The following is a list of recent resources for those focused on the professional improvement of teachers, principals, and other educational leaders.
A New Role Emerges for Principal Supervisors: Evidence from Six Districts in the Principal Supervisor Initiative In 2014, the Wallace Foundation launched the Principal Supervisor Initiative, a four-year, $24 million effort to redefine principal supervision in six urban school districts including Broward County Public Schools. The initiative sought to help districts transform a position traditionally focused on administration, operations, and compliance to one dedicated to developing and supporting principals to improve instruction in schools. The authors found that districts revised the job description of principal supervisors to focus heavily on developing instructional leadership and supporting principals. Also, the districts reduced the number of principals each supervisor oversaw and created networks of principals to facilitate collaboration and small-group learning communities. In addition, the districts developed systematic training programs to develop supervisors’ skills. Some districts implemented apprenticeship programs to prepare promising candidates to become principal supervisors. Across all of the districts, central office departments began to coordinate more with one another, creating a cultural shift and leading to structural reorganization to support the new principal supervisor role.
This Back to School Season, Be Sure to Meet the Principal Next to teachers, principals are the most significant factor affecting student achievement. The Bush Institute’s School Leadership Initiative is currently working with four school districts, including Fort Worth ISD, to help them find, support, and keep great principals. At the beginning of each school year, many parents take the time to connect with their student’s new teacher. The Bush Institute’s Eva Chiang spoke with Good Day on FOX 4 DFW about the importance of also getting to know the school principal. Learn what questions to ask the school principal.
Skipping School: Why Teachers Quit, And How To Stop It Teacher attrition—including those who leave the profession—is one of the main drivers of a crisis-level teacher shortage that’s disrupting education statewide.
Six Things America Needs to Know About its Teachers One of the 12 educators who designed the recent groundbreaking survey on America’s teachers writes about the six key trends that everyone should know.
Toward a Valid and Reliable Student Teacher Observation Tool With assistance from AACTE State Chapter Support Grants, the North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education has developed a common candidate observation tool and created training modules for their supervisors. Stacy Duffield of North Dakota State University reports.
Quick Links: Resources for Principal Preparation AACTE’s Erisel Cruz and Kristin McCabe share links to numerous online resources from AACTE and The Wallace Foundation related to the preparation of school leaders–just in time to equip you for the new academic year!
Millennial teachers of color will change public schools-if given the chance Though the new teachers we are trying to recruit are racially and ethnically diverse, we often overlook that they are also part of the millennial generation-the most diverse, educated, socially connected, and now largest generation in the workforce. They come to the classroom with perspectives and attitudes about education that have been shaped not simply by race or ethnicity, but by all of these characteristics. Yet, too often, these diverse perspectives go unnoticed and even dismissed, and schools miss an opportunity to improve their culture in ways that could benefit teachers and students.
School’s Back in Session, But Many Teachers Aren’t Returning America’s students are returning to school, but in many cases, their teachers aren’t. The country is facing an education crisis as more teachers leave the profession for other fields, often lured by higher pay. (CBS News)
How States Across the Country Are Dealing With Teacher Shortages While legislators in states have recently taken steps to increase teacher pay, a report from the Learning Policy Institute highlights a number of other promising approaches to both increasing the supply of teachers in the U.S. and improving attrition rates. Strategies such as service scholarship and loan forgiveness programs, teacher residency programs, “grow-your-own” pipeline initiatives, increasing and improving administrative support, and mentoring and coaching programs for new teachers have all been shown to improve outcomes. (Pacific Standard)
