Here are recent resources for those focused on the professional improvement of teachers, principals, and other educational leaders.

Why so many people are worried about teacher diversity.
 The U.S. Education Department, the nation’s two largest teachers unions, and Teach For America often do not agree on questions of education policy. But they have found common ground when it comes to the need for a more diverse teaching corps, an issue that they say is critical not only for schools but for the country. (Washington Post, May 6).

National Freshman Success Institute: A Pathway to Improved Graduation Rates. Is your school organized for improvement to support ALL students through graduation? Join NCS for seven days of powerful learning with teams of educators from across the country! Multiple dates are available. Get more information and register.

Relationship between school professional climate and teachers’ satisfaction with the evaluation process. This study reports on the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of school professional climate and their satisfaction with their formal evaluation process. (Source: Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Education Development Center Inc.).

The Thomas Fordham Institute and the Center on Reinventing Public Education has just published a School Leadership Policy Toolkit organized around five key policy areas: Pathways and Pipelines, Distributed Leadership, Autonomy and Empowerment, Principal Evaluation, and Retention and Compensation.

Cries about national teacher shortages might be overblown.
 Alarm bells are sounding about teacher shortages across the country. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, warned in the Huffington Post this month that teacher shortages could soon become a crisis. However, others are wondering exactly how dire things are. (Hechinger Report, April 25).

Teachers feel their voices aren’t heard in policy discussions, study finds (Education Week, May 4). While they find parts of their jobs incredibly rewarding, many teachers are frustrated by the constantly changing demands on them and don’t feel like their voices are heard in policy discussions, according to a new study.