No Teacher Leader Left Behind!

Why the New ESEA Must Contain Teacher Leadership

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) with his former teacher and a group of Mexican Americans, his former students, standing behind him. This legislation was born out of Johnson’s deeply held belief that not all students were getting access to the American Dream: “As the son of a tenant farmer, I know that education is the only valid passport from poverty.” President Johnson’s personal experiences – teaching in a segregated school during college and then teaching high school prior to his political career –  led him to action in passing this law that would have an enormous and lasting impact on education.

President Johnson ESEA

I Have Failed and I’m Proud of It!

So much has been said lately in education regarding perseverance and grit. The work of Angela Duckworth and Carol Dweck has been widely embraced. As educators, we don’t always have opportunities to model these traits, but pursuing National Board Certification has given me this opportunity. In 2012, after teaching second grade for 8 years, I was selected as a National Teacher Fellow with America Achieves Fellowship for Teachers & Principals. At the spring conference they asked all the National Board Certified Teachers/Principals to gather for a photo. I looked upon that group and was inspired. On that cold day in February in the Memphis Marriott I decided I wanted to be in that picture.

America Achieves Fellowship for Teachers & Principals cohorts I & II

Student Surveys Have Tremendous Value, 21,600 hours of classroom observation per year

Using student surveys to improve teacher practice I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Ron Ferguson at an America Achieves Teacher Fellowship convening in February 2014. Dr. Ferguson, creator of the Tripod Student Survey, was presenting to the Fellowship on the research conducted as part of the Measures of Effective Teaching project (MET), that was conducted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The study used Tripod surveys, classroom observations and value-added measurements of student performance to identify effective teaching strategies and the best ways to identify them in a classroom. Of the three, student perception surveys proved to be the most valid. “Analysis by the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) projects finds that teachers’ student survey results are predictive of student achievement gains.” The study also found that, “student surveys produce more consistent results than classroom observations or achievement gain measures.” I find this to be extremely valuable to me, a classroom teacher. I often felt that my students were an untapped resource in the attempt to gauge my effectiveness as a teacher. One student will sit and observe me for 900 hours a year. If we do not use student surveys we are overlooking a total of 21,600 hours of observations over the course of 180 days in my 24 student class. On the other hand, the traditional observation conducted by highly trained administrators equates to less than 2 hours over 3 days. Surveys are easily administered and relatively inexpensive.