U.S. Lagging in Teacher Learning

from the Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook.

Putting a priority and a structure around teacher learning has served other countries well.
Linda Darling-Hammond has co-authored this report.

"Teachers in the United States are given significantly less time and support for high-quality professional learning than their counterparts in other developed nations, according to a new report published by the National Staff Development Council.

The report, co-authored by Stanford University Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, finds that U.S. teachers average 1,080 hours per year in classroom teaching time, leaving little time for non-classroom professional activities. By contrast, the average instruction time for teachers in other counties in the Organization of Economic Development is 803 hours per year for primary schools and 664 hours per year for secondary schools."

Read the full article here.

More than 300 schools closed

By Thomas H. Maugh II May 1, 2009

As new swine flu cases continued to be reported across the country Thursday -- most of them scattered outbreaks in new states -- school systems in Seattle and Huntsville, Ala., were closed after health officials discovered suspected cases in each.

A late afternoon tally by the U.S. Department of Education found that 298 schools around the country had shut down for a few days, triple the number that had been closed on Wednesday. The closings affected about 172,000 students, leaving parents scrambling to find alternative day care arrangements.

Read the full story here in the LA Times