Special Report
Teaching Profession Opinion

Flexibility and Dynamic Personnel Are Crucial to Meeting High Goals

By Susanna Loeb — January 03, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

We have set goals for all students, goals that are higher than ever before. Achieving these goals requires improving teaching in classrooms, the opportunities that students have to learn. Because we are not where we want to be, we need to build on our successes, learning what works and what does not and using this information to innovate and improve. Policies and practices at all levels set the stage for whether such continuous improvement can happen.


Commentaries
Taking Teaching Quality Seriously
The Need for Data Systems
A People-Driven Business
From Gaps to Gifts
Reforming Teacher Compensation
Gauging Principal Quality
Human Capital Management

In addition to needing clear goals, we need flexibility to try new things, information about what is and what works, time to learn from this information, clear accountability to recognize success and reduce failure, and, perhaps most importantly, people with skills and energy to create and maintain such a dynamic system. Recent changes in entry requirements for teachers show that policies can dramatically affect who is in the classroom. Innovations in curriculum, instructional materials, collaboration, professional development, and administration could also provide essential information.

The needs are complex and require a system that recognizes this complexity, building on what we know to make each element better, improving students’ opportunities, and reaching our goals.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being Webinar
Attend to the Whole Child: Non-Academic Factors within MTSS
Learn strategies for proactively identifying and addressing non-academic barriers to student success within an MTSS framework.
Content provided by Renaissance
Webinar Getting Students Back to School and Re-engaged: What Districts Can Do 
Dive into districtwide strategies that are moving the needle on the persistent problem of chronic absenteeism and sluggish student engagement.
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum How to Teach Digital & Media Literacy in the Age of AI
Join this free event to dig into crucial questions about how to help students build a foundation of digital literacy.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession AFT's Assembly Featured Kamala Harris, Debates on the Israel-Hamas War, and More
The gathering of the nation's second-largest teachers' union in Houston came at a pivotal time in the election cycle.
6 min read
Attendees wait to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris at the American Federation of Teachers conference in Houston on July 25, 2024.
Attendees wait to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris at the American Federation of Teachers convention in Houston on July 25, 2024.
Annie Mulligan for Education Week
Teaching Profession Will the NEA Take a Position on Cellphones in Schools?
Some educators believe a policy statement from the union would give them cover to enforce restrictions that may be unpopular.
4 min read
A ninth grader places her cellphone in to a phone holder as she enters class at Delta High School, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah. At the rural Utah school, there is a strict policy requiring students to check their phones at the door when entering every class. Each classroom has a cellphone storage unit that looks like an over-the-door shoe bag with three dozen smartphone-sized slots.
A 9th grader places her cellphone in a phone holder as she enters class at Delta High School, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah. Some educators are hoping for national guidance from the National Education Association on cellphone policies.
Rick Bowmer/AP
Teaching Profession The Nation's Largest Teachers' Union Endorses Kamala Harris for President
The National Education Association's endorsement follows that of the American Federation of Teachers.
2 min read
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. annual convention during the 71st biennial Boule at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The #WinWithBlackWomen network says more than 40,000 Black women joined a Zoom call to support Harris on Sunday, July 21, hours after Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris, and that the meeting was streamed to another 50,000 via other platforms.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. annual convention during the 71st biennial Boule at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. The National Education Association will support Vice President Kamala Harris as she begins her bid for the White House.
LM Otero/AP
Teaching Profession From Grade Books to Gold Medals: These Teachers Are Olympians and Paralympians
American teachers are among the athletes competing in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
6 min read
LaFond puts her best foot forward in the women’s triple jump at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 3, 2024.
Thea LaFond puts her best foot forward in the women’s triple jump at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 3, 2024. She's one of several current or former educators competing in the summer Olympics or Paralympics.
Bernat Armangue/AP