ASPEN on NCLB

The Aspen Commission on NCLB released its long-awaited report today. I'm still reading it, but on first blush it seems like a very solid piece of work, making substantive recommendations in the right places and not getting much wrong. In particular, it goes front and center with the idea of fundamentally changing the way teacher quality is defined, moving the emphasis from qualifications--academic credentials, state certfication, years of experience, etc.--to effectiveness--actual, empirical success in helping students learn. My colleague Eduwonk thinks the report could have done more still to address the human capital challenge in education, and he's right, but this change in and of itself could have far-reaching implications for the basic character and organization of our school system, which I described in a paper I wrote for the Education Trust a few years ago.

Putting the teacher quality recommendations first also send an important message: the standards and accountabilty movement of the last two decades has gotten us to the point where we have a pretty decent idea of what students need to learn, and which schools and districts aren't successful in meeting that goal. The much harder challenge going forward is figuring out what do with those schools and how to help those students, and any successful strategy in that regard has to begin with teachers.

More on this sure to come in the next few days.