ICYMI: Three principals joined WNYC’s Brian Lehrer for a wide-ranging conversation about how they managed their schools and how big changes like Common Core and teacher evaluations affected them. Take a listen and share your thoughts.

Schoolbook carried video coverage of a WNET-sponsored forum on school leadership moderated by SchoolBook’s own Beth Fertig. School principals, experts and Tweed officials weighed in on what it takes to lead a successful school.

To cap a week-long education series, The Takeaway invited teachers from around the country – including New York City – to describe the students they worry about the most and the issues that are of the biggest concern to them. Take a listen.

Do test scores indicate teacher effectiveness? SchoolBook asked readers that question last month, after a study found that teachers who boosted their students’ scores on standardized tests also made lasting differences in their lives. To many who commented, the issue boiled down to the quality of tests and how much they should count in evaluating teachers. But others were divided over whether increased competition over these issues is good for schools and education.

A post last week — “Dear Governor: Lobby to Save a Love of Reading” — by Anne Stone and Jeff Nichols about their New Year’s Eve encounter with their son’s third-grade English Language Arts practice test struck a nerve. Numerous responses came in to SchoolBook’s query, “What effect is standardized testing having on reading?” Here are some of them.

For teachers, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday comes with some heavy challenges. How do you make an annual lesson plan fresh each year, especially one loaded with issues of race and class? Six teachers from different types of schools in New York City discuss how they make the civil rights leader and his legacy meaningful to students today.

To bake or to buy? That is the question many mothers, and fathers, consider when they are asked to contribute something to their child’s school fund-raising bake sale.

One ties the progress reports to student gains. Another says they can be deceiving. A third says they should not be the only source of information about a school. And a fourth says they can be gamed and should be set aside. Experts say what they really think about school progress reports.

In such a competitive environment for private preschool and kindergarten slots, should parents really ‘fess up that little Hudson has a penchant for hitting, or Isabella is truly charming until she is told she can’t have what she wants? Three New York admissions consultants weigh in.

With so much riding on the results of standardized testing, the state is about to adopt new measures to protect against cheating. Six experts react to the state Department of Education panel’s recommendations — and offer innovative solutions of their own.