Archives for category: National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)
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Schneider: NCTQ and the Corporate Reform Agenda

By dianerav
March 19, 2013 //
2

In recent weeks, Mercedes Schneider reviewed the members of the board of the National Council on Teacher Quality.

She did so because NCTQ is now often perceived as a nonpartisan, independent evaluator of teacher education programs, teacher colleges, and teacher quality. It has been the recipient of grants from many foundations, including Gates. Its investigation into the nation’s teacher preparation programs is considered authoritative by US News and World Report. Its report on teacher quality in Los Angeles, produced in cooperation with the Gates-funded United Way, blamed teachers for low test scores. In short, NCTQ is a power player with funding and media influence.

As Schneider shows, NCTQ is a leading player in the corporate reform movement. Its board includes Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, and Wendy Kopp.

This post reviews NCTQ as an organization.

Schneider has a Ph.D. In statistics and research methods. She teaches high school in Louisiana.

Categories Corporate Reformers, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

Schneider: Evaluating the Evaluators

By dianerav
February 21, 2013 //
2

This is the 17th in Mercedes Schneider’s reviews of the board of the National Council on Tracher Quality. In this post, Schneider posts grades for all the board members. She includes links to the earlier posts.

She has undertaken this mission because the NCTQ has assumed the role as the arbiter of the quality of teacher education programs in the U.S. Like any other sector, there are undoubtedly good ones and bad ones, but that is not the question Schneider poses in this series. Instead, she has set herself the task of evaluating the evaluators?

She asks such questions as, are they qualified to judge teacher education programs? What is their relevant experience? Have they ever been a teacher? Do they have knowledge and understanding of teacher preparation? Do they have financial conflicts of interest? Do they approach this assignment free of bias?

NCTQ includes some of the leading stars of the corporate reform movement. The organization was created by the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Foundation in 2000 to promote alternatives to teacher education programs, which TBF disdained. In 2001, as the organization struggled to survive, then-Secretary of Education Rod Paige gave it $5 million.

Today, as Schneider points out, NCTQ struggles no more. It is handsomely funded and it is partnering with US News to evaluate the nation’s schools of education. Many, suspecting NCTQ’s bona fides or good will or bias, have refused to cooperate.

Categories National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

A Teacher Educator on the Board of NCTQ

By dianerav
February 19, 2013 //
0

Mercedes Schneider adds another installment to her study of the board of NCTQ?

Categories National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

Inside the Interlocking Directorate of Corporate Reform

By dianerav
February 18, 2013 //
5

In this installment of her investigative analysis of the National Council on Teacher Quality, Mercedes Schneider reviews the career of Deborah McGriff.

This provides a fascinating insight into the tangled web of the corporate reform movement.

Categories ALEC, Broad Foundation, Bush, Jeb, Education Industry, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

Mercedes Schneider: More on the NCTQ board

By dianerav
February 17, 2013 //
4

The National Council on Teacher Quality holds an important position in the public arena, passing judgment on the quality of teacher education programs across the nation.

Mercedes Schneider, who holds a Ph.D. In statistics and research methods, is reviewing the board of NCTQ to determine its qualification to do its job. Among its members are Michelle Rhee, Wendy Kopp, Joel Klein, and quite a few more. How many have classroom experience? How many understand how teachers are or should be prepared?

Categories Chicago, Indiana, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), Oklahoma

Mercedes Schneider on the Board of NCTQ and Corporate Reform

By dianerav
February 16, 2013 //
5

Mercedes Schneider continues her review of the board of the National Council on Teacher Quality.

NCTQ is working with U.S. News to review the quality of the nation’s education schools and colleges.

This is the latest in her series. 

Categories Corporate Reformers, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

The Corporate Reform Cult of Rhetoric and Riches

By dianerav
February 15, 2013 //
6

To understand the tentacles of corporate reform, you must read this post

Here Mercedes Schneider continues her review of the board of the National Council on Teacher Quality. As her research deepens, she uncovers the links among the big-money investors and their plans to privatize education, turn teachers and children into assets, and monetize public education.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), On-Line Education, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching

Schneider Finds Three Educators on NCTQ Board: Part 12

By dianerav
February 14, 2013 //
23

Mercedes Schneider continues her patient and painstaking dissection of the National Council on Teacher Quality board.

In earlier posts, she reviewed the qualifications of Wendy Kopp, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein and others. In this post, she discovers some real educators on the board of this organization. NCTQ is especially important because it is rating the nation’s teacher education programs.

Categories Corporate Reformers, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

Michael Johnston, Colorado Boy Wonder of Corporate Reform

By dianerav
February 13, 2013 //
5

Who is the miracle reformer of Colorado? Who wrote its law to evaluate teachers by their test scores? Who claimed that his high school graduated 100% of its seniors and sent them to college? Who so lauded by President Obama and DFER? Whose legislation became a model for ALEC? Why, Michael Johnston, of course.

Mercedes Schneider continues her portrait of the board of NCTQ by looking into Johnston’s history. NCTQ is the organization that tells the nation how to get high-quality teachers.

Previous posts by Schneider have included Wendy Kopp, Michelle Rhee, and Joel Klein, who have a cumulative teaching experience of three years among them (Rhee’s).

Categories Charter Schools, Colorado, Corporate Reformers, Democrats for Education Reform, Education Industry, International, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

Joel Klein, the Quintessential Corporate Reformer

By dianerav
February 12, 2013 //
2

Mercedes Schneider continues her review of the board of the National Council of Teacher Quality.

Earlier entries reviewed the bios of Wendy Kopp, Michelle Rhee, and other prominent figures whose lives intersect again and again on the boards of the groups seeking control of American education, with the full-throated support of Secretary Arne Duncan.

Here is Joel Klein, the quintessential corporate reformer. This is part 9 of Schneidr’s deconstruction of the corporate reform leadership team at NCTQ.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Joel Klein, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), New York City, Poverty, Privatization
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