Full Description
Learning from the Experts offers an intimate look at the ways education policies collide with everyday classroom practices and illustrates how thoughtful, solutions-oriented and results-driven teachers are reframing debates in education today.
Early career teachers now make up a "new majority" (52 percent) of the workforce. Their ideas about the profession are often radically different from the previous generation's but are not often heard in education reform. Learning from the Experts draws on the work of the nonprofit organisation Teach Plus to address this divide.
In this lively collection, emerging teacher leaders in dialogue with seasoned leaders weigh in on the most difficult challenges in education today. Topics include the appropriate use of data, teacher effectiveness, retaining talented teachers in high-needs schools, reforming teacher unions, supporting teacher leadership, and strengthening the teaching profession itself.
Contents
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
Who Are the Real Experts?--Why We Should Ask Teachers How to Fix Our Schools 1
Celine Coggins
1 Creating and Using Data in Schools
Framing the Issue 5
Ross Wiener
The Qualified Student: A "Bad Teacher" Rethinks Data Use 7
Sujata Bhatt
Unacknowledged Truths: Testing Speaks--Are We Listening? 10
Michelle Morrissey
The Right Conversations to Be Having: Why Student Growth Data Matters 13
Kyle Hunsberger
Response 16
Ross Wiener
2 Ensuring Equitable Access to Great Teachers
Framing the Issue 21
Kati Haycock and Sarah Almy
Moving the Whole School District Forward: Talented Teachers for Turnaround Schools 24
Erin Dukeshire and Lisa Goncalves Lavin
Response 36
Kati Haycock and Sarah Almy
3 Measuring Teacher Effectiveness
Framing the Issue 39
Jason Kamras
Satisfactory? Me?--Giving New Teachers the Support They Deserve 41
Stephanie Widmer
High IMPACT: It's the Feedback That Adds Value 43
Dwight Davis
Urgency Breeds Anxiety: The Challenge of Building Teacher Trust 46
Peter Tang
Response 53
Jason Kamras
4 Building a Performance-Driven Profession
Framing the Issue 55
Celine Coggins and Lindsay Sobel
From the New Teacher to Teacher Activist: What I Learned from "Mr. Miller" 58
Tina C. Ahlgren
Leaving Cherie: One Teacher's Experience of Last In, FIrst Out 62
Jeanette Marrone
Response 66
Celine Coggins and Lindsay Sobel
5 Engaging Early Career Teachers in the Union
Framing the Issue 69
Paul Toner
From the Classroom to the Big Picture: Why I Changed My Mind About Teacher Unions 72
Karen L. McCarthy
Caught in the Middle Versus Finding the Middle Ground: What's Best for the Children of Chicago? 79
Gina Caneva
Response 83
Paul Toner
6 Building School Leadership That Facilitates Great Teaching
Framing the Issue 87
Benjamin Fenton and Terrence Kneisel
I Wasn't Ready to Stop Improving: Why Irreplaceable Teachers Need Irreplaceable Leaders 89
Allison Frieze
Putting My Beliefs into Practice: Principal Leadership Makes the Difference 92
Audrey Herzig Jackson
Honoring My Mother: The Evolution of an Unlikely Educator 94
Jeremy Robinson
Response 99
Benjamin Fenton and Terrence Kneisel
7 Raising the Status of the Profession
Framing the Issue 105
Edward Liu
Reforming Teacher Entry and Training: Shouldn't We Hold Teachers (Like Me) to a Higher Standard? 108
Meaghan Petersack
Not My Parents' Profession: Today's Teachers Need Career Ladders 111
Erin Dukeshire
Too Smart to Be a Teacher?--Let's Prove My Grandmother Wrong 114
Jaime Siebrase Hudgins
Response 120
Edward Liu
Conclusion
Where Do We Go from Here?--Turning Teacher Voice into Action 125
Notes 129
About the Editors 135
About the Contributors 137
Index 151
