Michelle+Rhee

http://www.studentsfirst.org/pages/testimony-of-michelle-rhee-michigan-senate-and-house-of-representatives Research tells us that teachers are the most powerful school influence on student achievement in our classrooms

First, research indicates that when districts with LIFO conduct lay-offs, they end up firing some of their most highly effective educators

Teaching is an incredibly complex skill that is not easy to assess, and no evaluation will be perfect. But research shows that meaningful performance evaluations promote teacher effectiveness, and nothing should stop districts from implementing good evaluations and improving them every year with ongoing feedback.

As Stanford economist Eric Hanushek’s study on teacher quality indicates, even if we replace just the bottom six to ten percent of teachers with average teachers, we will see dramatic results in student achievement.

http://www.educationgadfly.net/flypaper/2011/03/questions-for-rhee/

http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2011-04-04/former-dc-schools-chief-michelle-rhee/transcript

http://imaginationsoup.net/2011/04/michelle-rhee-breaks-it-down-at-mom-congress/ The research is clear if children have three highly effective teacher is a row vs. three highly ineffective teachers, it literally changes their life trajectory.

The research shows that when you do layoffs by seniority, you layoff the best teachers

http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/2008/07/michelle-rhee-on-charlie-rose.html That`s what I spent the last 15 years of my

life fighting for, because everything, all the research, all of the data,

everything shows that when you have a great teacher, all of those barriers

can be overcome.

ROSE: You believe you can do it?

RHEE: A hundred percent. I like to say to my staff, you know, if I can`t --

if I can`t make 121 schools better for 50,000 kids, then my game is weak and

I should go home.

http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/michelle-testifies-before-florida-legislature/#

http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/dear-mr.-president-michelle-rhee-joins-other-advocates-to-recommend-a-state Research shows the difference between a highly effective and ineffective teacher is one full year of learning in an academic year—specifically, a good teacher gets 1.5 years of learning growth and a bad teacher gets 0.5 years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/opinion/23rhee.html?_r=1 http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/what-leadership-on-education-reform-can-do-for-kids research confirms what we already knew intuitively. Students with great teachers learn more than students with ineffective teachers – up to four times more!

http://www.herexchange.com/2011/06/michelle-rhee-on-education-reform/ Even if your kids are in suburban schools or private schools, __the top 5% of kids in this country still aren’t faring well academically compared to their international counterparts__

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/03/michelle_rhee_michigan_lawmake.html State Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton, D-Royal Oak, challenged Rhee on the issue of merit pay, noting that education advocate Diane Ravitch, who on Monday addressed union leaders, points to research showing the practice of paying better-performing teachers more doesn't boost scores. “I think the research is inconclusive,” Rhee said. “We know the traditional lock-step system isn't working. We think merit pay is a promising system.”

From Rhee's Blog July 13, 2011 http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/public-schools-are-here-to-stay-reforms-will-strengthen-them/ The answer is not to turn our backs on public schools, but to roll up our sleeves and do the work necessary to turn around troubled schools. That means investing in our schools to bring more resources to the classroom, and providing good nutrition and counseling services so that students are in a position to learn. But there is perhaps no more important step we can take to improve our schools than enact policies that ensure our kids have access to the very best teachers available. These policies should include rigorously and fairly evaluating our teachers and rewarding those who succeed on the job with career and leadership opportunities and better compensation. Educators who need help should get it, but those who don’t improve must move on.

Research mentioned in StudentsFirst blog: One of the better reports on value-added analysis was done by the Brookings Institute in November, 2010 and can be found online here: [|Brookings Report].

LA times that Rhee quotes http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1205-teachers-seniority-20101204,0,576130,full.story

4/20/11 Youtube Interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCcNzh7C_Tk&feature=fvsr 20:22 Research shows that in a poor school if kids have 3 highly effective teachers in a row vs. ineffective teacher it can literally change their life trajectory. Parents matter too. We have to do our best to have more parental involvement. Then says that kids shouldn't be punished by school if parents are bad. We have gone soft. 27:00 Teacher eval is broken. When she started 8% of 8th graders passed math while 95% teachers were rated good. Changed ratings to 50% gains, 40% observations. Wall St said in response, why not 95% on test scores. 33:00 Did a cutesy analogy of why if she tried to play basketball, she would deserve to get fired.

28:15 8% REvamp teaher eval 50^ based on student ach growth gains not an absolute not 90% need to have proficiency Based on 'Gains' Not an absolute

Often says 8% in math while 95% teachers OK, based on NAEP http://nationsreportcard.gov/math_2009/district_gr8.asp?tab_id=tab2&subtab_id=Tab_1#tabsContainer

2007 66% below basic 34% basic or above 8% proficient 1% advanced 2009 62% below basic 38% basic or above 12% proficient 3% advanced