Developing Powerful Teaching: What It Will

Really Take to Leave No Child Behind

Challenges of 21st Century Teaching

Greater Need for Education in Society and Economy

Higher Standards for Learning

More Diverse Students with Greater Educational Needs

Greater Expectations of Schools for Ensuring Success

How Can We Develop Powerful Teaching?

What Do Effective and Equitable

Teachers Know and Do?

Two Theories of Reform Compete for Policy Attention

Bureaucratic Accountability -- Control Teaching via Tests & Texts -- Standardize Practice -- Emphasize “Doing Things Right”Professional Accountability-- Develop Expert Practice-- Support Student Learning-- Emphasize “Doing the Right Things”

What Matters Most

The experience of high-performing school systems around the world suggests that 3 things matter most:

1) Getting the right people to become teachers

2) Developing them into effective instructors, and

3) Ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child.

---Barber & Mourshed

The U.S. invests less in teaching than other countries

Preparation is uneven and underfundedSalaries are unequal and noncompetitiveWell-prepared teachers are unequally distributedLearning & collaboration time is scarceStrong systems for recruiting and preparing teachers and leaders are rare

To Get Effective Teaching, We Need to…

Overhaul teacher & administrator preparationCreate a steady supply of well-prepared teachers & leaders to all schoolsDevelop, recognize, and share teacher knowledge and skill to create widespread expertiseBuild productive school environments

Teacher Effectiveness has Many Components

Student learning gains are related to teachers’:Strong academic background Quality preparation prior to entryCertification in the field taughtExperience (> 3 years)National Board Certification

Together, these factors predict more of the difference in student learning than race & parent education combined (Clotfelter et al., 2008).

Policies should strengthen & equalize these features.

Teaching Effectiveness Depends on Many Factors

Teacher knowledge, skills, dispositions, and behaviors that support the learning process. Hanushek et al. estimate the individual teacher effects component of measured student achievement is about 7% of the total. Student availability for learning – Prior learning opportunities, health, supportive home context, attendance, developed abilitiesResources for learning – Curriculum quality, materials, class sizes, specialist supports, etc.Coherence and continuity – The extent to which content & skills are well organized and reinforced across grades and classes

Current policies won’t get

us there…Unequal funding, salaries, and working conditionsSink or swim entryCrash and burn-out inductionHit and run professional developmentMerit pay without competitive, equitable salariesFiring teachers without building a stable supply of excellent teachersFocusing on personnel without changing schools

The Teaching Gap Creates Most of the Achievement Gap

The least experienced and prepared teachers often teach the least advantaged students

High attrition rates for less-prepared and supported teachers create a revolving door and wasted resources for PD

Each teacher replacement costs $15,000 - $20,000

Students taught by underqualified teachers have significantly lower achievement in reading and mathematics.

These effects are magnified in poorly staffed schools.

Other reforms cannot work when the teaching force is underprepared and unstable.

Effects of Teacher Underpreparation

Fall-to-Spring Test Score Gains / Losses of Students Taught by Alternative Route and Traditional Route Teachers

-1.07

-0.78

0.99

1.89

-1.06

-0.39

1.31

1.83

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Ch

ang

e in

NC

E S

core

Reading Math

Based on actual (unadjusted) fall and spring scores

Low-Coursework AC Low-Coursework TC Counterpart

High -Coursework AC High -Coursework TC Counterpart

Value-Added Gains of Students Whose Teachers Graduated from

Different Teacher Education Programs in NYC

-0.06

-0.04

-0.02

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

-0.120 -0.080 -0.040 0.000 0.040 0.080 0.120

Math

ELA

Strong Gains in ELA and MathStrong Gains in ELA, not math

Strong Gains in Math, not ELAWeak Gains in ELA and Math

Program Features Influencing Teacher Effectiveness

Quality of student teaching experience Courses in content and content pedagogyFocus on learning and applying specific tools in the classroomStudy of local district curriculum Portfolio or capstone project tying theory to practice

Action Steps: Expand High-Quality Pathways to Teaching

Evaluate all preparation and induction programs based on results of -- teacher performance assessments (TPA)-- graduates’ contributions to student learning -- retention rates in teaching Use results in program approval / accreditation decisions Study successful programs & create incentives for other programs to adopt these featuresExpand successful programs and eliminate those that don’t improve

Action Steps: Improve Induction, Evaluation, and Professional Learning

Ensure that induction includes coaching and collaborative planning Organize mentoring around a serious teacher performance assessment Involve mentors, principals, and teacher educators as assessors Introduce performance-based licensure for school leaders based on understanding teaching

Action Steps: An Extreme Makeover

for Teacher EvaluationCombine Evidence of Practice, Performance, and Outcomes in an Integrated Evaluation System that looks at:

Teaching practice in relation to standards, curriculum goals, and student needs

Contributions to colleagues and the school, and

Evidence about student learning / growth at the classroom and school level in relation to teaching practices, curriculum goals, and student needs.

Evaluating for Improvement

Evaluate and accredit teaching programs based on teacher performance, placement and retention, and teaching outcomesEvaluate teachers based on standards of practice and many kinds of evidence about student learning with skilled evaluators who provide expert feedbackEvaluate principals and schools based on how well they provide the necessary supports for good teaching

The Status of Professional Development in the United

States Effective professional development is better

understood but still relatively rare in the U.S. Most teachers (>90%) participate in 1 to 2

day workshops and conferences. Well under half get sustained PD, get

mentoring or coaching, or observe other classrooms.

Only 17% of U.S. teachers reported a great deal of cooperative effort among staff members in 2004. This percentage shrank to 15% in 2008.

What Research Tells Us

Well-designed professional development can improve practice and increase student achievement.

A review of high-quality experimental studies found that among programs offering extended PD (49 hours on average over 6 to 12 months), student achievement increased by 21 percentile points. (Yoon et al., 2007)

One-shot workshops do not have positive effects.

Professional Learning Opportunities in High-

Achieving Nations AbroadHigh-achieving nations in Europe and

Asia: Provide beginners with intensive

mentoring. Offer extensive, sustained learning

opportunities (15-25 hours per week, plus 100 hours /year) embedded in practice

Go well beyond workshops:Teachers engage regularly in Lesson Study,

Action Research, and Peer Observation and Coaching to evaluate and improve practice.

US Teachers Spend Much More Time Instructing and Much Less Time Planning

Number of Hours Teachers Spent in Instruction Annually

664

803

1080

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

OECD Average,Secondary Schools

OECD Average,Primary Schools

US Average

Soucrce: OECD, Education at a Glance, 2007

Student Assessment Systems Abroad Also Support Effective

TeachingAssessments measure – and encourage - the full range of knowledge and skills represented in standards. Teacher scoring supports professional learningPD focuses on student learning through action

research and examination of student workSchool-based assessments support good instruction and enhance curriculum equity.

So What are we Doing about This?

While there is strong consensus that teaching quality is the key, the U.S. has been falling further behind in both international achievement and access to high-quality teacher learning.What’s ahead will depend on new policy in Race to the Top, ESEA, and the Common Core Standards movement

What We Need In Order to Achieve Teaching Quality &

EquityStudent performance assessments that shape productive learning and teaching Teacher & principal performance assessments to improve preparation, licensure, and accreditation High-quality preparation for all educatorsTeacher and Leadership Development AcademiesSustained, practice-based collegial learning opportunities for teachers & leadersEducator careers that reward, develop, and share expertise

We will have succeeded if, as a result of these efforts…

Those who can, do. Those who understand

teach.

Those who can, teach.Those who can’t, go into a less significant line of work.