Effective Teaching: A Key to Success for All High School Students
High-quality teachers are the single most important factor influencing student academic outcomes, including graduation. In fact, the presence of an effective teacher trumps almost every other intervention-including class size reduction-in improving student outcomes, and a 2008 study that used student test scores and graduation outcomes to evaluate teachers found that the ability of schools to hire and keep high-quality teachers has the potential to significantly reduce student dropout rates.
Given the demonstrated impact that effective teachers can have on student outcomes, the Campaign for High School Equity (CHSE) asserts that it is critical that all students, especially those most at risk of dropping out of high school-including students of color and Native American students-have access to effective teachers.
Having an effective teacher in the classroom provides students with the opportunity to succeed in the face of a variety of non-school related challenges that are often used to explain low academic achievement. Yet research shows that the students most likely to benefit are not being taught by effective teachers. These are the same students who have traditionally been underserved by the system and are the most dependent on public schools for their education. Low-income, low-performing students and students of color are far more likely than other students to have inexperienced, uncertified, poorly educated, and under-performing teachers. Schools that are segregated by income, race, and ethnicity face greater challenges than schools serving wealthier children. They often see their initiatives to improve educational outcomes defeated by a lack of adequate support and resources.
Highly effective teachers are more likely to be teaching in more affluent schools and schools with smaller populations of students of color, whereas new teachers with less than two years of experience and out-of- field teachers are most likely to teach in the low-income and high-minority schools. While experience may not be the only factor influencing teaching effectiveness, the qualities that create strong educators (including content knowledge, enthusiasm for teaching, and a commitment to the teaching profession) should be equitably present in all schools.
Meeting the increased need for effective classroom teachers requires an improved evaluation system. Although evaluations serve as important indicators of teacher performance, the nature and effectiveness of the extant tools for teacher evaluation varies greatly across the country, thus affecting the reliability of such systems. For example, nine states do not require any evaluations of new teachers, while only 23 states require that new teachers be evaluated more than once each year. Early feedback could provide new teachers with much-needed guidance, yet only 16 states require that new teachers be evaluated early in the school year. Given the mixed research findings about the impact of years of teaching experience on effectiveness, tenured teachers also should receive regular, quality evaluations; however, in some states, tenured teachers are required to undergo evaluations only twice in 10 years.
The need to identify and retain effective teachers is gaining increased attention and has become part of a larger national dialogue, as evidenced by its inclusion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Specifically, two ARRA grants provide funding to support a stronger teaching force. The Race to the Top fund requires states to demonstrate progress in improving teacher effectiveness, and the Investing in Innovation fund urges states to focus on advancing effective teaching and the distribution of effective teachers. This increased focus on teachers underscores the federal commitment to using effective teaching to close the achievement gap.