As the No Child Left Behind education law in the United States reaches its 10th anniversary, the maelstrom of teacher accountability, student performance, and high-stakes testing continues to dominate the educational reform rhetoric. And, as a private-independent school Head, your thoughts are turning to teacher contracts. While you are probably free from much of the issue, you are concerned about having the best faculty to deliver your mission to your students.
Internationally, Finland, Canada, Singapore, and Shanghai have embraced teacher quality as the means to outstanding performance. The United States also values teacher quality. However, the US and such education systems as these international ones have taken a completely a completely different mindset on how this is achieved.
The Top Performers blog in Education Week examines these opposing perspectives. Marc Turner, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, suggests that the international stance is a “virtuous cycle” while the US stance is a “vicious cycle.”
“In a nutshell, these other countries have decided that their goal of improving student performance across the board cannot be accomplished without improving teacher quality across the board,” Turner writes.
He says that these countries are elevating teacher standards and treating teaching on the same tier as such professions as engineering. For example, the training is at top-level universities and can include a full year of light duty teaching supervised by a master teacher. And the entry-level pay is on the same scale as an entry-level position in a field like engineering.
The US, on the other hand, “has put its faith in its accountability systems,” Turner says. In other words, high-stakes testing results. “We appear to focus on getting rid of the worst while they are focusing on increasing the supply of the best.”
Plus, the US teacher pay is poor, students don’t have to master their subjects, and the student teaching period is a few months. “It's a vicious circle of teacher quality,” says Turner.
ISM research has long supported the position that a growth-focused faculty culture, competitive salary, benefits, and professional development allow you to attract and retain the best teachers. In turn, student performance is positively impacted. Plus, ISM advocates an evaluation system that is rooted in coaching and mentoring rather than on mere once-a-year observation.
As you begin to think about teacher contract renewals, you want to retain the very best teachers to deliver your mission and maintain high student performance. It’s also the perfect time to consider your evaluation system. Does it focus on continued professional growth? Does it address ways to help a teacher improve on weaknesses? Can you delicately yet definitively “counsel out” teachers who are just not "making the grade," so to speak? A quality, comprehensive faculty development system that includes standards of excellence you expect of your teachers, a year-round evaluation process, and a system of corrective action is the best way for you to attract and retain the faculty you want for your students.
Additional ISM resources of interestISM Quick Tips Podcast, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku7hzZIB1O0 What Can You Use Characteristics of Excellence For?
ISM Monthly Update for School Heads Vol. 9 No. 7, Does Your Teacher Evaluation System Include Professional Development?
ISM Web site, Seven Renewal Strategies for Veteran Teacher
Additional resources of interest for ISM Consortium Gold members
Ideas & Perspectives, Vol. 33 No. 7, Compensation, Broadbanding, and Teacher Impact
Ideas & Perspectives, Vol. 31 No. 13, Faculty Evaluation, Student Performance, and School Leadership:An Update
Ideas & Perspectives, Vol. 33 No. 3, Faculty Recruitment: Teacher Quality vs. Quantity
