The Disheartened, The Contented, and The Idealists: Teachers of the 21st Century

A new study out by Public Agenda and Learning Points Associates, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and the Joyce Foundation, examined teachers' perceptions of their job in relation to their experiences in school. Teachers were grouped into three categories: Disheartened, Contented, and Idealists. Surprisingly, the majority (40%) of teachers in the national survey (over 900 teachers participating) were categorized as Disheartened. Coming in second, 37% were Contented. Few were Idealist - an important category that indicated hope and work towards school reform and transformation.

To read more about the study or get a copy of the report, click here.

Teacher Peer Learning increases student achievement

After a summer hiatus, it's good to be back to the blog...

Lots of exciting happenings in the world of teacher networks, which I'll be blogging about over the course of the fall. 

For now - Here's a new study that just came out in the American Economics Journal, indicating a "spillover effect" for high quality teachers to less experienced teachers - in terms of student achievement. The authors are C. Kirabo Jackson and Elias Bruegmann.