High School Reform Movement Benefits from Positive Teacher Working Conditions In recent years, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley has supported dramatic changes toward reinventing the high school experience. Working conditions will prove essential in making these investments successful because the rigor, relevance and relationship cornerstones of the high school reform movement are highly dependent on teaching and learning environments. With support from the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) and the Center for 21st Century Skills, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) evaluated teaching and learning environments in redesigned and early college high schools across the state. This report describes how redesigned and early college high schools provide working conditions for teachers that contribute to rigor, relevance and relationships, ensuring that all students develop skills for critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration and innovation. Lessons learned from the high school reform movement can inform efforts to create more effective teaching and learning environments in all high schools so students graduate ready for the economic and civic demands of the new Millennium. |
Mississippi Teachers Raise a Clear Voice about Teaching and Learning Environments Mississippi educators are making their voices heard regarding conditions in their schools. On March 9, 2007, Mississippi completed the survey phase of its teaching and learning conditions initiative – Project CLEAR Voice (Cultivate Learning Environments to Accelerate Recruitment and Retention). Project CLEAR Voice recorded an impressive 67 percent response rate for educators in the state, as nearly 38,000 licensed educators completed the online survey (a higher percentage than any statewide working conditions effort completed to date). Dr. Hank Bounds, State Superintendent, said the survey provides “data that we need to understand and respond to…. We must know and understand the needs of our teachers so that we can provide them with the tools and resources they need to help our students succeed.” |
Working Condition Initiatives Launch in Three Additional States The increasingly national movement to assess and respond to educators’ perceptions of their working conditions gained considerable momentum this month. During the month of March, educators in Arizona, Ohio and Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas) will take advantage of the opportunity to provide anonymous input on critical professional issues such as time, facilities and resources, empowerment, leadership and professional development. These reform efforts are allowing individual districts and schools to understand and improve the conditions under which teachers work and how these conditions ultimately decrease teacher turnover and increase student achievement. The potential of the data to help create schools designed for the success of students and educators is evidenced by the recently released pilot report from select Arizona districts – an effort that led to the statewide initiative currently underway. |
Keep an Eye on These Accomplished Teachers As an organization where teachers are central to improving schools, CTQ continues to support an innovative teacher leadership agenda through its Teacher Leaders Network (TLN). In the last year, the TLN TeacherSolutions team has gained national recognition for its work on professional compensation issues. The TLN virtual mentoring service has been eagerly sought out by several leading teacher education programs in the country. Excerpts from the community's daily conversations about teaching and learning are widely read by teaching colleagues, administrators, and teacher educators and the TLN Teacher Voices weblog was recently recognized by the Washington Post as one of the nation's best education blogs. TLN’s new partnership with Teacher Magazine, a publication for teacher leaders created by the publishers of Education Week, promises to expand TLN's reach and influence even further. |
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