Barack Obama wants to retain teachers; professionally empowered educators is an answer No comments yet

Barack Obama wants to retain teachers; professionally empowered educators is an answer

The Obama administration has stated that retaining teachers is a goal for their education initiatives.   I would like to invite people to a discussion on this topic.  We can start here and then maybe, build our ideas into something that can be presented to the new administration.  

·         “Retain Teachers: To support our teachers, the Obama-Biden plan will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. They will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.” See:  http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/index.php

What must schools do to define and support professional practice?

If we can better define what it means to be a teaching professional and a teacher leader, we can suggest what school administrations must do to encourage and support professional behavior.

For me, a central issue is professionalism and leadership.  Teachers need to believe that they can make a difference.  They need to feel empowered to do good work which causes students to succeed and achieve.  Those who leave, retire early, or “burn-out” are frustrated, because they feel that the tools to make a difference are unavailable or denied to them.  A professional is an empowered person who knows the protocols and procedures for proper and effective practice and has access to the consultancies and specialists that help determine the proper steps to solve a problem.  American teachers tend to be isolated and are not provided with such processes and systems that support their problem solving.  It is “sink or swim.”  

Here are some topics, which foster empowered professionalism and thereby, increases teacher retention:

·         How a professional teacher knows what to teach

·         How a professional teacher measures and describes student achievement; Data-Driven Curriculum (DdC); internal and external student measures that are clear to teachers http://www.empoweredhighschools.com/blog/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=42

·         How Professional Learning Teams (PLTs or PLCs) manage protocols for program improvement and make professional decisions that increase student achievement

·         Response to Intervention (RtI); protocols for applying program interventions within a PLT  

·         RTI protocols for school-wide interventions; role of consultants and specialists

·         Social Emotional Learning (SEL); why students “do” school; SEL interventions

·         A new leadership track for the professional educator

Please send your comments, add to the list, and write your own thoughts.   Obama has started the ball rolling by saying that schools need to “give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate”.  This is our opening to begin an extensive discussion on teacher professionalism.  The most difficult system challenge for a school is changing the way it assigns time. Obama is giving credibility and permission to schools who wish to provide time for professional purposes.  So how will time be used? Let us frame the need!

Thanks!!  Howard McMackin