Invest in great teachers

Barnett Berry is founder and president of the Center for Teaching Quality, a research-based advocacy organization based in Hillsborough.

North Carolina's 1.2 million public school students recently met their new teachers for the year. Many students were anxious, wondering whether their teachers would be nice, fun and interesting. Mothers and fathers were giving a parental twist to the same questions. Will this year's teachers know my child well? Will they be patient and recognize his strengths and weaknesses? Will they inspire her to learn? Will we get a good teacher?

As each school year begins, these questions dominate conversations in schoolyards and backyards and over at the corner store. Seldom, however, do we define what makes for a good teacher. Nor do we seriously consider what it would take for every student to have a quality teacher in every class and grade.

The good teacher does more than deliver entertaining lectures. Good teachers know their subject matter -- and they know a lot more. They use tools to assess how students learn as well as what students know. They find materials that "hook into" the knowledge and skills students bring with them. By engaging students in debates, research and experiments, good teachers give them ownership of the learning process. Good teachers create classrooms where all trust and respect one another.

A lack of political will

Good teachers equip students to learn through a lifetime. Good teachers teach to standards but adjust the curriculum to meet the needs of unique students, including those whose primary language is not English and those who have other special needs. Finally, good teachers get parents involved and draw on other professionals and social service agencies when obstacles to learning arise.

Study after study has shown that students -- of all backgrounds and abilities -- achieve more when they have good teachers. But policymakers and educational leaders have not found the political will and the resources to ensure that every student has a good teacher in every classroom in every community.

What is holding us back?

* Our universities do not invest enough in teacher education, and with daunting teacher shortages, policymakers are quick to loosen their rules so almost anyone can begin teaching with little specialized preparation.

* Teaching is too often an "upside down" profession -- one that assigns the most challenging classrooms to the most novice teachers and then offers little support to them.

* Teachers have far too little time to work with their colleagues in planning lessons, assessing student progress and making those critical school-home connections.

* School districts and universities rarely identify their best teachers and give them more time to prepare novices and help peers.

* Finally, poor working conditions can undermine even the best-prepared teachers. Professional salaries are a must for professional teachers -- but poor school leadership, rigid standardized testing, poorly designed training, bureaucratic rules and unhelpful social service agencies can turn a good teacher into one who cannot help all students learn.

Good teachers live the colossal challenge of reaching every student, 24/7, from now till the end of the school year. Our nation knows how to meet great challenges. Think of our battles against disease or our landing on the moon. We know that determined policymakers can ensure a good teacher for every student -- and solve many of our nation's problems by doing so.

Polls reveal that the American people are willing to invest more in the teaching profession. This year, as you participate in those familiar shopping-aisle chats about the "good teacher," think about what more we can all do to make good teaching a certainty in the future. Share your thoughts with decision-makers. The next school year will be here before we know it.