these days.

On the other hand - I have seen far too many school administrators hide behind tenure and tell patrons they can’t do anything about poor teachers because they are “tenured.” If this is true (and usually it is not) - it is because the board and administration bargained away their own management rights in collective bargaining agreements.

Principal’s Page talks about learning new things

Mark Stock — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:13:33 +0000

I haven’t mentioned Michael in a while. Probably because my blogging life has lagged over the last several months for a variety of reasons.

But Michael Smith (a superintendent in the midwest) has his own blog called The Principal’s Page. Michael has a great sense of humor and knows how to stay humble amidst all the trials in leadership positions.

Check his latest post out!

NY shuts down “rubber rooms”

Mark Stock — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:37:26 +0000

Talk about a bizarre personnel strategy. Schools in New York City have just closed 8 centers that were designed to house teachers who were under disciplinary proceedings. The so called “rubber rooms” have come under public fire since it was publicized that teachers would report to these centers and do nothing while they continued to draw their pay while awaiting disciplinary proceedings.

The mayor finally closed them down after negotiating some kind of settlement with the teachers union.

Article here.