teaching-insideout

All professions have individuals who are more effective than others even if they passed the tests and requirements of their profession. But here, it’s students’ learning and that is a very serious matter for everyone.  Research finds that teachers do matter in increasing students’ test scores.

“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reported that and other preliminary findings Friday from a $45 million study of teacher effectiveness in several cities…While debate rages in the education world about how to measure effective teaching – or whether it is even possible to do so – research funded by a prominent advocate of data-driven analysis has found that growth in annual student test scores is a reliable sign of a good teacher.”

[full article]

Now that research has found that teachers matter and that “effective” ones can teach students to pass any kind of test, what else could we measure about how teachers matter in students’ learning?  Furthermore, how can we support “effective” and struggling teachers in their ongoing efforts to improve student learning?

Instead of rewarding effective teachers for their performance and punishing ineffective teachers for their lack of performance, what if we sanctioned and rewarded both for their mutual commitment to critical collaborative inquiries?

What if effective teachers were rewarded for supporting their struggling colleagues?

And what if ineffective teachers were rewarded for their commitment to work with effective teachers?…all for students’ learning?