Helping Teachers, Paying Teachers, Small &/or Charter Schools, and More (Urban Education)

First, a few interesting pieces on recruting, retaining, and supporting classroom teachers:

The Buddy System Teacher Magazine
Boston envisions veteran teachers evaluating rookies Boston Globe
CMS puts cost on recruiting Charlotte Observer
Phila. District Cleans House To Improve Teacher Hiring
Schools tap Kelly Services for teacher temps The Detroit News

Next: Is merit pay on the way?

Teachers Wary on Risk, Rewards of Merit Pay Education Week
Working with the enemy New York Times
Opinion: Pay teachers for their performance SF Gate

Then, more about the pros and cons (mostly cons) of small schools:

Schools Within Schools Education News
Is big always bad? Providence Journal
In Push for Small Schools, Other Schools Suffer NY Times

And, more than you ever wanted to read in a week about charter schools:

Charter Schools, Unbound Christian Science Monitor
Charter bill could bring 35 schools Indianapolis Star
Grades for city's charter schools are a wild mix Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Texas targets chronically underachieving charters The Dallas Morning News
Opinion: State universities should be sponsors of charter schools SJ Mercury
Texas to get tough with charter schools San Antonio Express
Charter schools under-enrolled, waiting lists exaggerated
Citizens for Public Schools
Do charter schools cut it? Yes New York Daily News
Do charter schools cut it? No New York Daily News

Plus, some good background on choice in general:

What do parents value when choosing a school? via the PEN NewsBlast
At Magnet Schools, Getting In Is 1st Test LA Times

The best of the rest:

Los Angeles: Early Intervention NY Times
Preventing Early Reading Failure and its Devastating Downward Spiral
National Center for Learning Disabilities
The Split Over Bilingual Education Los Angeles Times
Lots of rhetoric, little money for schools Boston Globe
Five Cities Receive Grants To Tackle Dropout Problem
Intermediaries in School Reform PDF via PEN NewsBlast