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In Episode 3 of Open Book, Dr. White and guests discuss the importance of well-funded schools and dig into a proposed change to the City of Roanoke's longstanding school funding policy.

Over the past 20 years, federal and state reforms have drawn on heavy-handed attempts to close the achievement gap through top-down management of teachers. Such approaches have often included high-stakes accountability systems that mandate what to teach and how to teach it and that evaluate teachers on the basis of annual standardized test scores. In short, policymakers have focused on fixing teachers more than on maximizing their expertise and leadership potential. One of teachers' greatest sources of frustration is their lack of authority to determine how to meet those demands in ways that will benefit students. There is a growing movement to transform the profession with teachers serving as the agents of change--rather than being the targets of it. Simultaneously, growing numbers of policymakers are becoming aware that deeper learning outcomes for all students will only be achieved with their teachers leading the transformation of schooling. A convergence of research also supports the benefits to students when teachers can make significant schoolwide decisions. This article presents teacher-powered schools as one notable school governance model that supports student learning and enhances the leadership, engagement, and professionalism of educators.

Over the past 20 years, federal and state reforms have drawn on heavy-handed attempts to close the achievement gap through top-down management of teachers. Such approaches have often included high-stakes accountability systems that mandate what to teach and how to teach it and that evaluate teachers on the basis of annual standardized test scores. In short, policymakers have focused on fixing teachers more than on maximizing their expertise and leadership potential. One of teachers' greatest sources of frustration is their lack of authority to determine how to meet those demands in ways that will benefit students. There is a growing movement to transform the profession with teachers serving as the agents of change--rather than being the targets of it. Simultaneously, growing numbers of policymakers are becoming aware that deeper learning outcomes for all students will only be achieved with their teachers leading the transformation of schooling. A convergence of research also supports the benefits to students when teachers can make significant schoolwide decisions. This article presents teacher-powered schools as one notable school governance model that supports student learning and enhances the leadership, engagement, and professionalism of educators.

Over the past 20 years, federal and state reforms have drawn on heavy-handed attempts to close the achievement gap through top-down management of teachers. Such approaches have often included high-stakes accountability systems that mandate what to teach and how to teach it and that evaluate teachers on the basis of annual standardized test scores. In short, policymakers have focused on fixing teachers more than on maximizing their expertise and leadership potential. One of teachers' greatest sources of frustration is their lack of authority to determine how to meet those demands in ways that will benefit students. There is a growing movement to transform the profession with teachers serving as the agents of change--rather than being the targets of it. Simultaneously, growing numbers of policymakers are becoming aware that deeper learning outcomes for all students will only be achieved with their teachers leading the transformation of schooling. A convergence of research also supports the benefits to students when teachers can make significant schoolwide decisions. This article presents teacher-powered schools as one notable school governance model that supports student learning and enhances the leadership, engagement, and professionalism of educators.

This position paper sets forth an expanded view of character and character education that recognizes the importance of performance character (needed for best work) as well as moral character (needed for ethical behavior). While core ethical values remain foundational in a life of character, character education must also develop students' performance values such as effort, diligence, and perseverance in order to promote academic learning, foster an ethic of excellence, and develop the skills needed to act upon ethical values. The paper reviews research on the complementary contributions of performance character and moral character to human development and achievement and describes ten practices that teachers and schools have used to develop performance character. In this expanded vision of character education, a school or community of character is one that helps us "be our best" and "do our best" in all areas of our lives. Throughout history, and in cultures around the world, education rightly conceived has had two great goals: to help students become smart and to help them become good. They need character for both. They need moral character in order to behave ethically, strive for social justice, and live and work in community. They need performance character in order to enact their moral principles and succeed in school and in life. Virtue, as the ancient Greeks pointed out, means human excellence. To be a school of character or a community of character is to strive to be our best and do our best in all areas of our lives. (Contains 21 notes.)

Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 are used to link students with particular teachers and classes to estimate the impact of observable and unobservable schooling characteristics on student outcomes. A variety of models show some schooling resources, particularly teacher qualifications, to be significant in influencing tenth grade mathematics test scores. Teachers who are certified in mathematics, and those with bachelors or masters degrees in math are identified with higher test scores. Unobservable school, teacher, and class characteristics are important in explaining student achievement but do not appear to be correlated with observable variables in this sample. The results suggest that the omission of unobservables does not cause biased estimates in standard educational production functions. Six statistical tables are included. (Contains 38 references.) (JLS)

Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 are used to link students with particular teachers and classes to estimate the impact of observable and unobservable schooling characteristics on student outcomes. A variety of models show some schooling resources, particularly teacher qualifications, to be significant in influencing tenth grade mathematics test scores. Teachers who are certified in mathematics, and those with bachelors or masters degrees in math are identified with higher test scores. Unobservable school, teacher, and class characteristics are important in explaining student achievement but do not appear to be correlated with observable variables in this sample. The results suggest that the omission of unobservables does not cause biased estimates in standard educational production functions. Six statistical tables are included. (Contains 38 references.) (JLS)