Here are some recent good posts and article on educational policy issues:

Asking Students about Teaching is a report from the National Education Policy Center with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On Students Evaluating Classes (And Teachers).

Bad Teaching Practice #1: “I am Only Going to Teach Those Who Are Ready To Learn” is by Anthony Cody at Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Analyzing Charter Schools.

The newest rhetoric on teacher evaluation — and why it is nonsense comes from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Effective Student & Teacher Assessments.

Race to the Top District Competition Received 371 Applications is a very interesting piece from Education Week — some unusual stuff has been happening with the applications. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On “Race To The Top” (& On “Personalized Learning”).

Time to Put Forward a New Reform Agenda is by Pedro Noguera. I think the part about student performance-based assessments is particularly interesting. I’m adding it to The Best Articles Describing Alternatives To High-Stakes Testing.

Promoting Quality Teaching: New Policy Report from Accomplished California Teachers has just been published. Here’s an excerpt from its description:

Currently, teacher pay is based primarily on years of service and continuing education, including advanced degrees. In recent years, pay-for-performance or merit-pay systems have been tried around the country—systems in which teachers are rewarded for student achievement, with achievement usually being measured by test scores.

The ACT report argues that neither system succeeds. And it offers a framework for professional growth and compensation that creates incentives for well-qualified individuals to enter the profession, continue to grow, and to share what they know so that the entire enterprise of education improves. This report can be used to inform policy at the state and district level to create thoughtful, research-based compensation systems that actually improve teaching.

For now, I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning Why Teacher Merit Pay Is A Bad Idea.

Value-Added, For The Record is from The Shanker Blog. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation.