Read this: rating teachers won't solve systemic educational problems

If you want a clear, insightful explanation of where we should really be focusing our efforts to improve American education, try the great piece by Dr. David K. Cohen, guest blogger at Shanker Blog.

If you want a clear, insightful explanation of where we should really be focusing our efforts to improve American education, try the great piece by Dr. David K. Cohen, guest blogger at Shanker Blog. Here’s a slice:

Like many recent reform efforts that focus on teacher performance and accountability, IMPACT does not attempt to build infrastructure, but rather assumes that weak individual teachers are the problem. There are some weak individual teachers, but the chief problem has been a non-system that offers no guidance or support for strong teaching and learning, precisely because there has been no infrastructure. IMPACT frames reform as a matter of solving individual problems when the weakness is systemic.