When I think about what I want in an education system, first and foremost, it’s that every child experiences excellent teaching in every class every hour of every day. So I find it unsettling that the new legislative kid on the block (the Every Student Succeeds Act) has not embraced the “highly qualified teacher” language that was a central tenet of the last iteration of the federal education law. There’s no question that NCLB held up this ideal in a ham-handed way, but its intention was honorable because it signaled the centrality of teaching quality to student learning.
Federal legislation aside, states, local districts, and universities can take steps to ensure that high-quality teaching still occurs in U.S. classrooms.
To begin, we must identify students as early as middle school whom we believe have the potential to be teachers. That means students who excel in math or science or music but also students who have the disposition to be a teacher.
In college, these students should do lots of practice teaching, always under the watchful eye of a master teacher. During that phase, we should watch closely to determine if these teacher candidates have a deep interest in how children learn. The best teachers are not just content experts. They understand how children learn, and I would say they are intrigued by the way that children learn. That is the distinction between an average teacher and a great teacher. Content experts get really excited about sharing their knowledge. But great teachers get really excited because students are making it their knowledge.
Every beginning teacher should join a team of teachers when they are hired. That team of teachers should be charged with nurturing that teacher into the profession. No young teacher should be left on his or her own to figure out the myriad of things that new teachers must know and be able to do. When teachers join teams, school districts will be able to spend less time and money on induction programs because a new teacher’s colleagues will guide him or her into the profession.
We also need to develop a work day that includes time for study and time for collaboration. A teacher should teach just four hours a day and spend the other four hours on personal, professional learning and in collaboration with colleagues. That time with colleagues might be spent studying data about student learning and developing strategies for how to respond to the needs they find from the data, research, and interactions with children. It might be spent observing in a teacher’s classroom. It could be spent writing lesson plans or common assessments.
In my ideal world, every teacher would be required to become a National Board Certified Teacher before they are granted tenure. States would support that through salary bonuses. Because the work day is altered, teachers would have substantial time during the regular work day to devote to the work required for this certification. Teachers unwilling or unable to earn such certification would be invited to leave the profession.
Finally, all teachers would work a full year. Abandoning the concept of a summers-off profession is essential for creating a profession that truly serves all children. Some teachers might spend nonteaching months in professional learning situations. Others might write curriculum. Some might work on policy issues. Some might develop community partnerships or travel with students. Some teachers might continue to work in classrooms with children who need extended time. All of this work would be baked into a teacher’s annual salary. EPED, a concept tied to the notion of teachers as factory workers, would be eliminated.
What I want is a system that does not promote stars but one that ensures every teacher is able to teach to his or her potential and that every teacher delivers the high-quality education that every child deserves.
Citation: Richardson, J. (2016). The editor’s note: Every teacher highly qualified. Phi Delta Kappan, 97 (7), 4.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joan Richardson
Joan Richardson is the former director of the PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools and the former editor-in-chief of Phi Delta Kappan magazine.
