Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Education
National Board Certified Teacher Incentive Bonuses: Senate Bill 555, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
National Board Certified Teacher Incentive Bonuses: Senate Bill 555, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
National Board Certification is a voluntary process that, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, certifies that they “have developed and demonstrated the advanced knowledge, skills, and practices required of an outstanding educator.” Currently, National Board Certified (NBC) teachers in an Arkansas public school receive an annual bonus of $5,000 for up to 10 years. In this brief, we examine NBC in Arkansas and Senate Bill 555, which proposes the modification and enhancement of NBC incentive bonuses for teachers receiving certification after January 2018.
Interview With Paul Gray: 2008 Arkansas Teacher Of The Year, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Interview With Paul Gray: 2008 Arkansas Teacher Of The Year, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
The 2008 Arkansas Teacher of the Year was Paul Gray of Russellville. Mr. Gray is a social studies teacher and department chairman at Russellville High School.
Stakes Increase For End Of Course Exams In 2009-10, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Stakes Increase For End Of Course Exams In 2009-10, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
As of the 2009-10 academic year, high school students in Arkansas will be required to pass socalled “End of Course” (or “EOC”) examinations in Algebra I, Biology, Geometry, and English. Students who fail to meet the requisite passing standard will be required to retake the class or to pass “an appropriate alternative exit course in order to receive credit for the course on his or her transcript and in order to graduate.” In other words, these four EOC tests will become high school exit exams. Thus, as of 2009-10, Arkansas will join some 23 other states that have high school …
Comparing Arkansas Students To Their National Peers, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Comparing Arkansas Students To Their National Peers, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
In an attempt to gauge the educational progress of the nation and each state, Education Week has published state report cards since 1997 in its annual Quality Counts series. The 12th annual report, Tapping into Teaching: Unlocking the Key to Student Success, was released in early 2008 and merges the indicators from the shortened 2007 report, which focused on the “cradle-to-career” framework, with previous indicators such as efforts to improve teacher quality and school finance. To compare states across the nation, the Quality Counts series grades and ranks states based on six broad measures: efforts to improve the teacher quality; …
The Nieer Report: The 2004 State Preschool Yearbook Summary, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
The Nieer Report: The 2004 State Preschool Yearbook Summary, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
This study was conducted by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), a is a unit of Rutgers University, which supports early childhood education policy by providing objective, nonpartisan, information based on research. The 2004 State Preschool Yearbook is the second report in a NIEER series evaluating state-funded preschool programs. It describes state-funded prekindergarten in the 2002-2003 school year. Tracking these trends is essential, since the role states play in preschool education will increasingly affect how successfully America’s next generation will compete in the knowledge economy. The State Preschool Yearbooks were developed by NIEER to serve as a resource …
Education Week’S Report On Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Education Week’S Report On Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
As schools open their doors for the spring 2005 semester, many legislatures around the nation are meeting to discuss accountability standards, equity and adequacy issues, and the link between money and student performance. While the education issues of 2005 are not unique, in that they have been discussed for years, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) deadline for schools to begin performing at higher standards increases the urgency. In addition to the increased standards, state policymakers are facing difficult legal challenges to their school funding systems. In an attempt to gauge the status of the nation and each state, Education …
Alternative Certification, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Alternative Certification, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
The term “alternative certification” has been utilized to describe programs ranging from immediate issuance of emergency certification to well-developed, highly professional training programs designed to bring new people into the profession. Because of the mandate to place highly qualified teachers in every classroom, the issue of alternative certification has become even more prominent and there is now more consistency in the academic rigor of alternative certification program across the nation. In this state, TeachArkansas serves as a clearinghouse for the various programs that enable an individual who did not out to be a teacher to become certified (see www.teacharkansas.org).
Teacher Quality And Preparation, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Teacher Quality And Preparation, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter
Policy Briefs
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act mandates that states require all teachers to earn full certification and demonstrate competency in the subject area in which they teach. But do these requirements really produce effective teachers— teachers who actually improve student learning and achievement? The existing research base is decidedly mixed, highly politicized, and often just plain confusing. Some experts maintain that teachers’ pedagogical knowledge shows even stronger relationships to teaching effectiveness than their subject matter knowledge (Darling-Hammond, 1997; Darling-Hammond & Youngs, 2002); others insist that teachers’ expertise in their content area is a far better predictor of student achievement …