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RATIONALE
Every young child deserves an effective teacher. As the greatest in-school factor related to student outcomes, teachers are critical infrastructure and must be supported to provide high-quality, developmentally-appropriate instruction in a changing and challenging context. Just as teachers meet students at their proximal zones of development, so too must districts meet their teachers. In order for the upcoming school year to help efficiently promote learning recovery, professional development opportunities, coaching, and support must be intensified and also differentiated for each educator.
"Many factors contribute to a student’s academic performance, including individual characteristics and family and neighborhood experiences. But research suggests that, among school-related factors, teachers matter most. When it comes to student performance on reading and math tests, teachers are estimated to have two to three times the effect of any other school factor, including services, facilities, and even leadership."
Isaac Opper, The RAND Corporation
Learn more about the studies supportive of this conclusion in this report
CONCRETE STRATEGIES
CONCRETE STRATEGIES
DISTRICT-LEVEL
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Incentives for Advanced Credentials
Offer stipends for teachers who earn additional certificates or degrees, incentivizing their engagement with further professional development and training while building long-term capacity.
2. Reading Academies
Accelerate completion of the K-3 Reading Academies in 2021-22 to provide early grades teachers with foundational pedagogical and literary content and concrete strategies that can support students with individualized reading supports, critical to ensuring students get back on track to reading proficiency.
3. Districtwide Coaching Framework
Develop a coherent coaching framework at the district level that not only ensures that each teacher has a professional coach (not just supervisor), but also structures the support for teachers so that it is differentiated based on individual teacher needs (e.g., newer teachers need less autonomy than those with more experience).
4. CLASS
Train teachers, administrators, and coaches to use CLASS (learn more here) as a COVID-19 recovery coaching tool that will support teachers to build back a strong instructional and social-emotional learning environment that meets the needs of all students.
5. Professional Learning for Paraprofessionals
Provide PD for both teachers and teacher assistants (paraprofessionals) to ensure all instructional staff members are prepared to support children’s learning.
CAMPUS-LEVEL
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Two Instructors in Every Classroom
Place a teaching aide in every Pre-K classroom to support through a low ratio classroom experience the transition to school and learning recovery necessary for kindergarten readiness.
RESOURCES
RESOURCES
Read the Hechinger Report's article: Battling pandemic reading woes through teacher support, training
The New Teacher Center’s (NTC) Early Learning program "provides job-embedded professional learning opportunities for coaches and administrators with an emphasis on early learning pedagogy and formative assessment tools targeted at quality instruction." NTC also offers consultation and training to districts on best practices and effective allocation and utilization of resources.
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