NCTAF's New Blog

A new organizational blog hosted by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future will be of interest to teacher leaders and other educators who support teaching quality and professionalism. The blog kicked off on July 22nd, as part of NCTAF's "Learning Network" platform.

Our favorite post so far highlights a notable presentation by U.S. Rep. George Miller at NCTAF's summer conference in July. Miller urged the audience to take advantage of the "break" between presidential administrations and give some attention to the particular needs of 21st Century learners. "(W)e have a school system that continues to look like the industrial age," he said, "and continues to operate on an agrarian clock.”

Given that Miller is arguably the most influential politician involved in the debate over reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, his strong focus on schools delivering a true 21st Century education is significant. There's a short video clip embedded in the blog where Miller connects NCLB, global competition, and the capacity of American teachers to meet new student learning agendas.

The NCTAF blog page also features four quick-links to resource pages devoted to these topics of special interest to teacher leaders: creating strong learning communities in schools; closing the gap between teacher preparation and practice; supporting professionally rewarding teaching careers; and developing authentic teaching standards and learning assessments. Worthy agendas all.