There have been quite a few good and useful posts and articles on school reform issues over the past few days. Here they are, along with links to “The Best…” lists I’m adding them to:

* There have been some good posts challenging comments by some “school reformers” that the experience of having many years in the classroom is over-rated. They say that after the first few years, it has no impact on student achievement. Here are some posts rebutting that claim:

The Teaching Experience at the Shanker Blog

Teaching experience matters! is from NYC Public School Parents

Firing Teachers with Due Process is a good piece from Forbes that rebuts a different claim — that it takes many years to get rid of a bad teacher.

I’m adding those posts to The Best Articles For Helping To Understand Both Why Teacher Tenure Is Important & The Reasons Behind Seniority-Based Layoffs.

* I’m embedding this “must-watch” thirty minute video of a talk by one of my favorite education writers and researchers, Richard Rothstein. Here’s how the Education Testing Service describes it:

Rothstein, a former New York Times national education columnist, discusses the false narrative about public education — especially urban schools — that currently exists. Rothstein maintains that many education reform proposals, especially those that focus on teacher accountability, are based on a misinterpretation and misuse of data. He stresses the direct correlation between poverty and educational failure.

Rothstein makes many important points but, because of some of the key ones he makes, I’m adding the video to The Best Places To Learn What Impact A Teacher & Outside Factors Have On Student Achievement.

* Teach for America 20th Anniversary Alumni Summit: Conclusions, Questions, and other Ruminations comes from Education Notes Online, and I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Raising Concerns About Teach For America.

* The relationship between education spending and test scores is an important piece that I’m adding to The Best Sites For Learning That Money Does Matter For Schools.

* The “three great teachers in a row” myth is a piece by Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation.

* Why politicians should spend time at school is another piece from Valerie Strauss’ blog. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Effective Student & Teacher Assessments.

* Here are some useful pieces related to what’s going on in Wisconsin, and that I’m adding to The Best Resources For Learning About Attacks On Teachers & Other Public Sector Workers In Wisconsin:

Unions Hope States’ Attacks Nurture a Comeback comes from The New York Times.

Both Sides Begin Efforts for Recalls in Wisconsin is also from The New York Times.

How To Make A Misleading Public/Private Earnings Gap Disappear is from The Shanker Blog.

The Budget: Who’s Really to Blame? is a cartoon from The Atlantic.