What is the Value in a High Value-Added Teacher?

Great news emerged this week for elementary- and middle-school teachers who make gains in their students test scores.  While the teachers themselves may not be pulling down big salaries, their efforts result in increased earnings for their students. In a study that tracked 2.5 million students for over 20 years, researchers found that good teachers have a long-lasting positive effect on their students’ lives, including those higher salaries, lower teen-pregnancy rates, and higher college matriculation rates.

I’m a practical person.  I understand that we spend billions of dollars educating our children and that the taxpayer deserves some assurance that the money is not being squandered.  Accountability matters.  I get it.  Still, as a teacher, it’s hard not to feel a little bit wistful, perhaps even wince a little, reading this study.

It’s important to remember that its authors, Raj Chetty, John N. Freidman, and Jonah E. Rockoff, are all economists. Their study measures tangible, economic outcomes from what they call high versus low “value-added” teachers. This “value-adde

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Court rejects appeals in student speech cases

January 18th, 2012  Email   

The U.S. Supreme Court has passed up a set of cases for the online age—whether schools may censor students who are off-campus when they create online attacks against school officials and other students, the Associated Press reports. The court let stand the suspension of a West Virginia high schools Queen of Charm, who created a Web page that suggested another student had a sexually transmitted disease, and invited classmates to comment. The court also left alone rulings that said schools could not discipline two Pennsylvania students for MySpace parodies of their principals that the students created at home. An appeals court, following 40-year-old case law on student speech, said the posts did not create substantial disruptions at school…

The responsibilities of an EKG technician

ekg technician trainingThe electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a method to read the heart health. The heart is responsible for the flow of blood throughout the body and its role is the most important. The EKG technician training allows students to learn how to do cardiovascular system tests in a proper way. When there is an irregularity in the functioning of the heart, the individual may experience problems due to irregular flow of blood. Thus, the EKG tests are taken to check the electrical signals generated by the heart.

All actions such as tensing and expanding of the chambers of the heart are observed by electrical signals generated by a node in the upper right atrium of the heart. Read more…

New sex-ed standards released

WASHINGTON Young elementary school students should use the proper names for body parts and, by the end of fifth grade, know that sexual orientation is “the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same gender or a different gender,” according to new sexual education guidelines released Monday by a coalition of health and education groups.

The nonbinding recommendations to states and school districts seek to encourage age-appropriate discussions about sex, bullying and healthy relationships starting with a foundation even before second grade.

  • Bullies do long-term damage to themselves, as well as victims Jan.

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Chattanooga School Helps Another

A Chattanooga school with a surplus of parent volunteers is sharing with a school that doesn’t have enough.

The Parent-Teacher Association at Ganns Middle Valley Elementary School said it received volunteer applications from 300 parents this year. East Lake Elementary School, which restarted its PTA last year, has attracted about 12 members including teachers.\

After hearing about the struggles at East Lake, PTA officials at Ganns asked their parents to help.

Once a month, parents from Ganns travel about 20 miles to East Lake to help teachers with tasks such as copying, stapling and laminating.

“We just take some of the stress off teachers,” said parent Mendi Catlett. “The teachers really need to have time to teach.”

But in 2012, they hope to do more.

Catlett said the PTA at Ganns, which has 500 members, wants to adopt the East Lake PTA and help it increase membership and involvement.    ”It’s time to take care of the community,” said Catlett, a former PTA president at Ganns. “Everybody wants to complain about inner-city schools. Bu

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