tailieunhanh - The plan to improve the Quality of Teaching in American Schools

All have been, more or less, a response to three chronic problems: . schools fare badly in international comparisons, the school dropout rate is high and probably rising, and a huge gap in achievement between whites and blacks (with Hispanics in the middle on most measures) emerges as early as age three. | The Future of Children PRINCETON-BROOKINGS POLICY BRIEF SPRING 2007 A Plan to Improve the Quality of Teaching in American Schools Ron Haskins and Susanna Loeb Research on teacher quality shows not only that students who have good teachers learn more but that their learning is cumulative if they have good teachers for several consecutive years. The major goal of educational reformers today should be to boost teacher quality. We outline a five-part plan by which school systems could achieve this goal. The plan includes rethinking entry requirements for teaching implementing a strategy to identify effective teachers promoting only effective teachers giving bonuses to teachers who teach disadvantaged students or in fields that are difficult to staff and promoting professional development linked directly to teachers work. As part of its reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act this year Congress could consider funding large-scale demonstration and research programs by school systems to test plans for improving teacher quality. The rousing national discussion of teacher quality is the most important debate on education in a generation. A compelling body of research now shows that good teachers can boost student achievement. Even more exciting students who have good teachers for several consecutive years show cumulative gains in achievement. For educators researchers and poli- About the Authors Ron Haskins is a senior editor of The Future of Children and senior fellow and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution. Susanna Loeb is associate professor of education and director of the Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice at Stanford university. To read the full report on teaching go to . cymakers of a certain age who have suffered through wave after wave of ineffectual educational reform the new research on teacher quality has finally created optimism that something can be done to boost .