Deborah Loewenberg Ball voted president-elect of AERA

Deborah Loewenberg Ball has been voted president-elect of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Her term as president begins on May 1, 2017, at the conclusion of AERA’s 2017 Annual Meeting.

She will succeed Vivian L. Gadsden, William T. Carter Professor of Child Development and Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Gadsden will assume the AERA presidency on April 12, 2016, after the close of the association’s 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

“I am honored to have been elected as president-elect of AERA,” Ball said. “The organization has an important role to play in advancing systematic efforts to study and improve education. I will be working with many others to determine the most useful steps we might take together in the coming few years. I look forward to building on the work that Vivian Gadsden will do in her term as president, as well as on that of others who have served in this position before us.”

Deborah Loewenberg Ball named to Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education

Deborah Loewenberg Ball has been named to a new commission announced by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to “examine the vast—and expanding—array of learning options available to high-school graduates, including both students newly out of high school and older adults returning to school to further their lives and careers.” The aim of the Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education is to study how well current students are served by today’s education system, as well as to identify challenges and opportunities that will be encountered by higher education in coming decades.

The Academy received $2.2 million from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to fund the three-year initiative. Spencer Foundation President Michael S. McPherson and TIAA-CREF President and CEO Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. will co-chair the commission. “The critical issues in this area—cost, financing models, accessibility, dramatic changes in learning patterns and in technological possibilities—require our attention and close scrutiny, on behalf of all Americans,” McPherson said.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball cited in article for teacher evaluation expertise

Deborah Loewenberg Ball’s contribution to the statewide teacher evaluation discussion was mentioned in a Detroit Free Press guest column written by Amber Arellano, the executive director of Education Trust – Midwest. The column offered suggestions on how to improve education in Michigan.

The author wrote that “the Legislature’s approval of Michigan’s first statewide educator evaluation and support system, which was designed in large part by Deborah Ball, a nationally respected dean at the University of Michigan’s School of Education” will play a role in improving Michigan’s public education system.

Read the full article here.

Teacher education at SOE featured on KQED’s Mind/Shift

A feature story posted on KQED’s Mind/Shift, a website for “educators, tinkerers, policy makers, and lifelong learners,” is an in-depth look at the U-M School of Education's teacher education programs. The story begins with Deborah Loewenberg Ball, who explains, “Teaching is complex work that people actually have to be taught to do,” and goes on to elaborate on how SOE accomplishes it, through innovations in high-leverage teaching practices, development of student teaching interns, skill-building, and student teaching. In addition to Ball, several SOE educators are noted and quoted in the piece, including Tim Boerst, chair of Elementary Teacher Education; Professor Betsy Davis; and Elizabeth Moje, associate dean for research and community engagement.

Access the story, “What Core Skills Do Teachers Need to be Effective? here.

MCEE chaired by Deborah Loewenberg Ball cited in Detroit News “Labor Voices” column

In a column written by Michigan Education Association President Steven Cook appearing in The Detroit News’ “Labor Voices,” Cook cites the work of the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness (MCEE), which was chaired by Deborah Loewenberg Ball. Cook writes, “Although the legislation passed by the House and Senate does not contain all of the council’s recommendations, it represents a vast improvement over the present evaluation process. It is important to note that in creating the Ball Commission and using its report as a guide to reform, the Legislature acknowledged that experts in the field are invaluable in guiding education reform forward. That too is a change for the better.” Read the column here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball one of NPR’s “50 Great Teachers”

Deborah Loewenberg Ball is featured on National Public Radio’s series on 50 Great Teachers. In a wide-ranging feature, Ball talks about educating educators: "I'm really trying hard to dispel this idea that teaching is this thing you're born to do and it's somehow natural to everyday life. I don't think either of those things is true. Nobody goes out in a pilot school and is told: 'Go out in the plane today! Try it out. See how it works.’"

The feature also mentions TeachingWorks, and especially the Elementary Mathematics Laboratory (EML). The NPR story illustrates the approach in EML with an actual fractions problem taught in the laboratory.

The feature concludes with a summarization of Ball’s approach to education: “What Ball is trying to model at U-M is a system where future teachers have to demonstrate they can do some core things–like present a math problem, and lead a discussion about it–before they're safe to practice.”

Listen to “Teaching Teachers to Teach: It’s Not So Elementary” (or read the transcript) here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball quoted in story on teacher prep

A story in the Deseret (Utah) News, “Teaching the teachers: Do we know how to create real professionals?” quotes Deborah Loewenberg Ball. On the contention that teaching skills can be taught, mastered, and tested, Ball said, "Our position is that [the] profession should take responsibility for this." The story also mentions TeachingWorks and its focus on high-leverage practices. Read the story here.

Detroit News editorial cites involvement of MCEE in teacher evaluation efforts

An editorial in The Detroit News, “Find a compromise on teacher evaluations,” mentions the work of the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness and its chair, Deborah Loewenberg Ball. The editorial calls for balancing more effective teacher evaluation systems with protection of existing tenure reforms. Read the editorial here.

NYT columnist features work of Deborah Loewenberg Ball, MCEE

Joe Nocera, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, has written about the work of Deborah Loewenberg Ball with the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness (MCEE). Nocera said, “The council’s idea was that the evaluations could be used not just to rid the system of incompetent teachers—though it would certainly do that—but also to give all the other teachers critical feedback. It also envisions transforming professional development, which is now mostly a wasteland, into a mechanism to put that feedback into practice.” Read the op-ed here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball mentioned in Free Press editorial

A Detroit Free Press editorial, “Teacher evals latest victim of GOP’s local control fetish,” cites Deborah Loewenberg Ball and the recommendations of the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness that she chaired. Read the editorial here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball cited in Education Policy Center blog

In the InformED blog on the website of the Education Policy Center, American Institutes for Research, Deborah Loewenberg Ball is quoted on teacher preparation. “These are things that we can teach people how to do using videotape, specific feedback, and practicing moves,” she said. “It is not simple to lead productive discussions with 30 or more students, but it is something that can be taught and learned.” Read the blog here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball talks to Bridge magazine about “watered down” teacher evaluation legislation

In a story posted today, Bridge magazine examines proposed state legislation on teacher evaluations that significantly departs from recommendations by a council led by Deborah Loewenberg Ball. The Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness recommended rigorous statewide standards, but pending legislation ignores the council’s recommendations in favor of local district control over teacher accountability. Ball says the legislation is “disappointing” and “makes no sense.” Read the Bridge story here, and a Q&A with Ball here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball receives honorary degree from Lesley University and medal for distinguished service from Teachers College

Deborah Loewenberg Ball received an honorary degree from Lesley University in Boston and addressed graduates from the university's Graduate School of Education at their commencement May 16. Ball began by saying that in being present at the commencement, she is "reminded again of the power of education, and also the power people have. Education hones that power and refines it. There is nothing that moves me more. Be a force out there. Be an educator and agent for justice."

She talked to graduates not only about what they have done, but also about what she hopes they will do. They have already made an impact on faculty and fellow students, she said, "enriching them with their expertise and perspective. You're prepared to contribute in new ways.”

In addition, Ball received the Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service at TC's convocation May 18. The award is given to scholars who have highlighted critical issues in research and practice and championed strategies for change. Ball was honored at the college's first Master's Degree Ceremony on Monday afternoon, May 18. Teachers College, Columbia University is the oldest and largest graduate school of education in the United States.

Ball also addressed graduating students in TC's Departments of Arts & Humanities and Curriculum & Teaching. "The evidence is clear. The order for social justice in this country is long, tall, and overdue. Just remember that among the resources for that societal change is the power of teaching."

Interview and essay by Deborah Loewenberg Ball on Michigan Radio website

Deborah Loewenberg Ball has contributed the essay “We will pay for our lack of respect for teachers” to Michigan Radio’s The Next Idea, in which she notes the crucial nature of effective teacher training. “The time is now. The future of our nation depends on every student in every classroom receiving skillful teaching every day. This is a fundamental civil right of every child,” she said. Read the essay, and listen to an interview with Ball on Stateside with Cynthia Canty, here.

Council led by Deborah Loewenberg Ball cited in Michigan Radio story on teacher evaluations

In an interview with Michigan Radio, State Board of Education President John Austin credited work by the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness, which was led by Deborah Loewenberg Ball, for establishing a foundation for creating a new system of teacher evaluations. Austin mentioned Ball and the council for a series of recommendations the council made in a report to the state legislature in 2013 that could influence a new statewide system of evaluating educators. The interview with Austin, “How should teachers be evaluated in Michigan?” is part of Michigan Radio’s “Learning to Teach” series. Access the interview here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball quoted in San Jose Mercury News

A story in the San Jose Mercury News on what teachers, teacher educators, and others in education have said about the U.S. proposal to toughen regulation of teacher-training programs includes a quote from Deborah Loewenberg Ball: "What if airplane pilots said, 'my first three years were a wreck'? We worry about the safety of people at the hands of these other professions. Why don't we worry about children being at the hands of an adult, even a well-meaning adult, who doesn't know what he or she is doing?" Read the story here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball mentioned in Detroit News column

In a column by Ingrid Jacques in The Detroit News, Deborah Loewenberg Ball is mentioned in connection with her work as chair of the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness. The editorial, “Finish work on teacher evaluations,” urges state legislators to develop policies that school districts can use to evaluate teachers. Read the editorial here.

Deborah Loewenberg Ball interviewed on Boston Public Radio

In a story on WGBH News, a Boston public radio station, Deborah Loewenberg Ball commented on “Rethinking the Way Higher Ed Trains Teachers.” She noted, “Obviously there are programs that prepare people well for teaching. Overall, as a nation, we grossly under-prepare people for this work and the fact that it's so variable and often quite minimal compared to other occupations is shameful." Read the story (or listen to the audio) on WGBH’s website here.