Monday | January 28, 2008

Welcome

Eugenia Kemble, Executive Director, Albert Shanker Institute

Engaging Teachers in the Improvement Agenda:
Context Counts

I: Teacher Working Conditions and Student Learning

Eric Hirsch, Director of Special Projects, New Teacher Center at UC-Santa Cruz

  • What do we know about how working conditions, especially student conduct and discipline policies, affect teacher retention? Teacher performance? The equitable distribution of teachers? Student learning? Teacher attitudes toward reform?

Respondent: Toni Cortese, Executive Vice President, American Federation of Teachers

II: Teachers Need to Know What Student Curriculum They Are Expected to Teach

William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor of Education, Michigan State University; Director, U.S. Teacher Education Study in Mathematics

  • How does a coherent curriculum (or its absence) affect teaching practice? Teacher preparation? Student achievement and the achievement gap? How does curriculum clarity relate to the professionalization of teaching?

Respondent: Rudy Crew, Superintendent, Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Developing the Teaching Corps

III: What Does The Research Say About New Teacher Supports?

Susan Moore Johnson, Carl H. Pforzheimer, Jr. Professor of Teaching and Learning, Harvard University

  • What kinds of supports do new teachers want and need? Structured induction? Mentoring? Student curriculum? Professional development in classroom management and curriculum content? Other?
  • What do we know about what makes new teacher support programs most effective?
  • What are the effects of such programs on teacher retention? On student performance?
  • What are the costs and benefits of a good new teacher/induction/mentoring program?
  • What are the major impediments to implementation?
  • How can union leaders and superintendents convince their constituencies of the merits of this approach?

IV: Peer Assistance and Review: Pitfalls and Promise

Olatokumbo (Toks) Fashola, Fellow, Johns Hopkins University

  • How is peer assistance and review (PAR) different than induction and mentoring?
  • By what professional standards should teachers be judged?
  • What are the benefits and risks of including veteran teachers?
  • What are management’s responsibilities? The union’s responsibilities?
  • What are the major impediments to implementation?
  • How can union leaders and superintendents convince their constituencies of the merits of this approach?

Respondent: Dal Lawrence, Consultant & Former President, Toledo Federation of Teachers

V: Grounding Professional Development in the Work of Schools and Specific Student Learning

Fritz Mosher, Senior Consultant, Consortium on Policy Research in Education

  • What does the research say about the relationship between effective professional development (PD) and student curriculum content?
  • How should professional development be organized?
  • Should PD priorities be set at the individual teacher, schoolwide, or district level?
  • What are the major implementation issues in regard to content, time, logistics, and finances?
  • How can union leaders and superintendents convince their constituencies of the merits of this approach?

Where Do We Go From Here?

Ed McElroy, President American Federation of Teachers & Albert Shanker Institute

Materials