K-12 Greatest Hits: Your shortcut to what works in education

There's a lot of attention on evaluating teachers these days. The relentless pursuit to improve student achievement has put teacher performance under the microscope. But are we clear about what really makes a good teacher, how to measure good teaching and how to replicate it?

The Obama Administration just released proposed competition criteria for the Race to The Top - Early Learning Challenge, directed at preschool and kindergarten children. Pre-K testing will be part of the initiative. How will this program impact teachers, care givers and early learning providers? What kinds of tests will preschool teachers have to administer to young children under this new program? What new criteria will be set in place for the early childhood work force?

In the past a sedentary lifestyle was something routinely associated with middle aged and older adults. Today, teens are increasingly less active and manifesting may of the maladies of inactivity-- obesity, poor health, depression. In this segment we look at what's driving the inactivity and how to get teen up and active.

Are boys' brains and girls' brains fundamentally different? If there are differences, are they significant, and do they really matter in the context of teaching? In this segment our guests identify and attempt to debunk the big myths about teaching boys versus teaching girls.

"Great job!" "That was very good!" Teachers and parents use phrases like these everyday to give positive reinforcement to children. But are we creating praise-addicted children by giving them too much unwarranted, rote and excessive praise? Turns out that positive reinforcement can be negative. In this segment our guests give us the basics on how to get it right

Many believe that there is a correlation between the quality of a child's handwriting and their literacy and intelligence. Others assert that there is no relevant connection and, more importantly, that the advent of computers makes practicing handwriting less important.

A state education funding crisis is looming. How will it impact students and teachers? How will states juggle available funds? In this segment Education Secretary Arne Duncan outlines opportunities for flexible use of federal education dollars and weighs in on teacher layoffs, program cuts and essential priorities.

Next week hundreds of teams of school board presidents, school superintendents and teacher union leaders will converge at a "collaboration" conference in Denver. The event is being called historic by some education leaders. It is also being compared to the unprecedented breaking down of barriers among traditional adversaries that was orchestrated at this year's State of The Union address. Even some traditional cynics are acknowledging that next week could indeed be an historic turning point in public education. In this pre-event interview, we go behind the scenes and speak candidly with three of the key organizers.

President Obama made it clear that education is a top priority during his State of the Union Address. But will the troubled No Child Left Behind program be repaired or replaced? In this segment U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is joined by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) in a national press call following the President’s address. They outline the changes ahead for NCLB and share, possibly for the first time, what the name of the new program may be. How about, "Every Child Counts?"

.

Education historian Diane Ravitch points out the education has been in crisis every decade for over 100 years. But Ravitch says that this time the educational crisis is different and more profound, as public education is under attack from bad ideas.