How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality

How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality compiles the proceedings from the Milken Family Foundation's National Education Conference (NEC), which took place in Washington, D.C., in May 2006. Each year, the NEC brings together practitioners, policymakers and private sector representatives to focus on critical issues in education. This work expands on the ideas and themes discussed in the first three volumes in this series on education policy: The first volume-Talented Teachers: The Essential Force for Improving Student Achievement-examined the importance of teacher quality. As the second in the series, Improving Student Achievement: Reforms that Work, introduced reform ideas and programs that positively impact both teacher quality and student work. The Challenges of School Reform: Implementation, Impact and Sustainability deepened these discussions by exploring the answers to questions regarding ensuring the longevity and sustained success of effective school reform. How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality examines the roles of teachers, the education sector, the government sector and the private sector in enhancing teacher quality. From the building level to the federal level, panelists sought to provide insight from their individual and collective endeavors to improve the quality of today's teaching force to significantly impact the future.

How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality compiles the proceedings from the Milken Family Foundation's National Education Conference (NEC), which took place in Washington, D.C., in May 2006. Each year, the NEC brings together practitioners, policymakers and private sector representatives to focus on critical issues in education. This work expands on the ideas and themes discussed in the first three volumes in this series on education policy: The first volume—Talented Teachers: The Essential Force for Improving Student Achievement—examined the importance of teacher quality. As the second in the series, Improving Student Achievement: Reforms that Work, introduced reform ideas and programs that positively impact both teacher quality and student work. The Challenges of School Reform: Implementation, Impact and Sustainability deepened these discussions by exploring the answers to questions regarding ensuring the longevity and sustained success of effective school reform. How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality examines the roles of teachers, the education sector, the government sector and the private sector in enhancing teacher quality. From the building level to the federal level, panelists sought to provide insight from their individual and collective endeavors to improve the quality of today’s teaching force to significantly impact the future.

How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality compiles the proceedings from the Milken Family Foundation's National Education Conference (NEC), which took place in Washington, D.C., in May 2006. Each year, the NEC brings together practitioners, policymakers and private sector representatives to focus on critical issues in education. This work expands on the ideas and themes discussed in the first three volumes in this series on education policy: The first volume-Talented Teachers: The Essential Force for Improving Student Achievement-examined the importance of teacher quality. As the second in the series, Improving Student Achievement: Reforms that Work, introduced reform ideas and programs that positively impact both teacher quality and student work. The Challenges of School Reform: Implementation, Impact and Sustainability deepened these discussions by exploring the answers to questions regarding ensuring the longevity and sustained success of effective school reform. How Stakeholders Can Support Teacher Quality examines the roles of teachers, the education sector, the government sector and the private sector in enhancing teacher quality. From the building level to the federal level, panelists sought to provide insight from their individual and collective endeavors to improve the quality of today's teaching force to significantly impact the future.

Techniques for the difficult task of improving teacher quality No one stakeholder group can realize lasting change on their own; nor can any reform initiative focusing on just one type of strategy create the workplace conditions needed to truly build capacity within the education profession. Rather, stakeholders must focus on collaborating, reaching common understanding, and prioritizing for ultimate impact on the quality of teachers and teaching. This book discusses research and concrete examples of practice tied to teacher quality intended to improve eight key interrelated factors: Preparation; Recruitment; Hiring; Induction; Professional Development; Compensation and Incentives; Working Conditions; and Performance Management. Offers a framework and strategies for understanding the issues that make up the teacher quality question Written for educational leaders, superintendents, district administrators, teacher leaders, and principals, as well as policy-makers and other stakeholders Filled with illustrative examples teacher quality The author addresses the most important factor that affects student achievement-the quality of the teacher.

American educators and policy makers have grown increasingly frustrated in recent decades as attempts to enhance equity and bring American student learning to the level experienced in other countries have faltered. Recent efforts have included the standards movement as well as broad expansion of “school choice.” These endeavors, which largely rely on market-based thinking, assume that individual schools and teachers have the will and ability to do better, if only prodded by competition and other sticks and carrots. Such attempts overlook flaws in a system developed to provide a “common” education while also subdividing resources to maintain privilege for some. This book traces the history of American education as a foundation to examining persistent weaknesses in education today. Meaningful reform and improvement, which are urgent needs, will require broad, systemic change, based on the engagement of many sectors. This book offers a vision for such reform. Following successful models in other countries suggests options for moving away from current, deeply enmired, systemic inequities, to a system better suited to meeting a broad range of educational needs. A portfolio of diverse schools, regionally administered and held accountable for student learning, presents an option for moving away from inequitable district structures and scatter-shot “choice” options. The critical questions are how to get there from here, and do we have the will to do so? The book concludes with suggestions on how to start the process.

Rich in practical information about the history of American education, Solving Education's Problems Effectively encourages readers to analyze, prioritize, and synthesize historical information by applying it to current situations. Using more than thirty case studies, Giordano suggests solutions to issues that plague educators across the nation-from textbook quality to gender, race, and religion biases. The case studies are accompanied by activities to prompt educators to higher levels of thinking about the problems they face.

This groundbreaking work examines teacher quality, work norms, and professional learning opportunities, using data from 15 countries. The authors compare and contrast the United States with two high-achieving countries--Japan and Australia--that have implemented very different approaches to improving teacher quality. Drawing on both large international data sets and ethnographic and small-scale studies, the book addresses critical questions: (2) How do teacher quality and teacher recruitment and hiring policies in the United States differ from those in other countries?; (2) How do the working conditions of U.S. teachers differ from those of teachers in other countries?; (3) How do U.S. teachers' opportunities for professional learning differ from those of teachers in other countries?; (4) How do the characteristics of the national teaching force influence student achievement?; And (5) What U.S. policies offer promise for improving teacher quality?

The importance of higher education has never been clearer. Educational attainmentâ€"the number of years a person spends in schoolâ€"strongly predicts adult earnings, as well as health and civic engagement. Yet relative to other developed nations, educational attainment in the United States is lagging, with young Americans who heretofore led the world in completing postsecondary degrees now falling behind their global peers. As part of a broader national college completion agenda aimed at increasing college graduation rates, higher education researchers and policy makers are exploring the role of intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies in supporting student success. Supporting Students' College Success: The Role of Assessment of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Competencies identifies 8 intrapersonal competencies (competencies involving self-management and positive self-evaluation) that can be developed through interventions and appear to be related to persistence and success in undergraduate education. The report calls for further research on the importance of these competencies for college success, reviews current assessments of them and establishes priorities for the use of current assessments, and outlines promising new approaches for improved assessments.