Solution #2: Support
Teachers with What
They Need to Grow
The old English proverb, “In
unity there is strength,” is
fully applicable to the task of
great teaching.
Collaboration, community,
and collective effort promote
growth in a school’s faculty,
and achievement by its
students. But such a
supportive structure that
fuels teacher excellence is
built upon experience,
continuity, and peer
leadership.
Both the need and challenge
are particularly great in
disadvantaged school
districts where teaching is
often most difficult, turnover
is high, and students are
more likely to be taught by
novice teachers or teachers
considered ineffective.
In New York City, overall
teacher turnover has been
declining, but teachers in
high-poverty schools transfer
out “in large numbers,”
14
according to a report
released in May by the city’s
Independent Budget Office.
high-poverty schools with
a disproportionate share of
novice teachers.
“That is absolutely a central
issue to closing the
achievement gap,” said Daria
Hall, director of K-12 policy
development for Education
Trust. “We’re not going to
close the achievement gap
… until we get serious about
ensuring that those students
who need the strongest
teachers have them.”
“So then it becomes this
critical mass of folks who
may become great
teachers, but they’re not
there yet,” Hall said. “And if
they’re all clustered in a
particular school, then that
really disadvantages the
student.”
Strengthening Teachers
Professional development is
Looking at teachers
critical to reversing this trend,
considered “new” as of Oct.
whether it takes the form of
1, 2006, the IBO found that
ongoing learning,
44 percent of those teachers mentoring by experienced
who started at high-poverty
teachers, or peer feedback.
schools had left by the end of All three are staples of
two years and 55 percent had high-achieving education
left by the end of three years. systems like those in
After five years, more than
Singapore and Shanghai.
two-thirds of new teachers
in high-poverty schools had
Teaching Matters’
left compared with roughly
Teaching for Impact model
half of those in low-poverty
hinges upon Professional
schools. Such turnover
Learning Communities
constantly leaves
(PLCs) that use a team
Adjunct professor and former teacher Bisola Neil
approach to improve
teaching practice. This
process means that teams
develop a common set of
expectations and analyze
student data results on
everything from homework
to tests – together, modifying
their methods as needed. By
bringing together groups of
teachers and identifying peer
leaders, the isolation and
uncertainty that plagues
many teachers is alleviated.
What are essentials: a
principal’s commitment, clear
learning goals, a studentcentered learning focus, and
the allocation of sufficient
time for group work.
Click the image above to activate the video.
Just this summer, Jodie
Cohen, a first-year principal,
was awarded the Elizabeth
Rohatyn Prize for Schools
Where Teaching Matters.
What was this rookie
principal’s secret for success?
She’s instituted a deeply
collaborative model at her
school, with regular group
sessions, visiting each other’s
classrooms, and the
establishment of model
practices.
leadership coach for New
Leaders for New Schools,
and as a director of support
services for Baltimore City’s
school system. “I think there
should be a permanent
infrastructure support model
in place for every single new
teacher and, to be honest
with you, I think ... it should
be in place for first- and
second-year teachers,” she
said.
Climate and Resources
What else is necessary?
Order and a decent climate
within the building. Safety is
a perennial issue.
Beginning and experienced
teachers clamor for support,
says Landa McLaurin,
former pr