Advancing the Teaching Profession

Creating Conditions for Effective Teaching

Late last week, in reading both an essay by New York Times columnist David Brooks and a report by a team of economists, I wondered when American policymakers will begin to take seriously the need to address not just effective teachers, but the conditions that will allow them to teach effectively. Brooks’ opinion piece (titled “The Relationship School") and Matthew Ronfeldt, Susanna Loeb, and Jim Wyckoff's intricate economic analysis, combined, tell us much about what it takes to improve public education.

Brooks relates the story of the New American Academy, where teachers are well prepared and supported. With backing from both unions and education schools, teachers there have time to really know students and their families well. Ronfeldt, Loeb, and Wyckoff show how faculty turnover creates a revolving door of teachers and undermines academic achievement. Their study found that for each of their several analyses over eight years, students taught by teachers in the same grade-level team in the same school had much lower achievement in years when turnover rates were higher, in contrast to years in which there was less teacher turnover. The negative effect of teacher turnover was far more profound in schools serving low-achieving and black students.

I wonder how much more we could be doing for students if our nation’s Race to the Top strategy placed a premium on school designs that promoted faculty retention (and not the hiring of itinerant teachers), as well as conditions, like more time and support, that allow teachers to learn from one another and spend more time with students and their families. 

We know how to make this happen, and not just at the New American Academy. Take a look at the work of Ted Sizer at the Coalition of Essential Schools, the thoughtful leadership of Furman Brown at Generation Schools, or the role that teacher leaders play in the top-performing nations of Finland and Singapore. Isn’t it time for us to focus on the right stuff of school reform?

International Inspiration for Building Teacher Leadership

By Megan Allen

Megan Allen is a National Board Certified Teacher, 2010 Department of Education/Macy’s Teacher of the Year, and finalist for 2010 National Teacher of the Year. She is a member of the Hillsborough County New Millennium Initiative.

Last week, the best-of-the-best countries from around the world gathered in the Big Apple to discuss education at the Second International Summit on the Teaching Profession. One of the most intriguing topics of discussion there was teacher leadership.

In a thoughtful Education Week essay published in January, Marc Tucker pointed out that top-performing nations do “everything necessary” to recruit, prepare, and develop their teachers, while here in the U.S. we put all our policy emphasis on “accountability systems.” Top-performing nations take teacher leaders seriously—as leaders of assessment reform, partners in research, and teacher education faculty who prepare the next generation of recruits.

I attended the summit virtually, following along with streaming videos and Twitter. One of my favorite tweets came from the USDOE and speaks to the power of teacher leaders:

So let’s dive right in: What are some of those pathways and roles for teacher leadership?

More Than Administrators

Teacher leadership encompasses far more than moving into administration. There is nothing wrong with that, but it’s too narrow a definition. There is an enormous spectrum of teacher leadership, some roles defined, some forming, and some yet unknown. But we must have open minds to these new ideas and be solutions-focused in developing ways to make them happen. We must change the culture and climate of teaching as the definition of what a teacher is evolves.

Many teacher leaders—myself included—want to be involved outside the classroom walls in areas that affect students. But at the same time, we want to keep one foot in the door with the people we love most: students. This calls for out-of-the-box thinking and the development of new hybrid roles. In the book TEACHING 2030, a group of amazing educators dreamed about what these roles could look like. And it’s slowly happening.

Teacher Leaders in Action

I am going to take a moment to brag about some of my favorite teacher leaders who are blazing the path as we speak:

• Sarah B. Wessling is a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) who works with the Teaching Channel to record her classroom daily in Iowa, allowing a deep look at highly effective teaching.
• Jessica Keigan spends half her day poring over literature with her high school students in Colorado, and the other half as a CTQ teacherpreneur, advocating for positive change in education policy.
• Two of my colleagues currently sit on school boards: Michael Flynn, an amazing Massachusetts elementary school teacher, sits on his local school board, speaking for children in his district. And Holly Boffy, an NBCT from Louisiana, sits on her state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. 

International Role Models

We can also look to the lessons learned from other countries. They see teacher leadership roles as ways to effectively recruit candidates and build respect in the profession. In the Netherlands, the prime minister still teachers a half day a week.  Denmark offers a “taster course” for aspiring leaders to see the range of available leadership pathways. Singapore prides itself in never leaving its teaching talent to chance, continually assessing its teachers for leadership potential and providing opportunities for teachers to develop and use it.

So here is my charge: We must reshape the way we think about teacher leadership. Teachers must be at the helm of effective reform if we are to get it right. Teachers are the experts. We must realize that new roles may not fit neatly into the little cubbies that we’ve had for decades, but we must be flexible with finding ways to make them work. And we must recruit and cultivate leadership, finding that hidden talent that may be hiding behind each and every classroom door. It’s time to start knocking...

More Reasons to Expand Teacher Leadership and Transform the Profession

Eighty years ago, American scholar Willard Walter Waller (1899–1945) published his landmark book, The Sociology of Teaching (1932). The book describes a number of underlying conditions affecting teachers and their profession, including the despotic school organizations in which they work.

Waller claimed that "the reformation of the schools must begin with the teachers”—a proclamation still not heeded today by most policymakers and self-proclaimed reformers. As a nation we have not learned much from the erudite insights of sociologists like Waller. 

My teaching colleague Renee Moore describes how the “frazzled teachers” working in underperforming schools are beset by duplicative as well as conflicting reform programs layered on top of one another. Renee writes of today’s “big grant” reform agenda always coming with “its own curriculum materials, pacing guides, seemingly endless reporting requirements, and a troop of expert consultants.” 

Is it not time, as Renee suggests, to elevate teachers, working with parents and students, to lead the transformation (not just the reform) of the education system? Doing so will require a whole new way of organizing schools and developing and supporting teacher leaders (and teacherpreneurs), some of whom will teach students regularly while also having time, space, and reward to analyze evidence, figure out which poorly designed programs to abandon, and create their own TeacherSolutions.

New MetLife Teacher Survey Shows Economy's Effects on the Profession

Once again, MetLife’s Survey of the American Teacher offers deep insights into the status of America’s teaching profession.

Teachers report significant reductions in school budgets, programs, and services. Meanwhile, students and their families report an increase in needs.

And, strikingly, teacher satisfaction is lower than it has been in more than two decades, with a precipitous drop of 15 points since 2009.

The survey reveals factors connected to high job satisfaction: adequate opportunities for professional development, time to collaborate with colleagues, and more preparation to engage parents effectively.

Of course, other research has shown that these same factors benefit students.

Policymakers should take this data seriously—and take action. Why not redesign schools so teachers have the time, opportunities, and supports they need to help students succeed? TEACHING 2030, supported by MetLife Foundation, outlines bold yet practical ways to transform schools to better serve students.   

Each year, the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher promotes a nuanced understanding of challenges faced by teachers and those they serve. I hope policymakers will take note—and help to create the public school system that all students deserve. 

Want to continue the conversation? Twitter's a good place to start: Follow the hashtag #TeacherSurvey to read what teachers, policymakers, and the media are saying about the survey.