I have read a couple of articles in the last few days with a similar, but not so surprising idea: Strong Teachers are the key to student success. Are you smiling? First, I read about Kentucky’s proposal to win $200 million of the $4.35 billion allocated for Obama’s Race to the Top initiative.   Along with adopting new content standards, Kentucky hopes to use its share of the money to help teachers improve their skills so they can better teach the standards.  The proposal calls for collaboration in designing lessons, professional developmnt in differentiation, and building networks for supporting teachers in what has often been a lonely profession. Then Bob Herbert’s Op Ed piece in the New York Times struck the same chord. He describes Deborah Kenny, the founder of successful charter schools in Harlem, who … Read entire article »