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Regular thoughts on the human condition and corporate social responsibility by the CEO of a "for-benefit"company.
Margot Carmichael Lester is an amazing educator, deeply involved with public school disctricts all across the US. As we approach a reassessment of "No Child Left Behind" I asked Margot to write a blog post for us on improving teaching outcomes. Margot will be a regular contributor to this space... I hope you enjoy her first post:
"We know that all schools are not created equal. Some clearly benefit from better buildings, more books, more computers, and the like. But from my work as a consultant in schools across the country, I can tell you that the connection between resources and results isn’t as clear as we think. Consider an urban school district that serves primarily students from low-socio-economic families. From a recent bond issue, it just spent $50,000,000 on technology. Most kids now have access to laptop and desktop computers, but their teachers aren’t trained on how to use them, so much of the power of this resource remains perpetually untapped. At the same time, Language Arts teachers are begging for books that can be read by their low-literacy students. The district is involved in a multi-million dollar textbook adoption process but this will only succeed in procuring textbooks most of their kids won’t or can’t read. Is this a well-resourced school district? On the one hand, it has incredible amounts of money for books and technology. But on the other hand, it doesn’t end up spending the money in ways that help teachers teach and help students learn. This problem, replicated all over the country, results from the complexity of regulation at the state and federal level and from a lack of administrative leadership at the district and school level. It’s easy to argue that schools don’t have money they need. But the problem isn’t what they have, it’s how they use it. Certainly, those schools that use their money well could do much better with more. And far too many schools are woefully under-funded. But more money doesn’t easily translate into more learning. Resources have to be focused in ways that directly improve the teaching lives of teachers and the learning lives of kids. And though it’s a bitter pill to swallow, things like computers and textbooks often miss the mark. Science and common sense clearly show that the best way to improve learning is to improve teaching. Raising teacher effectiveness is the #1 research-proven tool for increasing student achievement. So the question isn’t “What computers and textbooks should we buy?” it’s “How will these resources help teachers teach and students learn?” Until we commit to raising teacher quality, and fund this resource in accordance with its importance, the issue of money for schools is essentially meaningless. What can we do about the issue of resources for schools?
- When your school or district spends large amounts of money on things like computers, textbooks, and other resources, ask them to tell you how they expect teaching to change as a result.
- Ask your school or district to disclose the percent of its budget that it spends annually on teacher training.
- Ask your school or district to identify causal links between significant expenditures and student achievement.
- Ask your school or district how it supports teachers in pursuing National Board Certification.
- Ask your state legislator to sponsor legislation that increases opportunities for teacher training and more rigorous certification."
Margot Carmichael Lester is editor of the Education Is Your Business blog (http://ttms.typepad.com/ed_is_your_business/) and co-owner of Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc., and education advocacy and reform company in Carrboro, N.C.
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