A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Effective Teaching

Priority: Ensuring effective teaching by expanding the supply of potential teachers, improving teacher preparation, and promoting career-long professional development at all levels of education.

While her eighth-graders work on the "Do Now," Ms. Everdale walks around the room, stopping now and then to offer praise or point the way. Some of the students finish their work quickly and wait for their classmates to finish. Many struggle with the problems, working steadily but making numerous mistakes along the way. And a few stare into space or fiddle with their pencils, lost before they even begin. How can Ms. Everdale make sure that every one of these learners meets high standards? Given the challenges of today's world, what should she "do now" to help them succeed? And when she needs help, who will point the way?

Hands-on science, cooperative learning, and inclusion for students with disabilities do not amount to much if we fail to surround children with adults who care about them. Students of all ages deserve teachers who know them, believe in their ability to learn, and take personal responsibility for their achievements. They are entitled to teachers who know their subjects, understand the diverse needs of their students, and have the professional knowledge and support needed to make learning exciting and engaging.

Effective teaching is inherently a complex, difficult task, and the quality of instruction fluctuates dramatically across the nation's districts, schools, and classrooms. Improving school achievement, therefore, requires a sustained effort to recruit, train, and license competent individuals According to a report recently issued by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, roughly one quarter of newly hired teachers lack the qualifications for their jobs.

We are about to replace half of the teaching force--2 million teachers--over the next 10 years. The time to make the most of that investment is right now. In too many places, teacher education looks the same as it did eons ago, and that's part of the reason schools don't change. We need to get to work and figure out how to do it better.

Sharon Robinson
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement
U.S. Department of Education

Schools with high minority enrollments are less likely to attract fully qualified teachers. Students in these schools have worse than 50-50 odds of getting a science or math teacher who holds a license and a degree in the field.²⁴ The Commission also reports that nearly one-third of all teachers leave the profession within the first 3 years. New teachers often leave because they are given the toughest assignments with few opportunities for ongoing education.²⁵

In the next 10 years, as many as 2 million new teachers will be hired.²⁶ This represents a huge opportunity for American schools, since recruiting an able and diverse teacher workforce can lead to higher student achievement. There is a need to encourage more able students to enter teaching, and more men and minorities. Ethnic and racial minorities constitute about 30 percent of the nation's school population but they account for only 13 percent of our teachers.²⁷ Changes in the demographic make-up of our nation make it important today and into tomorrow to include more minority teachers who can serve as role models for students.²⁸

Prospective teachers need undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare them for the challenges of classroom teaching. They need a curriculum that links studies in various disciplines of the liberal arts and sciences with studies in education. This requires close and frequent collaboration between professors of education and professors of the liberal arts and sciences, both to align course content and to ensure that the instructional strategies taught in education are modeled on effective teaching.²⁹ A future chemistry teacher will be hard pressed to grasp the value or method of constructivist science if her own chemistry course work consists entirely of lectures and routine lab assignments. Finally, prospective teachers need preparation for taking an active part in school improvement efforts.

For teachers, learning must be continuous. Most teachers are eager to improve their practice, but have too few opportunities to do so. The nation's school districts devote a meager percentage of their resources to staff development. Estimates vary because schools have different ways of tracking their professional development expenditures, but the most generous estimates range from 3 to 5 percent,³⁰ far less than the estimated 8 to 10 percent of expenditures invested in staff development by most corporations and many school systems in other countries.³¹

This lack of emphasis on professional development represents a lost opportunity, since evidence is mounting that high quality, focused professional development can lead to improved student achievement. Helping teachers acquire and practice effective strategies is one of the best investments our nation can make in our children's future so long as the professional development activities are closely linked to the district or school plan for strengthening teaching.³² One function of professional development is to familiarize teachers with the results of research, or to engage them in joint inquiry on a particular research issue. The first step in this process is presenting forceful evidence that research is relevant to classroom practice. Research as part of professional development may be most effective when it involves the collaborative study of issues and problems that spring directly from the daily life of classrooms.

In summary, teachers, like the children in their classrooms, benefit from a broad spectrum of activities that let them define, investigate, and solve real problems, reflect on their own experiences, and collaborate with others. Finding time for regular teacher learning and conversation is a crucial aspect of any professional development agenda.

Beat the Clock Children's curiosity is non-stop. Their need for supervision and guidance is continuous. Their desire to be known and noticed by important adults in their lives is relentless. And so, the people who devote their days to the care and education of children and young adults, whether parents or grandparents, caregivers, day care staff, coaches, or classroom teachers, have to respond to ceaseless demands on their energy and attention. Teachers know they should be reflecting on what happened yesterday, planning for tomorrow, collaborating with parents and colleagues, and mastering new skills. But many count themselves lucky if they get ten minutes for lunch. Virtually every school reform effort, and certainly every initiative aimed at strengthening teaching and learning, requires the active engagement of teachers. Mastering a challenging teaching strategy and integrating it into day-to-day practice takes substantial time, and when schools are trying to implement major restructuring or reform initiatives, the demands on teachers' time can be particularly intense. In contrast to teachers in many industrialized countries, American teachers have little time during the school day to devote to these activities. Prisoners of Time, the 1994 report by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, noted the widely held misperception that the only valid use of teachers' time is in front of the class. It recommended that "the whole question of teachers and time needs to be rethought in a serious and systematic way." Today, numerous reform initiatives stress collaboration among teachers aimed at collective problem-solving. To make this possible, many schools are trying out innovative strategies such as: Freeing up time: authorizing administrators, teaching assistants, college interns, or guest teachers to cover classes, freeing teachers at regular intervals. Revamping school schedules: rearranging the school day or week, such as by "banking time" (adding instructional time on four days releasing early on the fifth) or using some form of block scheduling. Creating common time: scheduling common prep or planning periods for teachers. Making better use of existing time: finding better ways to use time that teachers already spend together, such as faculty meetings and staff development days. But making time is only one step toward effective faculty collaboration. Research shows that joint work by teachers is unlikely to bolster student learning unless there is consensus that fundamental changes need to take place; an effective process for managing the diversity of perspectives that inevitably surface; and a clear sense that collaboration is not occurring for its own sake, but rather to realize clear goals. Perhaps most importantly, schools need a very strong knowledge base. Unless teachers have an opportunity to ground their ideas and methods in research, and unless they have up-to-date information about best practices, increasing teacher-to-teacher contact may actually reinforce ineffective methods and poorly informed habits.

To build on what we know, we need research that addresses such questions as:

What do we know about the factors that lead able young people to choose or reject teaching careers?

What might we learn by following, over time, the educational experiences and career paths of prospective teachers? What impact do state teacher certification requirements have on minority populations? What is the experience of immigrants who become teacher candidates?

How can the curricula of schools of education be reformed to provide competent teachers for every American classroom?

How can education courses be tied more closely to the disciplines of the liberal arts and sciences? How can prospective teachers achieve more in-depth content area knowledge? How can their preparation for teaching help them develop their own critical thinking and that of their future students? How can the relationships formed between schools of education and the local schools be strengthened? How can these relationships help to advance school improvement agendas?

What kinds of professional development are most likely to lead to school improvement and raise student achievement?

How can professional development be used to create a culture of continuous improvement in a school? What specific mechanisms can be used to tie professional development to the school's improvement plan? What role can postsecondary institutions play in continuous teacher development? What kinds of collaborative training can help special education teachers and regular education teachers work together more effectively? What kinds of professional development are needed to facilitate interdisciplinary approaches?

How can schools make time for professional development, conversation among teachers, and visitation to other schools and classrooms?

What mechanisms for professional development have proven most effective, and how can they be built into school structures? How can district administrators, boards of education, union leaders, and others be engaged in solving this problem? How can new technologies be harnessed in the service of professional development?

What yardsticks should be used to measure the efficacy of teaching?

How do we know what works? How can state licensure standards be used to improve teaching? What effect do teachers who have been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards have on student achievement? How can the impact of professional development be related to student achievement?
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