The theory behind the No Child Left Behind Act was that holding schools accountable for test scores would force them to improve instruction for groups of children whom they had historically shortchanged.
Some education experts say that Mr. Bloomberg's failure to gain more sweeping changes in work rules will limit his ability to improve instruction for the city's 1.1 million children in public schools, even with the recent agreement by state legislative leaders giving the mayor political control of the schools system.
We need to do a better job of evaluating and supporting all teachers so they can improve instruction for every student.
"I may have an idea to improve instruction for my students but there is this general sense of 'I don't know whether I should say it or how it will be received,'" said Oliver Aguirre, who teaches at Alliance Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High School.
Most students enjoyed knowing that their ideas would be used to help improve instruction for students like them, and they appreciated the opportunity to get points for explaining their own ideas.
In his first attempt at improving instruction for New York City schoolchildren, Chancellor Joel I. Klein has added two days to the coming school year, time that had been set aside for teacher training.
Mrs. Hampton, 28, is a learning specialist at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Mass., teaching supplemental reading skills to sixth and ninth graders, helping middle and high school students with learning disabilities, and advising other teachers on improving instruction for those students.
Making peer observation and feedback a regular part of every school would go a long way towards creating a collegial learning environment for all teachers -- and improving instruction for learners.
Unfortunately, while more sophisticated ways of measuring teachers are now being developed, less attention has been paid to the other side of evaluation -- providing the robust coaching and professional learning that can improve instruction, particularly for novice teachers still learning to navigate a demanding profession.
Fifth, a rubric can be best utilized to improve instruction if students use it for more than one occasion.
