By Hayes Mizell
Guest Blogger

For educators, "back-to-school" means slipping into familiar routines. There will be new students, new colleagues, and perhaps a new principal, but most teachers and administrators yearn for as little change as possible from the previous school year. Change, after all, requires new accommodation, new learning, or new practice, each of which increases possibilities for discomfort, mistakes, or embarrassment. There is security in the familiar, even if it is the handmaiden of the status quo.

Educators also return to school with unspoken hope.

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• PARCA unveils new school data tool;
• School Board: Jobs bill;
• Obama stands firm on education agenda;
• Torchbearers prove demographics aren't destiny;
• RESEARCH: Recovering economy needs more people with post-high school education;
• BLOG: 9 things every AP science teacher should know;
• BLOG: Rigor for leaders;
• A+ News.

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By Jim Williams
Guest Blogger

On Aug. 2, the Alabama Department of Education released information showing the Alabama public schools and school systems that made, and didn’t make, “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) in 2010. These lists receive a lot of attention every year, in part because measuring AYP is required by federal law, and consistent failure brings penalties for schools with large amounts of federal funding.

However, AYP calculations are complicated, and sometimes they mask rather than expose performance differences.Read More...

By Ryan Reardon

There really is no end to the conversations we can have about effectively teaching Advanced Placement (AP) Science classes. This list is not intended to be the end of the dialogue. Quite the contrary, I am getting my thoughts on paper so we have a shared understanding of what effective science education looks like. These are my ideas, most of which were stolen from teachers I admire and learned from. I would love to see this list expand. Perhaps by August 2011, we will have a collaborative page of 100 things AP Science teachers should know ...
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Rigorous Schools and Classrooms: Leading the Way 

by Ronald Williamson and Barbara Blackburn
(Eye on Education, 2010)

Reviewed by Renee Moore, NBCT
Guest Blogger

“Rigorous Schools and Classrooms: Leading the Way” is a follow-up to Barbara Blackburn’s 2008 book, “Rigor is Not a Four-Letter Word” (see Karen Molter’s review here), and the books should be studied together. Both authors are former teachers (Williamson is also a former principal) whose educational careers extend from classroom teachers to respected university researchers.

While Blackburn’s first book was aimed at teachers, this book shows school leaders how to navigate an entire school toward a more rigorous culture and ...
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