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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
