Great schools demand great teachers. And in recent years, Georgia has spent billions of dollars, in fits and starts, to increase teacher quality.
Yet we’re not where we need to be. Far from it. Reporting last week in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution describes a decade-long “piecemeal and contradictory approach to improving teacher quality, with little evidence of success.”
We have to do better. Ours is a globally competitive world and Georgia’s children need the most rigorous, comprehensive education we can provide if they are to become productive citizens of tomorrow. And in these times of cash-strapped budgets, we need the best possible return on each dollar spent. That calls for common-sense, proven, innovative tactics targeted at helping good teachers get better and convincing a few that they need to find another profession.
Only then will our students make real, measurable and consistent gains toward closing the performance gaps that vex society.
A large element of improving teaching lies in how we assess educators’ job performance. Most any working person is familiar with employee evals. Effective appraisal systems accurately, clearly and honestly assess where workers stand in fulfilling job requirements. Best-in-class evals also point a clear way toward how staffers can improve. As in how sub-par employees can quickly meet standards; how good ones can become great; and how excellent workers can become exemplary.
Georgia is working on a new appraisal system that may better achieve these goals. It’s set to begin a trial rollout next January in the 26 school districts that are part of the federal Race to the Top program.
One key to success, in our view, is recognizing that teachers are indeed professionals. That means they should be held accountable for achieving demanding, clearly spelled-out results in their classrooms. It also means that they should be respected and listened to in designing, implementing and monitoring the systems that gauge their performance.
Doing the latter will go a long way toward achieving what the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education called the need for “overwhelming buy-in” from teachers. That will help yield the continuous improvement we need in our schools.
And it’s a must-do because, if teachers aren’t in broad alignment with the new evaluation system, it likely won’t help bring about the better instruction we so badly need.
As part of this conversation, we asked area teachers what they believe is needed to improve quality. Their views are below.
It’s clear we need teachers and other educators to work more effectively to help students learn. We’ll achieve the best results when they have a stake and voice in how to get there from here.
Andre Jackson, for the Editorial Board
