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The teachers’ goal was to devise recommendations based on teachers’ own experience for what measures districts should consider when evaluating teachers, and how heavily each of those measures should be weighted.

focused on breaking down “the culture of ‘closed doors’”

Under the state’s teacher evaluation deal passed last May, teachers will be given a score on a new 100-point scale, with 40 of those points determined by student achievement data.

Common standards for professional development that are integrated into licensure and certification systems; • Emerging efforts to audit and monitor the quality of professional development; • Mentoring and induction requirements for new teachers, some of which are enforced; • A network and infrastructure that offer support for site-based professional development; and • Stability of resources, even during the economic downturn.

Is This Learning? Let’s discuss the definition of learning

For administrators, it comes to two questions. Do you believe the world has changed dramatically when it comes to learning? And if so, how can you begin to change the conversation around learning?

Blended learning is any time a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and at least in part through online delivery with some element of student control over time, path, and/or pace.

The definition implies simple remote correspondence—like online videoconferencing or web chatting in a real-time environment only—does not qualify as blended learning, and perhaps points to a theoretical division between the labels of "online" and "distance" learning.

The report then labels six types of blended learning approaches:• face-to-face driver programs where teachers deliver most instruction in a live classroom and use online activities to supplement or remediate what goes on in the brick-and-mortar school;• rotation models where students follow a schedule that alternates between face-to-face class sessions and in-person instruction;• flex formats where most of the curriculum originates online, but an on-site instructor provides instruction as needed in individual and small group sessions;• online lab sessions where students do work online, but in a computer lab at a brick-and-mortar school with aides who offer supervision but little subject guidance;• self-blend schools where students may take online courses a la carte to supplement their brick-and-mortar school's curriculum; and• online driver constructs where students receive most of the course online and independently, but participate in required or optional face-to-face meetings.

a hybrid teacher role as Data Strategist. I was charged with the task of organizing the various data points that, taken collectively, offer useful clues about student achievement, progress, and deficiency. The data lens could zoom out to a schoolwide perspective that might inform staff development planning, narrow to a classroom or grade-level view offering insight on skills requiring remediation, or focus on a single student being considered for referral to the school psychologist for a learning disability.

There is growing evidence that teacher empowerment as school leaders is linked strongly with teachers' tendency to engage in behaviors that accelerate student growth: soliciting parent involvement, communicating positive expectations, and being willing and able to innovate in the classroom.

In addition to measurable student impact, teachers that lead schools are better equipped to guide their own professional development, share their expertise, and develop explicit and implicit systems of accountability, while experiencing more respectful, trusting, and professional cultures.