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Educational reformers have focused a lot of energy on thinking of ways to identify effective teachers and in turn recruit, retain, compensate, and support them. But what do teachers think of their ideas? Research by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates suggests that what teachers think are good indicators of effectiveness—and what they think will make them more effective—are not always aligned with current priorities in education policy. Read more about this report, part three in the Retaining Teacher Talent series of reports, which have implications for both policymakers and teachers who want to influence policy.
RESOURCES FOR HELPING QUAKE VICTIMS IN HAITI
The death toll of the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti is estimated at 200,000 and the suffering of the survivors, many struggling with injuries and the need for food, water and shelter, continues to be enormous. U.S. troops (at right: distributing food and water in Port Au Prince) are a part of a worldwide outpouring of help for the quake victims and the Caribbean nation as it faces both the immediate emergency and the need to rebuild. If you'd like to help, one good resource is the Network for Good, which has a list of links to charities and other nonprofits working to help the people of Haiti.
OUR FISCAL FUTURE
What should we do about the national debt? Public Agenda is part of a new effort to get citizens working together on this problem, which starts with Choosing the Nation's Fiscal Future, a new report from the National Research Council and the National Academy of Public Administration. The national debt, at $12 trillion and rising, is a risk to our future but can be solved, if we look at the choices we face, discuss their pros and cons, and get together on creating a more sustainable policy. The just-released Our Fiscal Future report contains recommendations on guidelines to consider as we discuss solutions. To learn more and join the discussion, see OurFiscalFuture.org and the Our Fiscal Future Facebook page, and follow the @FiscalFuture Twitter feed.
TOWN HALLS: REAL DEMOCRACY OR ADVOCACY CENTRAL?
Thomas Jefferson called them the "wisest invention ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government." He was talking about town hall meetings, which can rise to the potential of that early ideal of citizen engagement and participation, but can also devolve into a less likely forum for listening, bridging interests and developing solutions. Given the serious issues we face as a nation, we'd like to remind citizens of the tools of public engagement: a nonpartisan way to work through public policy trade-offs and tough choices. To learn more, see our commentary by Ruth A. Wooden and Andrew L. Yarrow, which first appeared in the Baltimore Sun.
ABORTIONMore than a generation after the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the U.S., public debate on the subject continues to follow the well-worn path between condemnation and choice. Public attitudes do not.
Where advocates on both sides tend to lay out their arguments in terms of absolute moral rights and wrongs, the public seems to see conflicts and conditions. Solid majorities support a woman's right to choose abortion - if her reasons seem sound and if it's not too late in the pregnancy.
On an individual level, medical technology is making the issue more complex. In some respects, changing technology - such as the "abortion pill" and ultrasound-guided abortions available as early as eight days after conception – have made abortion both easier and more accepted. In other respects, new technology – such as ultrasound photos from the womb and developments making a fetus viable at earlier stages of pregnancy – has sparked new questions.
