If black students had 4 years of top teachers; Achievement Gap would vanish

Insightful new study by the Brookings Institution. One core finding:

If black students had four straight years of teachers from the top 25 percent of most effective teachers, the black-white testing gap would vanish in four years.

Download Brookings-institution-study

ABSTRACT OF STUDY

"Traditionally, policymakers have attempted to improve the quality of the teaching force by raising minimum credentials for entering teachers. Recent research, however, suggests that such paper qualifications have little predictive power in identifying effective teachers.

We propose federal support to help states measure the effectiveness of individual teachers—based on their impact on student achievement, subjective evaluations by principals and peers, and parental evaluations. States would be given considerable discretion to develop their own measures, as long as student achievement impacts (using so-called "value-added" measures) are a key component.

The federal government would pay for bonuses to highly rated teachers willing to teach in high-poverty schools. In return for federal support, schools would not be able to offer tenure to new teachers who receive poor evaluations during their first two years on the job without obtaining district approval and informing parents in the schools. States would open further the door to teaching for those who lack traditional certification but can demonstrate success on the job.

This approach would facilitate entry into teaching by those pursuing other careers. The new measures of teacher performance would also provide key data for teachers and schools to use in their efforts to improve their performance."

Comments

[conversationswithacoach.wordpress.com]

Describe a “great teacher. What are the critical attributes of a “great teacher” teaching five classes a day of lower income minority children who in this era of globalization see their parents jobless, helpless and feeling hopeless?

Private schools “cherry pick” their students. Public and charters don’t have that option. A demographic group that can pay tuition is “invested” in their children’s education and reinforces at home what is taught in school. We won’t discuss the experiences and opportunities their parent’s provide to them that are commensurate with their intellectual development. If they don’t behave, they can be permanently excluded. Talk about the rich getting richer.

[E David]

Private schools do not require their teachers to hold state-endorsed licenses, yet parents vote by pocketbook for these schools. What does that say about the quality of teacher licensing programs?

An excellent remedy to low teacher quality in public schools would be for top-notch liberal arts schools to offer, as some do, an add-on teaching license to supplement the BA or BS degree.

Great teachers can deploy deep subject knowledge, advanced critical thinking skills, and research-proven teaching techniques. Wouldn't it be great if we could revamp teaching programs to deliver all these things together?