Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in The Best Articles, Posts & Videos On Education Policy In 2014 – Part Two):

Are you a truly bad teacher? Here’s how to tell. appeared in The Washington Post.

When Charter Schools Are Non-Profit in Name Only is from The Pacific Standard. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Analyzing Charter Schools.

Restoring Shanker’s Vision for Charter Schools is from The American Educator. I’m adding it to the same list.

Why Teacher Voice Matters is from The American Educator. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles About The Importance Of Teacher (& Student) Working Conditions.

Want to Close the Achievement Gap? Close The Teaching Gap is by Linda Darling-Hammond. I’m adding it to the same list.

New York City Teachers Score Highly Under New Evaluation System is from The New York Times. School reformers, though, don’t want to be confused by the facts, as you can read at John Thompson’s Reject Cuomo’s Common Core Duplicity.

The Obama Administration brings their obsessive mantra of accountability to colleges: read The Fate Of The Administration’s College Ratings from NPR ; Critics say college graduation rates don’t tell the whole story from The Los Angeles Times; and College ratings draft light on details from Politico.

A tremendous number of school children in America still live in poverty is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Places To Learn What Impact A Teacher (& Outside Factors) Have On Student Achievement.

Teacher Team Offers New Vision of Responsibility is from Living In Dialogue. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Effective Student & Teacher Assessments.

Does Money Matter? Is School Funding Fair? is from Ed Week. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning That Money Does Matter For Schools.

In How Congress can address over-testing without overreaching, Michael Petrilli suggests that schools continue to use standardized tests — at a reduced level, but just not use them for teacher evaluation. Instead:

use everything but test scores, such as principal or peer or expert observations, parent surveys, and maybe even kid surveys.

I’m not a big fan of standardized tests (see My Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad) ) and I think there are better alternatives (The Best Articles Describing Alternatives To High-Stakes Testing — Help Me Find More) . But I’m also a realist, and I think his proposal would be a decent deal.

Bridging the Naughty-Nice Divide in Education Debates is a very thoughtful post by Marilyn Anderson Rhames. Her advice on respectful participation in the school reform rhetorical wars make a lot of sense, and it would be good if many writers/bloggers heeded it. However, those who are actively involved “on the ground” in organizing campaigns probably want to not follow it to the letter. I explain why in other posts at The Best Posts & Articles On Building Influence & Creating Change.