By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published on EdNext. What if every student actually could have an excellent teacher? According to a new study released through the CALDER Center, it might be possible. Study authors Ben Backes of American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Michael Hansen of the Brookings Institution found that students in classrooms […]
One More Time Now: Why Lowering Class Sizes Backfires
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published on EdNext. You’ve probably read an article with a headline like this. Why say it again? Because class-size reduction continues to be so seductive. Our own state of North Carolina is just the latest in which policymakers have succumbed, causing a political firestorm this winter. Here it’s Republicans, […]
Recruiting for Hard-to-Staff Schools
By Sharon Kebschull Barrett; first published in School Administrator magazine. You know rock star teachers when you see them. They are capable of commanding attention day in and day out, and they motivate students to achieve well beyond standard expectations. They even help other teachers succeed. So how can school districts attract them, especially to […]
N.C. must invest to magnify the impact of great teachers
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published in The News & Observer. North Carolina will never make the educational strides it needs until the best educators have far greater impact, for a lot more pay. A year ago in these pages, we called for state leaders to raise teachers’ base pay an average […]
Expanding the Impact of Excellent Teachers
By Bryan C. Hassel, Celine Coggins & Emily Ayscue Hassel If you are a teacher who helps students learn exceptionally well, this is your moment—schools and policymakers must vastly expand your impact, now. Today, our nation is at a crossroads; we simply cannot fall short educationally for another decade as other countries surge. Why is […]
Teachers: This is the Moment to Expand Your Impact
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published on Education Week. If you are a teacher who helps students learn exceptionally well, this is your moment—schools and policymakers must vastly expand your impact, now. Today, our nation is at a crossroads; we simply cannot fall short educationally for another decade as other countries surge. […]
The Original Personalization App—Great Teachers
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published in Education Next With all the buzz about the District Race to the Top and jockeying to fit it into differing agendas, you might miss its simple premise: “There are great teachers … who have figured out how to personalize education and we are asking our districts to […]
Expanding the Impact of Excellent Teachers
By Bryan Hassel and Celine Coggins; first published on Education Week. If you are a teacher who helps students learn exceptionally well, this is your moment—schools and policymakers must vastly expand your impact, now. Today, our nation is at a crossroads; we simply cannot fall short educationally for another decade as other countries surge. Why […]
Turnaround Principal Competencies A process for hiring the most skillful leaders for changing the fortunes of the most-troubled schools
By Lucy Steiner and Sharon Kebschull Barrett; first published in School Administrator magazine. When the Minneapolis Public Schools first set out to hire turnaround school principals, administrators followed their usual process — which focused largely on reputation and anecdotal support and considered mainly internal candidates. Yet success at the complicated task of turning around the […]
How to Pay Teachers Dramatically More, Within Budget
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published on Education Next. There’s been a lot of chatter about increasing teacher pay—even doubling it. With the release of TNTP’s The Irreplaceables, talk about paying teachers more and retaining the best will likely increase. Whether or not your political perspective leaves you thinking this is necessary, most […]
Redesigning Schools for Financially Sustainable Excellence: Infographic!
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published on Education Next Everybody loves a good infographic (even you wonky researchers – just wait ‘til nobody’s looking), and we hope this one will change how you view education reform efforts. For word nerds, here’s a summary: Our nation is falling behind globally as other nations provide increasingly […]
Reformers: We Must Be Much Bolder to Reach Every Child with Excellent Teachers
By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel; first published on Education Next. As ESEA talk heats up, reform groups are tossing ideas on the table (e.g., here). We can debate the details, but most have some merit. Here’s the problem: even if our nation fully implemented most of the recommended legislation in the next decade, we still […]