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Nashville evaluation roundtable tomorrow
SCORE will host its second roundtable event tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Ezell Center at Lipscomb University in Nashville. The event will begin at 4:30 p.m. TEA encourages all members to attend if you are in Middle Tennessee. For more details on the Nashville event and a list of dates for upcoming roundtable events statewide, please visit the SCORE website.
Registration open for TEA conferences
TEA hosts a number of professional development workshops and conferences throughout the year. The following events are accepting registrations right now.
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TEA Spring Symposium - Held March 16-17 in Gatlinburg, the Symposium is an annual two-day instruction and professional development event designed to provide a challenging and invigorating experience for TEA members who want to strengthen their teaching performance through professional learning. This Symposium is an excellent opportunity to attend quality professional development sessions, enjoy keynote speakers, and spend time with fellow educators from across the state. For more information and details on how to register, please visit our website.
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TEA Minority Affairs Conference - The Johnella Martin/TEA Statewide Minority Affairs Conference, held March 23-24, in Chattanooga, provides an opportunity for ethnic minority members of TEA to receive pertinent information and training that will assist them in their profession and community outreach. TEA provides an overall focus on the latest instruction and professional development techniques and issues facing the minority community, including: student achievement gaps, the need to increase diversity and cultural competence in the teaching workforce, and securing adequate and equitable resources for public education. For more information and details on how to register, please visit our website.
States try to fix quirks in teacher evaluation
New York Times - Feb. 19, 2012 - Steve Ball, executive principal at the East Literature Magnet School in Nashville, arrived at an English class unannounced one day this month and spent 60 minutes taking copious notes as he watched the teacher introduce and explain the concept of irony. "It was a good lesson," Mr. Ball said.
But under Tennessee's new teacher-evaluation system, which is similar to systems being adopted around the country, Mr. Ball said he had to give the teacher a one - the lowest rating on a five-point scale - in one of 12 categories: breaking students into groups. Even though Mr. Ball had seen the same teacher, a successful veteran he declined to identify, group students effectively on other occasions, he felt that he had no choice but to follow the strict guidelines of the state's complicated rubric. Read more
The next Race to the Top? Arne Duncan outlines plan for teacher reform
Christian Science Monitor - Feb. 15, 2012 - The Obama administration is focused on teaching again - but this time it's hoping to reform the entire profession itself.
On Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke to teachers at a town-hall meeting to launch a $5 billion proposal that would try to improve the teaching profession at every level, from the recruitment and training process to the career ladder and pay and tenure systems.
"Our goal is to support teachers in rebuilding their profession - and to elevate the teacher voice in shaping federal, state, and local education policy," Secretary Duncan told the teachers, according to prepared remarks. "Our larger goal is to make teaching not only America's most important profession - [but also] America's most respected profession."
The program, dubbed the RESPECT Project (Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching), would be structured like another version of Race to the Top: a competitive grant program that would ask states to submit proposals. Read more
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