Monday, August 30, 2010

Is teacher culture harming education rather than helping it?

In my experience, politically powerful teachers, even those who are close to clueless when it comes to teaching, have a tendency to sabotage good teaching by their peers rather than promoting it. Emily Alpert writes:

"I recently talked to an elementary school teacher who said he regularly gets stellar test scores out of students who came into his classes woefully behind. Why, he wondered, wasn't San Diego Unified calling him to ask what he was doing?"


Teachers: Give Us Your Best Idea
August 25, 2010
Voice of San Diego
Emily Alpert

Yesterday I wrote about how San Diego Unified is seeking to reform schools by letting them come up with their own ideas and share their successes. My trusty editor Andrew Donohue asked me a great question: Don't schools do this already?

The answer is yes, but probably not enough. I've heard school district officials talk about bringing principals to see other schools or sharing strategies they saw elsewhere in the school district.

But sometimes, ideas just don't travel very far. I recently talked to an elementary school teacher who said he regularly gets stellar test scores out of students who came into his classes woefully behind. Why, he wondered, wasn't San Diego Unified calling him to ask what he was doing?

So let's start that conversation.

Teachers, parents, principals and everyone else: What are you doing that other schools could learn from? What is the best idea or strategy you have that no one has ever asked you about? ...

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