Why Do We Supervise Instruction?

• To assess teacher performance

• To improve professional practice

Why do we want to Improve Professional

Practice?

• To raise student achievement

Why do we want to raise student achievement?

• Individuals – Increased lifetime salary– Improved health – If you don’t have a Bachelor’s

degree, you are worse off than in 1975 if you do you are better off

Why do we want to raise student achievement?

• Society– Lower criminal justice costs– Lower health care costs– Increased economic growth

What’s the solution?• Is it Structural?

– Small schools– K-8 schools– Class size

• (about a 4% increase in achievement for a 50% cut in class size)

– Class grouping

What’s the solution?• Is it Alignment?

– Curriculum reform– Textbook replacement

• Is it governance?– Charter schools– Vouchers

• Is it Technology?

IT’S THE

TEACHER

Effect of Teacher Effectiveness on Student

Achievement• 3rd graders placed with 3 high performing

teachers in a row averaged 96th percentile at end of 5th grade in math

• 3rd graders placed with 3 low performing teachers in a row averaged 44th percentile at end of 5th grade in math

• Tennessee’s State Math Test

“The results of this study well document that the most important factor affecting student learning is the teacher…more can be done to improve education by improving the effectiveness of teachers than by any other single factor. Effective teachers appear to be effective with students of all achievement levels, regardless of the level of heterogeneity in the classroom.”

William Sanders

• The effects on achievement of both strong and weak teachers persisted over 3 years

Dallas Study• 1st graders placed with 3 high performing

teachers in a row increased from 63rd percentile to 87th on ITBS math

• 1st graders placed with 3 low performing teachers in a row decreased from 58th percentile to 40th on ITBS math

• The difference in reading was 42 points

Dallas Study

• The negative effect of poor-performing teachers persisted through three years of high-performing teachers - it took 3 yrs. For the kids to catch up.

• Lower achieving students are more likely to be put with less effective teachers

“Highly Effective teachers are able to produce much greater gains than their less effective counterparts.”

“…not only does teacher quality matter when it comes to how much students learn, but also that, for better or worse, a teacher’s effectiveness stays with students for years to come.”

Tucker & StrongeIn Linking Teacher Evaluation and Student Learning

How do we get better teachers?

• Replace existing teachers with better ones– Increase pay

• No evidence that increased pay brings better teachers

– Change certification standards• No evidence that there are better teachers out

there deterred by certification requirements

• “Love the one your with” (CSN&Y)• Improve the effectiveness of existing teachers