Teachers’ learning is being tamped down by evaluators of their practice, administrators, and coaches who have never taught the new student standards. Most American teachers have little say when it comes to their professional development. The author nonetheless remains optimistic about the future of the teaching profession — largely on account of three related trends: The proliferation of empirical evidence of how teachers learn; increased visibility of teacher learning in top-performing nations; and the emergence of teacher networking.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BerryB. (2014).Scaling innovative professional learning systems for teachers[Blog post]. Carborro, NC: Center for Teaching Quality. http://bit.ly/1GypWFX
2.
Boston Consulting Group. (2014). Teachers know best: Teachers’ views on professional development. http://gates.ly/1VHght6
3.
Darling-HammondL. (2014, 630). To close the achievement gap, we need to close the teaching gap. Huffington Post. http://huff.to/1GyrcJc
4.
Gallup. (2013). Honesty and ethics rating of clergy slides to new low. Washington, DC: Author. http://bit.ly/1RwaoJs
5.
Gallup. (2014). The state of America’s schools: The path to winning again in education. Washington, DC: Author. http://bit.ly/1VHcx5u
6.
JacksonC.K.BruegmannE. (2009). Teaching students and teaching each other: The importance of peer learning for teachers. NBER Working Paper #15202. Washington, DC: National Bureau of Economic Research. www.nber.org/papers/w15202
7.
JensenB. (2014). Integrating quality professional learning into the daily life of teachers: Insights from high performing systems. Melbourne, Australia: Learning First. http://bit.ly/1MgyzXF
MaxwellL. (2014, 325). Principals pressed for time to lead instructional change. Education Week. http://bit.ly/1jez4e6
10.
MetLife Foundation. (2013, 2). Survey of the American teacher: Challenges for school leadership. http://bit.ly/1L1Xgcw
11.
NoguchiY. (2015). Zappos: A workplace where no one and everyone is the boss. National Public Radio Morning Edition. http://n.pr/1jR66Bd
12.
OECD. (2014). Results from TALIS 2013: Country note, United States of America. Paris, France: Author. http://bit.ly/1jeAmFX
13.
ÖzekU.XuZ. (2015). Misattribution of teacher value-added. Washington, DC: CALDER. http://bit.ly/1P10SPV
14.
RaudenbushS. (2015). Value-added: A case study in the mismatch between education research and policy. Educational Researcher, 44 (2), 138–141
15.
RonfeldtM.FarmerS.O.McQueenK.GrissomJ. (2015). Teacher collaboration in instructional teams and student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 52 (3), 475–514.
16.
SchleicherA. (2015, 625). Building strong professional learning systems: What does the international data tell us?Keynote address at the NCTAF-OECD Summit, Washington, DC. http://bit.ly/1L9ezGv
17.
Scholastic. (2015). Primary sources: America’s teachers on teaching in an era of change (3rd ed.). http://bit.ly/1WPMJXe
18.
SwansonK. (2014, 5). Edcamp: Teachers take back professional development. Educational Leadership, 71 (8). http://bit.ly/1WPMTOg
19.
TalbertJ. (2010). Professional learning communities at the crossroads: How systems hinder or engender change. In HargreavesA.. (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational change. New York, NY: Springer.
20.
TuckerM. (2013a, 1219). Why has U.S. education performance flatlined?[Blog post]. Education Week. http://bit.ly/1Pk19g7
21.
TuckerM. (2013b, 214). Teacher quality: Three views of how to get It[Blog post]. Education Week. http://bit.ly/1jRiqkT
22.
WiliamD. (2014). The formative evaluation of teaching performance. Melbourne, Australia: Centre for Strategic Education. http://bit.ly/1N26rdN