KEEP THE TEACHERS, CUT THE CHECK: In ES-Invent Edition 075, Mr. Bryan Hassel from think-tank Public Impact had this to say in response to a WSJ op-ed about an over-supply of US teachers: "simplistically reducing the number of teachers and increasing class sizes, without giving excellent teachers more career opportunities and higher pay, won't attract, keep, or reach nearly enough students with excellent teachers. Instead, schools must redesign roles and use technology so that today's excellent teachers are in charge of far more students' learning. [It] is an essential ingredient for leveraging great teachers and achieving educational excellence at large scale." It looks like Mr. Hassel and Public Impact are doing more than talking. The Huffington Post reports that a Public Impact financial analysis has identified at least three models that expose more students to quality teachers without increasing class size AND increase average salary for those teachers up to 130%. You can find an overview of all 20 recommended models for extending the reach of teachers here -- some are quite complex and may require some maneuvering to implement, but overall we came away impressed with the out-of-the-box thinking.
