Improving Teachers, Lessons Learned

See this week's (January 6, 2011) issue of The Economist, "Improving Teachers, Lessons Learned".

http://www.economist.com/node/17851511?story_id=17851511

Focusing on teachers as the leverage point for learning and residency models as the format for training great teachers is gaining traction nationally. See the following quotes:

"BUDGET, curriculum, class size—none has a greater effect on a student than his or her teacher."

"The Academy of Urban School Leadership in Chicago (a UTRU network partner, mine) trains teachers in a programme modelled after a medical residency—part traditional coursework, part training in a classroom. Such models may become more common; in November the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education recommended that residency-style programmes become the norm."