Publications

llinois ASCD publishes a quarterly newsletter, Illinois ASCD Newsletter, and a quarterly special publication titled HOT TOPICS that are provided as part of the membership in Illinois ASCD. For more information about Illinois ASCD publications, contact Bill Dodds (dwdodds@ilstu.edu).

Technology Counts 2009
You can be among the first to review the newest annual report from edweek.org, Technology Counts 2009: Breaking Away From Tradition. View it online - plus Web-only content, tables, and graphics - right now. http://e-news.edweek.org

Teaching to tests that are worth teaching to
In an op-ed in The New York Times, E. D. Hirsch writes that as lawmakers consider reauthorizing NCLB, they must "find a way to maintain accountability while mitigating the current tendency to reduce schooling to a joyless grind of practice exams and empty instruction in 'reading strategies.'" He urges a different testing scenario: "If the reading passages on each test were culled from each grade's specific curricular content in literature, science, history, geography and the arts, the tests would exhibit what researchers call 'consequential validity' -- meaning that the tests would actually help improve education." "We do not need to abandon either the principle of accountability or the fill-in-the-bubble format. Rather, we need to move from teaching to the test to tests that are worth teaching to." Read more: www.nytimes.com

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SOURCEBOOK
Reinventing Professional Development in Tough Times http://e-news.edweek.org

The Spring 2009 issue of the Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook explores ways schools and teachers can bring focus and innovation to staff-development programs despite reduced budgets.