Some excerpts:
year after year, one fifth-grade class learns far more than the other down the hall. The difference has almost nothing to do with the size of the class, the students or their parents.
It's their teachers.
In Los Angeles and across the country, education officials have long known of the often huge disparities among teachers. But rather than analyze and address these disparities, they have opted mostly to ignore them.
Most districts act as though one teacher is about as good as another. As a result, the most effective teachers often go unrecognized, the keys to their success rarely studied.
Though the government spends billions of dollars every year on education, relatively little of the money has gone to figuring out which teachers are effective and why.
In coming months, The Times will publish a series of articles and a database analyzing individual teachers' effectiveness in the nation's second-largest school district — the first time, experts say, such information has been made public anywhere in the country.
Among the findings:
• Contrary to popular belief, the best teachers were not concentrated in schools in the most affluent neighborhoods, nor were the weakest instructors bunched in poor areas. Rather, these teachers were scattered throughout the district. The quality of instruction typically varied far more within a school than between schools.
• Although many parents fixate on picking the right school for their child, it matters far more which teacher the child gets. Teachers had three times as much influence on students' academic development as the school they attend.
• Many of the factors commonly assumed to be important to teachers' effectiveness were not. Although teachers are paid more for experience, education and training, none of this had much bearing on whether they improved their students' performance.
the most effective instructors differed widely in style and personality. Perhaps not surprisingly, they shared a tendency to be strict, maintain high standards and encourage critical thinking.
Most districts act as though one teacher is about as good as another. As a result, the most effective teachers often go unrecognized, the keys to their success rarely studied.
Though the government spends billions of dollars every year on education, relatively little of the money has gone to figuring out which teachers are effective and why.
In coming months, The Times will publish a series of articles and a database analyzing individual teachers' effectiveness in the nation's second-largest school district — the first time, experts say, such information has been made public anywhere in the country.
Among the findings:
• Contrary to popular belief, the best teachers were not concentrated in schools in the most affluent neighborhoods, nor were the weakest instructors bunched in poor areas. Rather, these teachers were scattered throughout the district. The quality of instruction typically varied far more within a school than between schools.
• Although many parents fixate on picking the right school for their child, it matters far more which teacher the child gets. Teachers had three times as much influence on students' academic development as the school they attend.
• Many of the factors commonly assumed to be important to teachers' effectiveness were not. Although teachers are paid more for experience, education and training, none of this had much bearing on whether they improved their students' performance.
the most effective instructors differed widely in style and personality. Perhaps not surprisingly, they shared a tendency to be strict, maintain high standards and encourage critical thinking.
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1 comment:
In a publicagenda.org survey, most teachers and principals themselves felt that the teaching profession would be greatly improved if bad teachers could be fired more easily. This can only happen if educators develop and really put into effect good and accurate methods of teacher evaluation which work over and over in all situations. Educational researchers generally agree that value-added analysis is not such a method.
Since there is a clamor for evaluation of the educational system, teachers can expect that they too will be evaluated by the public using whatever measurements are easily available. These evaluations will often be based on publicly available test scores. Principals need to use professional methods of personnel evaluation and be prepared to defend their decisions, especially when they may not be clear from test scores.
The LA Times was just after an exciting story and unfortunately got it by being divisive and critical. Naturally teacher groups are wary of such public criticisms, but if they do not embrace and lead, they must take the consequences of their shortsightedness. Good teachers, and good teachers of teachers, can lead the way by demanding and developing teacher evaluations that work and are both understandable and convincing to non-educators.
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