Near the end of this past school year, I took my daughter, Rachel, to visit one of her former elementary schools, the Norwood School, in Potomac, Maryland. It had been 20 years since she was last there; we had moved from the area after she completed first grade. I had fond memories of the school, from Rachel's experiences and my own as a parent and writer. Norwood's headmaster, Dick Ewing, had been very helpful to me early in my career when I was learning and writing about independent schools. I saw Dick again at this year's NAIS Annual Conference in Philadelphia and he asked if Rachel and I would like to pay another visit. I was delighted to accept, looking forward to a little nostalgia with my daughter — and a moment of pride: Rachel had become a teacher.
Rachel remembered the playground and the great lawn, where the school held picnics for families. She instantly found her way to her first-grade classroom, where her former teacher was still there to greet her. She remembered the magnificent art and music rooms and even the song her class performed for a spring recital — The Mammal Family: da da da dum, snap snap; da da da dum, snap snap. She beamed.
But as we toured the school further, visiting classrooms in the upper elementary and middle school, and speaking with teachers, including Spanish instructors like Rachel herself, I saw a tear in the corner of my daughter's eye.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"Everything here moves so slowly, dad."
"What do you mean?"
"At my school, every minute, it's 'Ms. Chubb!' 'Ms. Chubb!' 'Ms. Chubb!' I don't have a moment to think. Students are all over me. Teachers here are able to talk with one another, take their time, really work with their students. At my school, it's just go, go, go."
Rachel composed herself — without our host taking notice. "What do you think?" Dick Ewing asked.
"I wish we could do all this at my school. The resources here are amazing. Your students are wonderful. But I have 202 students this semester. They're good kids. Some of them have challenges, of course. And we would love to have all the things you have here. But we just don't have the time. That's the problem, not the students or the resources."
Dick was dumbfounded. "Two-hundred and two students; how is that even possible?"
"Some of my classes have over 40 students and I teach six sections."
Just then Rachel exchanged glances with a teacher in the hallway, "Is that you?" "No, is that you?"
Remarkable coincidence, a woman who Rachel had studied with in Spain during college was teaching Spanish at Norwood.
"That could have been me, dad," she sighed, as we walked down the hall to leave.
Rachel is in her sixth year of teaching, and — lest you fear an unhappy ending — succeeding in the profession. She's her high school's world language department chair and preparing to become a school principal. She is popular with her students, who are mostly economically disadvantaged and often frustrated with school. Her school has recognized her with multiple teaching awards. She would like to have the opportunities that Norwood provides its teachers. But she has become an effective teacher nevertheless.
I share Rachel's story because it illustrates so clearly what research tells us, much more opaquely, about great teachers. Last year, I wrote about that research in a book, The Best Teachers in the World. Teaching is perhaps the most thoroughly researched topic in education. A number of important findings now have mountains of support. In my own experience, from high poverty schools like Rachel's to more affluent schools like Norwood, the conclusions are on the mark.
Teachers are the most important influence, within the control of schools, on how well students learn. More important than curriculum, class size, testing, and resources of various kinds. The best teachers change students' lives. They motivate and engage. They impart knowledge and cultivate skills. They cause students to think, and think deeply. They help students become better people and not just more successful ones.
This nation has many extraordinary teachers. Students in some states, including Maryland, achieve at levels equal to the highest achieving nations in the world. We clearly know something about cultivating great teachers. The problem is, in our decentralized system of public schools, public charter schools, independent schools, and other private schools, we don't embrace what is known consistently.
Take, for example, teacher preparation. The vast majority of teachers today enter the profession through a university school of education. This is the most reliable route to getting a job in a school, but not a reliable route to becoming a great teacher. It is well established that undergraduate schools of education do not produce reliably successful teachers. Some do, but most do not.1 I wrote about one of the proven ones — Peabody College at Vanderbilt University — in my book. Peabody ranks number one in the nation2, provides graduates with a top-notch liberal arts education, and requires prospective teachers to spend 800 hours in closely supervised in-school residencies to become certified. The combination of demanding academics and extensive clinical work is a winning formula, but not one that most schools of education offer.
It is also not the only route to good teaching. Many independent school teachers have followed the high-quality ed school route and benefited from the experience, especially at the graduate level. But independent school teachers often come to their craft not through education programs but through their academic majors. Public school teachers with alternative certification do as well as traditionally certified teachers. My daughter holds a Spanish degree, not an education degree, from Gettysburg College.
The lesson here, confirmed by research, is that academic aptitude matters — knowing your stuff, so to speak, is a clear strength. If a teacher gets a strong academic education through a school of education program, like Peabody, terrific. If a teacher develops academic expertise through an outstanding liberal arts program — think Teach for America — well, research tells us that is terrific, too.
Knowing your stuff, though, is only the beginning. Bright teaching prospects often stumble in the classroom — think Teach for America again. Research tells us that teachers with more academic aptitude or with a major in the field that they teach are more successful, all else being equal. What happens before teachers enter the classroom matters — but what happens after matters much more. The best predictor of teacher success, by far, is the quality of instruction. And what we know about quality instruction is that it is largely learned on the job.
Successful schools recognize this and plan for it. It is well established, and I think well known, that teachers generally improve with experience. The key word is generally. For not every teaching prospect gets better with time. Many never find firm footing and give up — half within five years, in fact. Others find their way forward and succeed. Still others develop into stars. This is not a random process — or at least need not be.
Research shows that successful schools ensure that teachers learn from experience. If teachers are overloaded with students and preps, they are almost certain to struggle. If new teachers are given time to work with veteran teachers, if all teachers are given time to plan and work together, if proven teachers are given the opportunity to mentor developing teachers — novice teachers are more likely to develop into effective pros.
Twenty years ago, I wrote of the extraordinary levels of collegiality and cooperation, the professional cultures, often found in independent schools. Today, we know that those cultures are the single most important element that schools can create to foster great teaching.
After our visit to Norwood, I called Dick Ewing to thank him again for his hospitality and to share how moved Rachel was by the visit. I asked what he felt made the most difference for his teachers. "The PD culture at our school is crucial; it's what distinguishes great education systems around the world," he said. "We make sure our teachers have the time to learn from and develop one another. Our teachers have several periods a day for personal planning and collaborative development." I sent Rachel a text (she doesn't do phone calls) to confirm what I already knew; she has half the time and four times the students.
Too many teachers — often well-educated and brimming with potential — are thrown into schools to sink or swim, to figure out how to teach, largely on their own. This happens in schools of all kinds, and with the best of intentions. Rachel's school and district certainly try to provide supports. But Rachel, like so many teachers in this country, mostly had to find her own way. And she did so, with the help of generous colleagues — when they could all find the time.
It need not be this way. The best schools — and independent schools have long been among them — recognize how teaching talent develops. They try to hire well. They look for the preparation, values, and dispositions that promote success. In the end, they recognize a key fact. Great teaching is like any other demanding skill; it is best honed through lots of practice and intelligent coaching. That takes time.
Notes
1. See Rita Kramer, Ed School Follies: The Miseducation of America's Teachers (New York: Free Press, 1991); David F. Labaree, The Trouble with Ed Schools (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006).
2. U.S. News & World Report has ranked the Peabody School number one among graduate schools of education from 2009 to 2014, http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-education-schools. While undergraduate education programs aren't ranked, Peabody students are highly successful.