Categories for Quality Teachers
September 4, 2020
Teacher Induction. Teacher induction is a set of practices that help transferring and beginning teachers become competent and effective instructors. The goals of induction are to improve instructional practices; to help teachers in their first years understand and effectively integrate into school and community cultures; and ultimately to improve pupil learning. By supporting the teachers and facilitating their socialization into the profession, school systems could potentially reduce the significant turnover rate of teachers in the first 5 years of employment. Despite its substantial cost, induction has failed to meet most of the stated goals. Research reveals that despite setting high expectations, current models fall short in selecting evidence-based approaches for accomplishing the task. Goals and practices for induction activities are not clearly defined nor is performance effectively monitored. Finally, most models fail to provide effective implementation strategies necessary for sustainability. The overall message is that comprehensive teacher induction has the potential to positively impact teaching practices and pupil learning, but it requires careful reconsideration of current conceptual, procedural, and empirical foundations of the practice.
Citation: Cleaver, S., Detrich, R., States, J. & Keyworth, R. (2020). Overview of Teacher Induction. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/in-service-professional-induction.
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/in-service-induction
September 2, 2020
Leadership Models. Several major school leadership models have served to identify and organize the research literature regarding what is known about the competencies and characteristics of effective school leaders to enhance understanding and inform practice. Instructional leadership, which considers how school leaders influence teaching and learning and includes functions such as developing the school’s mission/vision/goals, managing every facet of the instructional program, and ensuring a positive school climate, has been consistently shown to influence teaching quality and student outcomes through several decades of research. The most recent models of instructional leadership have broadened to include examination of how factors, such as school context and teacher leadership, moderate the influence of instructional leadership. Distributed or shared leadership has also emerged as a leading model, with research suggesting that principals cannot “do it alone,” but must share leadership responsibilities among staff. Distributed leadership research has yielded positive associations between this style and a variety of teacher and student outcomes, but also suggests that effectiveness depends on allocating leadership tasks based on patterns of staff expertise to optimize outcomes. Transformational leadership, which stresses school leaders as change agents that inspire and motivate staff to improve collective efficacy and a positive school trajectory, has shown to be influential to teacher outcomes, but somewhat less influential for student outcomes than other types of leadership. Today, integrated models of leadership, which include elements of instructional, distributed, and transformation leadership are most common, and reflect how school leaders use different types of leadership in different situations and coordinate with teachers to influence instructional and learning. Also emerging are leadership frameworks for equity, such as culturally responsive leadership, that focus on how school leaders foster or inhibit equitable educational systems and student outcomes.
Citation: Donley, J., Detrich, R., States, J., & Keyworth, (2020). Leadership Models. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/quality-leadership-leadership-models
Link: hhttps://www.winginstitute.org/quality-leadership-leadership-models
July 6, 2020
The story of professional development is illustrative of problems common to educational interventions. The American education system values in-service training, spending range from $18,000 annually per teacher. Like many promising practices found effective in controlled conditions, in-service training fails in the field. Ample evidence points to new teachers being insufficiently prepared, and in-service training is used to fill the gap. Schools invest extensively in teacher induction in the early years of a teacher and supplement this with continuous development over a career. Unfortunately, training is delivered in the least productive ways, such as emphasizing theory and demonstrating skills in simulated exercises rather than on real students. These efforts produce poor results—not surprising since they ignore the research, which shows the value of giving teachers opportunities to practice in real-world settings, tying training to existing procedures, and following up with monitoring and feedback. Only a fraction of the money is directed toward coaching, the method that research shows produces long-lasting results.
Citation: Cleaver, S., Detrich, R., States, J. & Keyworth, R. (2020). Overview Teacher Professional Development. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. quality-teachers-in-service.
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/quality-teachers-in-service
June 8, 2020
WestEd is a nonprofit organization tasked with promoting excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. WestEd offers consulting and technical assistance, evaluation, policy, professional development, and research and development to support and improve education outcomes.
As the world rallies to respond to the current public health crisis, schools across the globe have closed their doors to stop the spread of the new coronavirus and its associated disease, COVID-19. Wested has developed and compiled resources to assist schools in responding to this crisis.
The resources include;
Distance & At-Home Learning
Early Childhood
English Learners
Health, Safety, & Well-Being
Online Professional Development
Resource Planning & Management
Science & Mathematics
Special Education
Link: Wested
May 29, 2020
The 2020 pandemic is unprecedented in living memory. This event necessitates schools adopting new technologies and teachers mastering new ways of delivering instruction. Education is engaged in a grand experiment, implementing new practices in fifty states with over 13,000 school districts. Change on this magnitude would be daunting even in normal times, and is particularly difficult in a decentralized system such as in the United States. What we know is there are bound to be many failures. Fortunately, the past 15 years have seen remarkable progress in the creation of a science of implementation to address such hurdles. This paper offers examples of failed practices in guiding schools to avoid making similar mistakes over the coming year.
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Citation: States, J., & Keyworth, R. (2020). Why Practices Fail. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/roadmap-overview
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/roadmap-overview
May 29, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in school closings for the remainder of the year in 48 of 50 states and a sharp turn toward remote instruction in order to finish the year as best as possible. Issues and concerns previously in the background, such as inequitable access to technology including internet access for online learning at home, are now front and center. Districts and states have been exploring creative ways to bridge the digital divide, such as delivering Wi-Fi hotspots and devices to children without technology and internet access, using public television, creating printed packets, and making creative use of the mobile and smartphones that most families in the United States now have.
Citations: Donley, J., Detrich, R., States, J., & Keyworth, (2020). Remote Learning Overview. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/effective-instruction-computers.
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/effective-instruction-computers
May 12, 2020
Active Supervision Overview: Active supervision is a behavior management practice designed to teach and reinforce appropriate behavior and to prevent and reduce misconduct. To maximize situational awareness, the practice emphasizes constant scanning and moving around the classroom and other potential trouble spots for disruptive behavior, such as hallways, playground, and field trips. Active supervision enables teachers to more effectively deliver feedback to students. By frequently interacting with students, they increase opportunities to build positive relationships, provide encouraging feedback for appropriate behavior, and more swiftly and consistently respond to inappropriate behavior. Teachers should constantly scan the entire area looking for appropriate behavior, problem behavior, and dangerous activities, paying special attention to areas, activities, and groups where problems have occurred in the past. They can use this time to reinforce expectations by reminding students of rules and routines, prompt appropriate behavior, and deliver corrective consequences as needed.
Citation: Guinness, K., Detrich, R., Keyworth, R. & States, J. (2020). Overview of Supporting Appropriate Behavior. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/classroom-active-supervision
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/classroom-active-supervision
March 6, 2020
What do surveys of program completers tell us about teacher preparation quality? Over the past twenty years, educators, policymakers, and the public have increasingly expressed interest in finding out which teacher preparation programs (TPP) produce the best teachers. One of the tools offered to identify exemplary pre-service training is satisfaction surveys of graduates. A 2019 teacher survey finds, “only 30 percent of general education teachers feel ‘strongly’ that they can successfully teach students with learning disabilities, and only 50 percent believe those students can reach grade-level standards.” Surveys highlight a misalignment between the intended outcomes of teacher preparation and the actual worth of the training teacher candidates receive. Given the potential importance of teacher surveys, it is imperative that policymakers and teacher educators better understand the efficacy of polling for providing program accountability and information for improving TTP performance.
This study provides a large-scale examination of how new teacher’s perception of the quality TTP training is associated and predictive of quality instruction. The study finds that perceptions of TTP are modestly associated with the effectiveness and retention of first and second-year teachers. The authors find that new teachers who perceive training to be supportive in critical skills were more productive on the job, and were more likely to remain a teacher after the first year in the classroom. Supportive learning environments were associated with extensive training in establishing orderly and positive classroom learning environments, communicating high expectations for students, and forming supportive relationships with all students. Those teachers who received training in classroom management were more effectively develop strategies for addressing conduct issues that arise on the job. This evidence of supportive learning environments suggests that TPPs should consider ways, to enhance the quality of preparation opportunities to master classroom management, building relationships with students, and creating high expectations for student success.
Citation: Bastian, K. C., Sun, M., & Lynn, H. (2018). What Do Surveys of Program Completers Tell Us About Teacher Preparation Quality?. Journal of Teacher Education, 0022487119886294.
Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022487119886294
March 3, 2020
Teacher Preparation: Overview. Because research has shown that, of all school factors, teachers have the greatest influence on student achievement it is not surprising the United States invests significant time and money in the preparation of new teachers. The available research highlights the importance of preparation programs recruiting and selecting the highest quality candidates, training prospective teachers in evidence-based practices, and employing pedagogical practices including extensive time in actual classrooms teaching students as necessary to developing exemplary teachers. Research comparing traditional 4-year teacher schools of education, graduate degree credential models, and alternative routes suggest that current approaches to credentialing are falling far short of expectations. Efforts to hold preparation programs accountable to higher standards by making better use of program evaluation and holding institutions accountable by linking graduates to student achievement are hopeful signs and offer viable options for improving existing models and replacing outdated training methods so prevalent in many of todays pre-service programs.
Citation: Cleaver, S., Detrich, R. & States, J. (2020). Overview of Teacher Preparation. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute.https://www.winginstitute.org/quality-teachers-pre-service.
Link: https://www.winginstitute.org/quality-teachers-pre-service
February 28, 2020
An Evidence-Based Review and Meta-Analysis of Active Supervision. In teacher surveys, classroom management comes up as one of the more significant challenges facing teachers. One of the most common strategies available to teachers is Active Supervision. Active Supervision is defined by the teacher frequently circulating, scanning, interacting with students, and reinforcing demonstrations of expected academic and social behaviors. Although teachers often employ Active Supervision, what does the research tell us about this classroom management strategy? This paper synthesizes and evaluates 12 studies to calculate the effect size on Active Supervision and student conduct. The authors conclude that Active Supervision is a necessary and powerful tool in the prevention of problem behavior. The study recommends that additional research is needed as the current research is limited in quality and quantity and does not meet What Works Clearinghouse standards.
Citation: Gage, N. A., Haydon, T., MacSuga-Gage, A. S., Flowers, E., & Erdy, L. (2020). An Evidence-Based Review and Meta-Analysis of Active Supervision. Behavioral Disorders, 0198742919851021.
Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0198742919851021
