Education secretary treads where teachers unions don't want to go

Education secretary treads where teachers unions don't want to go
Arne Duncan, in a speech at the NEA's annual meeting in San Diego, says teacher merit pay and student test scores should be on the table when discussing education reform.

The country's top education official challenged teachers unions Thursday to embrace historically controversial ways of promoting teacher effectiveness, including offering merit pay and evaluating instructors based on student test scores.

O’Malley Exhibits Maryland’s Recovery Web Tools before Congressional Committee

O’Malley Exhibits Maryland’s Recovery Web Tools before Congressional Committee
O’Malley release Governor Martin O’Malley Exhibits Maryland’s Recovery Web Tools before Congressional Committee WASHINGTON, DC (July 8, 2009) –Governor Martin O’Malley testified before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today, where he exhibited Maryland’s nationally-recognized, interactive website that tracks funding from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) from it’s inception. The Governor joined Governors Edward Rendell (PA) and Deva

What Helps When Your Marriage Is In Trouble?

One of the most difficult decisions in a persons life can be whether to stay with someone or leave. When someone has been married for a long time, this can be a big and hard decision to make, does this person really want to be single again? Probably yes. Do you want to be alone? Perhaps not. The real issue is if you will be satisfied living with a companion without love as you get older and in your later years. When youre young and dont have a lot of baggage-literally and figuratively-the choice Read the rest ...

OER Commons: Open Educational Resources

OER Commons: Open Educational Resources

Since my own EduResources Portal closed in July 2007, I've been looking for other useful portal entry points to recommend to students and instructors who are searching for educational resources. I highly recommend the OER Commons as a valuable first stop. The Commons is extremely broad in scope, but so well organized that new users can orient to its resources quickly.

The OER  materials can be browsed by categories or collections; resources are also searchable with key words. Additionally, the entry page displays the OER Top Ten and the Top 25 Tags for a quick scan of what other users are viewing. Visitors who register can set up their own OER Portfolio and also sign up to receive an E-News newsletter.

The "OER Matters" section provides links to News Stories, Articles and Reports, Conferences and Workshops, Discussion Forums, Organizations and Associations, Tools and Technology, and Blogs and Wikis.  The Commons was created by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME) which is supported by the Hewlett Foundation.  OER professionals will want to mark the OER Commons in their bookmarks and visit the site regularly (an rss feed is also available). _____JH

______

"OER Commons is a teaching and learning network, from K-12 lesson plans to college courseware, from algebra to zoology, open to everyone to use and add to."

"Learn more about the worldwide movement to make teaching and learning materials free and accessible for use and re-use by everyone."