At the tenth anniversary of No Child Left Behind it is clear from my perspective that the federal government’s ambitious effort to set a national education agenda for America’s Public Schools has met with limited success. The Washington “one size fits all” perspective on meeting the needs of millions of children in our nation’s schools was ill conceived at best by the former George W. Bush administration. The punitive labels that were assigned to school districts nationwide as a result of the lack of compliance for making “Adequate Yearly Progress” under N.C.L.B. did much to discredit the positive strides American educators made in the past decade if not the past century.
Let’s be clear about what we have accomplished as a society that creates educational opportunities for all of its children in a systematized and formal manner. The facts are clear on the complexities that confront public education in America and the challenges we face in our attempts to teach the most diverse population of students in the world. In the past century the United States of America has distinguished herself as a world economic power and social force for justice and human rights. This did not occur by accident! We are the world leader in higher education, human rights activism, and creative thinking as a result of a system of free and appropriate public education in all fifty states.
In the years since the Reagan administration decried the inadequacy of public education in America when A Nation at Risk was published America has transformed the world socially, economically, technologically, in the broadest possible global context. American public education is largely responsible for our success as a nation. It is time to recognize and celebrate that fact. Are there matters that we have to address in order to take our system of free and public education to a higher level? Undeniably yes. But the federal government should not be administering to 100,000 public schools nor should it be determining whether each of those schools and its teachers are successful or failing.
In the words of former U.S. Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander, “This decade’s experience has reminded us that Washington may be able to create a better environment for school improvement, but Washington cannot make schools better; only teachers, principals, parents, and communities can…it is time to move most decisions about whether teachers and schools are succeeding or failing out of Washington and back to states and communities.” I could not agree with Mr. Alexander more on this important point. Educational issues are determined locally and solved locally by dedicated professionals who are in the best position to know what it takes to nurture and teach children. Just give communities the resources to accomplish this important task and get Washington politicians out of this equation once and for all.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Thursday, December 22, 2011
A letter to Hopatcong, NJ, Teachers and Staff
Hopatcong administrators, teachers, and staff members:
Thank you for another year of dedicated service to the youth and families of our community. As I reflect on my 39th year in the education profession it is apparent that much has changed over the decades. We are at a transition point in the profession that has placed public school employees under a microscope as expectations rise each year. The remarkable thing is that our teachers, staff, and administrators all respond remarkably to the formidable challenges we now face.
It is with all sincerity that I express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for the devotion that you demonstrate every day to the young people we teach and the community we serve. As I visit each school (I try to get into a classroom each day) it is apparent to me that we are blessed in this educational community with exceptional faculty and staff members. I witness great teaching and wise counseling each and every time I visit one of our schools.
Perhaps my reflections are simply nostalgic manifestations of the wonderful relationships I experienced from my own years as a classroom teacher. My personal observations however are validated by the extensive research and work in teacher evaluation that was the subject of my dissertation at the College of William and Mary. It is abundantly clear that we employ some of the very best teachers and staff available. The result: our students are nourished and challenged to reach the highest possible individual outcomes, thanks to each of you.
I have said on more than one occasion that the whole of public education contains many components: academics, arts, activities, and athletics. We are about teaching the “whole child” and creating experiences that prepare our youth for life in an ever-changing democratic society. While social norms appear to be eroding at a rapid pace, the public schools in our community hold onto standards and values that appear to be almost non-existent in the greater society-at-large.
This makes the accomplishments of our teachers even more remarkable. Children come with many needs: developmental, intellectual, emotional, social, physical, medical, etc. We meet the challenges that confront us every day and somehow find a way to meet the demands placed upon us. No child is the same as another (think about how different siblings are) with every child demonstrating the need and capacity for nourishment in different and varied ways. Here is where the remarkable teaching has a profound impact: on the individual student as an individual.
I applaud the accomplishments of our classroom teachers, counselors, aides, staff members, coaches, administrators and everyone else who touches the lives of our youth. The New Year offers an opportunity for a renewed commitment to the profession we choose as our calling, our purpose, our challenge. In spite of the difficult economic times and the formidable challenges that we face, including the often unfair and biased media perceptions concerning public education in America, our schools are vibrant environments where the youth of our community thrive each day thanks to our teachers.
Please take the time this holiday season to reflect on the great work you are doing and to enjoy the blessings of your own families. Peace to each of you as the dawn of 2012 approaches and we bring closure to the year soon to pass. I look forward to working with you again as we continue on our educational journey in Hopatcong Borough.
Thank you for another year of dedicated service to the youth and families of our community. As I reflect on my 39th year in the education profession it is apparent that much has changed over the decades. We are at a transition point in the profession that has placed public school employees under a microscope as expectations rise each year. The remarkable thing is that our teachers, staff, and administrators all respond remarkably to the formidable challenges we now face.
It is with all sincerity that I express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for the devotion that you demonstrate every day to the young people we teach and the community we serve. As I visit each school (I try to get into a classroom each day) it is apparent to me that we are blessed in this educational community with exceptional faculty and staff members. I witness great teaching and wise counseling each and every time I visit one of our schools.
Perhaps my reflections are simply nostalgic manifestations of the wonderful relationships I experienced from my own years as a classroom teacher. My personal observations however are validated by the extensive research and work in teacher evaluation that was the subject of my dissertation at the College of William and Mary. It is abundantly clear that we employ some of the very best teachers and staff available. The result: our students are nourished and challenged to reach the highest possible individual outcomes, thanks to each of you.
I have said on more than one occasion that the whole of public education contains many components: academics, arts, activities, and athletics. We are about teaching the “whole child” and creating experiences that prepare our youth for life in an ever-changing democratic society. While social norms appear to be eroding at a rapid pace, the public schools in our community hold onto standards and values that appear to be almost non-existent in the greater society-at-large.
This makes the accomplishments of our teachers even more remarkable. Children come with many needs: developmental, intellectual, emotional, social, physical, medical, etc. We meet the challenges that confront us every day and somehow find a way to meet the demands placed upon us. No child is the same as another (think about how different siblings are) with every child demonstrating the need and capacity for nourishment in different and varied ways. Here is where the remarkable teaching has a profound impact: on the individual student as an individual.
I applaud the accomplishments of our classroom teachers, counselors, aides, staff members, coaches, administrators and everyone else who touches the lives of our youth. The New Year offers an opportunity for a renewed commitment to the profession we choose as our calling, our purpose, our challenge. In spite of the difficult economic times and the formidable challenges that we face, including the often unfair and biased media perceptions concerning public education in America, our schools are vibrant environments where the youth of our community thrive each day thanks to our teachers.
Please take the time this holiday season to reflect on the great work you are doing and to enjoy the blessings of your own families. Peace to each of you as the dawn of 2012 approaches and we bring closure to the year soon to pass. I look forward to working with you again as we continue on our educational journey in Hopatcong Borough.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Random Drug Searches Reveal No Drugs in Hopatcong Schools
Random and routine drug searches of Hopatcong Middle School and Hopatcong High School were conducted over a two day period December 6 and 7th, 2011. Both were initiated by school officials in collaboration with the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office. The random searches are constitutionally allowed in a public school setting following strict guidelines outlined in the New Jersey School Search Policy Manual. Drug dogs and handlers of the New Jersey State Police Canine Unit were employed for the search of classroom, hallways, lockers, and other common areas of the schools.
“These type of suspicionless searches by police officials are prudent exercises,” said superintendent of schools Dr. Charles Maranzano, Jr. “and are designed to impress upon students and the community our commitment to a safe and secure school environment.”
One or two people in the entire school district were made aware of the search in advance according to Maranzano, in order to maximize the impact of the search. School Board members approved of the idea for the searches months in advance and were appraised of the search only after they were initiated and conducted.
All of the schools in New Jersey are prepared for such searches and are required to conduct emergency drills such as school lockdowns on a monthly basis by law. The students at the middle and high schools were sequestered to their classrooms throughout the search process, except where individual classrooms and student items searched. The inception of the search is constitutionally permissible based on the objective of the search as long as such searches are not excessively intrusive according to state guidelines.
“We stand ready to cooperate with local police or state police when the issue of student safety is at stake,” added Maranzano. “The facts support our effort to free schools from any item that represents a threat to the common health, safety, and welfare of students.” Maranzano said, “Generally speaking our students are well-behaved and conduct themselves with a high regard for the general welfare of other students in Hopatcong. From time-to-time it is necessary to demonstrate the authority and responsibility that school officials have to ensure the school climate is safe and secure which is the reason for such routine searches.”
No drugs were found at either school location.
“These type of suspicionless searches by police officials are prudent exercises,” said superintendent of schools Dr. Charles Maranzano, Jr. “and are designed to impress upon students and the community our commitment to a safe and secure school environment.”
One or two people in the entire school district were made aware of the search in advance according to Maranzano, in order to maximize the impact of the search. School Board members approved of the idea for the searches months in advance and were appraised of the search only after they were initiated and conducted.
All of the schools in New Jersey are prepared for such searches and are required to conduct emergency drills such as school lockdowns on a monthly basis by law. The students at the middle and high schools were sequestered to their classrooms throughout the search process, except where individual classrooms and student items searched. The inception of the search is constitutionally permissible based on the objective of the search as long as such searches are not excessively intrusive according to state guidelines.
“We stand ready to cooperate with local police or state police when the issue of student safety is at stake,” added Maranzano. “The facts support our effort to free schools from any item that represents a threat to the common health, safety, and welfare of students.” Maranzano said, “Generally speaking our students are well-behaved and conduct themselves with a high regard for the general welfare of other students in Hopatcong. From time-to-time it is necessary to demonstrate the authority and responsibility that school officials have to ensure the school climate is safe and secure which is the reason for such routine searches.”
No drugs were found at either school location.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Emergency Snowfall Presents Unusual Problems for Schools
Reflections on one of the most unusual weeks in Hopatcong Borough Public Schools by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Maranzano, Jr.
One of the many challenges for school administrators is how to respond to educational conditions under abnormal circumstances. The week of October 31-November 4, 2011, will certainly go down in the historical archives for Hopatcong Borough Public Schools as a highly abnormal event. The unprecedented snow storm of October 28-29, 2011, caused a significant amount of damage to the electrical infrastructure in the state and region and our school facilities were all severely impacted.
Due to the widespread power outages all of our schools went days without electricity causing us to cancel school. In fact, it was not until late in the week that the majority of our school buildings were brought back on the electrical grid. Due to the length of time without power we lost most of our food inventory in our school cafeterias. Additionally, many of our mechanical systems were compromised when the power “phased” out meaning that we lost motors, electrical contacts, and other critical components. All of our fire suppression systems lost the basic codes and required extensive reprogramming as did our alarm systems. The loss of phones, internet, file servers, and other technologically related equipment also presented challenges for us. Prior to bringing students or staff back into any of our buildings all of the above needed to be addressed.
There are many unintended consequences to an emergency of such magnitude and I only outlined a few. Consider that many of our children and family were forced to leave the Borough to find shelter in other towns (typically with family members residing nearby) or that our staff members were also displaced due to the lack of power in their homes. As of Friday, November 4, 2011, there were hundreds of families in Hopatcong still without power.
The fact that we were able to open four of five schools on Friday was nothing short of a major achievement for us given the multi-layered challenges we were confronted with.
The staff in Hopatcong did a remarkable job during the crisis. Neil Piro and his team had a lot of work to do at each school inspecting and testing all of our mechanical equipment The food supplies in our freezers needed to be disposed of and have been inventoried and replaced thanks to Ronnie Blewitt and her kitchen team. The tech team continues to asses our technology infrastructure and telephone systems as well at the alarm systems to ensure everything continues to operate. Kyle Bisignani stepped up to a strong challenge during this storm. Our Alert Now System served us very well as I received many compliments from citizens for making early decisions and communicating conditions in Hopatcong via the automated phone system.
I received excellent cooperation with the police, Chief Swanson, and Mayor Petillo during the week. There are lots of people to thank for their cooperation and collaboration during the crisis. The office staff was challenged to respond to deadlines, reports, compliance issues, and the usual workload as well as field multiple telephone calls from the pubic this past week. JoAnne Murray did a remarkable job of managing our office functions, and the finance staff distributed paychecks on Monday in the dark to employees who needed them.
The Patch and Star Ledger ran stories on Thursday that explained very clearly what the challenges were for our school district. My administrative team encouraged us to get out in front of the story via the media and this worked very well for us this week. Channel 12 was also a good vehicle for communicating the continued challenges that confronted us in Hopatcong as a result of the crisis.
We will submit a FEMA claim once all of the costs associated with the storm are documented in an attempt to recover most of the costs associated with the damages or food loss. However, the State Education Department of New Jersey will not grant us a waiver for time lost so we need to consider the impact on our school calendar as the year progresses without the support of the state officials. The School Board will consider all of the options available as we assess the impact on our calendar over the next few weeks and months.
I would like to thank the professional staff, administrators, teachers, workers, and citizens of Hopatcong for their perseverance and patience during the crisis. The fact that most people did not react emotionally and kept a steady perspective on the tasks and challenges we face speaks volumes about our educational team. Hopatcong is a resilient community and I am confident we will quickly move forward to promote the education of our children in this community. Each decision made during the past week had the health, safety and welfare of our children and employees as the basis for those decisions. I thank everyone for their support and understanding during these difficult times and am proud to be your leader as superintendent of schools.
One of the many challenges for school administrators is how to respond to educational conditions under abnormal circumstances. The week of October 31-November 4, 2011, will certainly go down in the historical archives for Hopatcong Borough Public Schools as a highly abnormal event. The unprecedented snow storm of October 28-29, 2011, caused a significant amount of damage to the electrical infrastructure in the state and region and our school facilities were all severely impacted.
Due to the widespread power outages all of our schools went days without electricity causing us to cancel school. In fact, it was not until late in the week that the majority of our school buildings were brought back on the electrical grid. Due to the length of time without power we lost most of our food inventory in our school cafeterias. Additionally, many of our mechanical systems were compromised when the power “phased” out meaning that we lost motors, electrical contacts, and other critical components. All of our fire suppression systems lost the basic codes and required extensive reprogramming as did our alarm systems. The loss of phones, internet, file servers, and other technologically related equipment also presented challenges for us. Prior to bringing students or staff back into any of our buildings all of the above needed to be addressed.
There are many unintended consequences to an emergency of such magnitude and I only outlined a few. Consider that many of our children and family were forced to leave the Borough to find shelter in other towns (typically with family members residing nearby) or that our staff members were also displaced due to the lack of power in their homes. As of Friday, November 4, 2011, there were hundreds of families in Hopatcong still without power.
The fact that we were able to open four of five schools on Friday was nothing short of a major achievement for us given the multi-layered challenges we were confronted with.
The staff in Hopatcong did a remarkable job during the crisis. Neil Piro and his team had a lot of work to do at each school inspecting and testing all of our mechanical equipment The food supplies in our freezers needed to be disposed of and have been inventoried and replaced thanks to Ronnie Blewitt and her kitchen team. The tech team continues to asses our technology infrastructure and telephone systems as well at the alarm systems to ensure everything continues to operate. Kyle Bisignani stepped up to a strong challenge during this storm. Our Alert Now System served us very well as I received many compliments from citizens for making early decisions and communicating conditions in Hopatcong via the automated phone system.
I received excellent cooperation with the police, Chief Swanson, and Mayor Petillo during the week. There are lots of people to thank for their cooperation and collaboration during the crisis. The office staff was challenged to respond to deadlines, reports, compliance issues, and the usual workload as well as field multiple telephone calls from the pubic this past week. JoAnne Murray did a remarkable job of managing our office functions, and the finance staff distributed paychecks on Monday in the dark to employees who needed them.
The Patch and Star Ledger ran stories on Thursday that explained very clearly what the challenges were for our school district. My administrative team encouraged us to get out in front of the story via the media and this worked very well for us this week. Channel 12 was also a good vehicle for communicating the continued challenges that confronted us in Hopatcong as a result of the crisis.
We will submit a FEMA claim once all of the costs associated with the storm are documented in an attempt to recover most of the costs associated with the damages or food loss. However, the State Education Department of New Jersey will not grant us a waiver for time lost so we need to consider the impact on our school calendar as the year progresses without the support of the state officials. The School Board will consider all of the options available as we assess the impact on our calendar over the next few weeks and months.
I would like to thank the professional staff, administrators, teachers, workers, and citizens of Hopatcong for their perseverance and patience during the crisis. The fact that most people did not react emotionally and kept a steady perspective on the tasks and challenges we face speaks volumes about our educational team. Hopatcong is a resilient community and I am confident we will quickly move forward to promote the education of our children in this community. Each decision made during the past week had the health, safety and welfare of our children and employees as the basis for those decisions. I thank everyone for their support and understanding during these difficult times and am proud to be your leader as superintendent of schools.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
League of Women Voters Want to Know about the Federal Role in Public Education
Responding to a few questions posed by the League of Women Voters in Sussex County, New Jersey, I thought it interesting to share my thoughts on the role of the federal government in public education. Many national candidates have stated their position on this matter so this is a non political response from an individual point of view:
The current role of the federal government in public education appears to be much too imposing (too large)in my opinion. Additionally, the requirements surrounding federal "standards" do not come with sufficient federal funding. In fact, most of the federal regulations are unfunded mandates that need to be dispensed with. The simple fact is that legislative or elected officials have no professional role in fomulating educational practices locally and those decisions about school priorities need to be left to the states and their localities. Let me explain. We receive about 2% or less of our total funding from the federal government and yet they demand a disproportionate amount of time, resources, and effort from school personnel that actually harms our ability to deliver efficient and effective educational services to children.
There is no provision in the United States Constitution for public education and thus the federal presence in public education exists by virtue of the defined role in each state constitution. Therefore, there is no actual foundation for the federal government to create policy or impose controls with any system of free public education in any of the states. Public education is exclusively a state issue. If the federal government wants to run schools nationwide, it needs to adequately fund public education nationwide which it is not currently doing nor has it ever done.
Responding to the League of Women voters question about the role of public education in a democratic society: A quality public education does perpetuate a strong democratic and representative government...this was stated by John Dewey over a century ago as the purpose for public education in the progressive movement. The problem here is that the federal government has had little to do with the evolution of public education in America. Again, this has been a result of state priorities and state constitutional mandates, not federal. The federal role in public education has served to complicate and confuse educational priorities in the name of "standardization" or "accountability" and the hunger for national comparisons on test measurements that do not yet exist. Ronald Regan attempted to dismantle the Federal Department of Education during his term and fell just short of that goal...someone should revisit this as a cost savings measure and turn the responsibility for public education back to where it originated...at the state level. The less bureaucratic interference for public education at the federal level will in my opinion solve many problems that are best left to the various states to resolve.
The discussion should revolve around how states can run an efficient and effective system of public education based on their own definition of free and appropriate public education and the complicated funding formulas that each state must strive to improve in order to provide an adequate public education to its citizens. For example, the needs of Texas and New Mexico will vary differently from the need of New Hampshire and Maine in terms of clientele and priorities. What authority does the federal government have in establishing these priorities for the states, much less any legal basis for imposing legislation on each state for public education? None.
The economic times that we are experiencing call for some radical changes in thinking about the federal role in many areas. Education is one of them. Let each state decide how to educate its citizens and reduce the federal imposition into an area it has little expertise in.
That is my opinion, not the opinion of my school board or school district.
The current role of the federal government in public education appears to be much too imposing (too large)in my opinion. Additionally, the requirements surrounding federal "standards" do not come with sufficient federal funding. In fact, most of the federal regulations are unfunded mandates that need to be dispensed with. The simple fact is that legislative or elected officials have no professional role in fomulating educational practices locally and those decisions about school priorities need to be left to the states and their localities. Let me explain. We receive about 2% or less of our total funding from the federal government and yet they demand a disproportionate amount of time, resources, and effort from school personnel that actually harms our ability to deliver efficient and effective educational services to children.
There is no provision in the United States Constitution for public education and thus the federal presence in public education exists by virtue of the defined role in each state constitution. Therefore, there is no actual foundation for the federal government to create policy or impose controls with any system of free public education in any of the states. Public education is exclusively a state issue. If the federal government wants to run schools nationwide, it needs to adequately fund public education nationwide which it is not currently doing nor has it ever done.
Responding to the League of Women voters question about the role of public education in a democratic society: A quality public education does perpetuate a strong democratic and representative government...this was stated by John Dewey over a century ago as the purpose for public education in the progressive movement. The problem here is that the federal government has had little to do with the evolution of public education in America. Again, this has been a result of state priorities and state constitutional mandates, not federal. The federal role in public education has served to complicate and confuse educational priorities in the name of "standardization" or "accountability" and the hunger for national comparisons on test measurements that do not yet exist. Ronald Regan attempted to dismantle the Federal Department of Education during his term and fell just short of that goal...someone should revisit this as a cost savings measure and turn the responsibility for public education back to where it originated...at the state level. The less bureaucratic interference for public education at the federal level will in my opinion solve many problems that are best left to the various states to resolve.
The discussion should revolve around how states can run an efficient and effective system of public education based on their own definition of free and appropriate public education and the complicated funding formulas that each state must strive to improve in order to provide an adequate public education to its citizens. For example, the needs of Texas and New Mexico will vary differently from the need of New Hampshire and Maine in terms of clientele and priorities. What authority does the federal government have in establishing these priorities for the states, much less any legal basis for imposing legislation on each state for public education? None.
The economic times that we are experiencing call for some radical changes in thinking about the federal role in many areas. Education is one of them. Let each state decide how to educate its citizens and reduce the federal imposition into an area it has little expertise in.
That is my opinion, not the opinion of my school board or school district.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Schools Confront Economic Realities
The reductions in state aid to many school districts nationwide are taking a huge toll. The additional disappearance of Federal Stimulus Funds coupled with the end of the Education Jobs funding have created a “perfect storm” scenario for schools across America. The American Association of School Administrators has been following these trends for the past year and predicts that there is no immediate relief in sight for the educational portion of state budgets.
Reductions continue to put a strain on schools coping with reductions in personnel, activities, and services. The fear is that given the current state of the economy many school districts will continue to experience shortfalls from state contributions. This trend began in 2007 and is likely to continue well into the next few school years.
While many school districts are struggling to do more with less, several are beginning to confront the notion that they will have to do less with less (funding). The idea of cutting personnel, activities, and programs is a painful reality for school boards across the country. Philosophically speaking, most school board members would rather cut off an appendage rather than cut school programs. Not one of the Hopatcong School Board members wanted to cut academic programs, personnel, sports, activities, or other educational opportunities for children this past year during the budget development process.
Last year was particularly painful for a small district like Hopatcong, N.J. (2,200 students). A loss of 2.4 million dollars in state and local funding resulted in twenty-four less personnel to serve the needs of our tiny school district. This school year was less of a problem due to increased federal support mostly in the form of Education Jobs funding and ARRA funding. Both sources of federal dollars will be non-existent in the next budget cycle and further cuts may be in store for us.
Schools like Hopatcong, N.J., and others across the country are feeling the results of cuts at all levels. Typical cuts in personnel have reduced teacher to pupil rations resulting in much larger than desired class sizes across the overall spectrum. Additional cost saving measures include a reduction in activities and athletic programs, after-school programs, gifted programs, field trips, and certain salary freeze measures nationwide. A recent survey led by AASA concluded that 65% of superintendents said they eliminated jobs in 2010-2011, with almost three-quarters reporting that they will do the same during the coming school year.
The difficult times ahead for public education are certain to be correlated with the recession and economic conditions. With little relief in sight school superintendents and school boards will continue to struggle with undesirable and uncomfortable cuts to personnel and programs. It is hard to see the “light at the end of the tunnel” from a funding perspective and this is one of those moments in time no one wants to have to endure for very long.
Friday, July 8, 2011
An Emerging Teacher Quality
As classrooms in America struggle to accommodate increasing numbers of students and teachers adjust to the expanding variation in student learning styles it occurred to me that an additional quality of effective teaching will quickly emerge in the coming years: The ability to teach and manage large numbers of students.
I have long been associated with some remarkable educational leaders from my days at The College of William and Mary in Virginia. In fact my dissertation chair, Dr. James Stronge, published a book for the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, The Qualities of Effective Teachers,(ASCD, 2002) In this wonderful resource James presents in Part I What It Means To Be An Effective Teacher, and in Part II Teacher Effectiveness: Resources You Can Use. Drawing upon many valid and highly regarded sources, Dr. Stronge presents educational colleagues with a blueprint for effective teaching behaviors and a realistic profile of the characteristics of excellent teaching.
The research on teacher preparation, intellectual ability and aptitude, attainment of certifications and specializations, content knowledge, experience and effectiveness, affective characteristics, caring and communicating, knowledge of students as individuals, enthusiasm and motivation, personalization of learning, organization in managing instruction, response to student behaviors, academic interaction, group instructional strategies, differentiation, and high expectations are all discussed in depth by the author. I have used this book time and time again in my leadership role as an educator and found the qualities described to be informative and invaluable. In performing my duties as a school superintendent I often question potential teaching candidates on these qualities to assess their understanding, experience, and preparedness for the classroom.
Most recently, due to the difficult financial conditions confronting America’s public schools, the educational journals and research reports have reported upon the increase in student-to-teacher ratios and most notably the spike in larger class sizes across the K-12 educational spectrum. These reports lead me to believe that one of the effective teaching qualities those of us responsible for hiring and mentoring new teachers will be the ability to teach and manage large numbers of students.
Effective teachers appear to be in control of multiple variables simultaneously and add to that a new dimension of increased numbers of students and the very dynamic of effective teaching practices are put to the test. Years of research points to a strong correlation between low student-to-teacher ratios as an indicator of student success. Will the emerging variable of higher student-to-teacher ratios mean that students will experience less success? This is a concern all of us in leadership positions now consider as key educational decisions will need to be weighed carefully as budgets shrink and resources disappear.
The teacher who masters the ability to design and deliver effective instructional practices for larger classes may have a marketable skill in the new reality of public education: increased class sizes. Future research of a longitudinal nature may have to be conducted to prove this variable true, but I am guessing that the teacher who proves to be particularly effective with higher numbers of students will be in demand in the not so far future of America’s public schools.
I have long been associated with some remarkable educational leaders from my days at The College of William and Mary in Virginia. In fact my dissertation chair, Dr. James Stronge, published a book for the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, The Qualities of Effective Teachers,(ASCD, 2002) In this wonderful resource James presents in Part I What It Means To Be An Effective Teacher, and in Part II Teacher Effectiveness: Resources You Can Use. Drawing upon many valid and highly regarded sources, Dr. Stronge presents educational colleagues with a blueprint for effective teaching behaviors and a realistic profile of the characteristics of excellent teaching.
The research on teacher preparation, intellectual ability and aptitude, attainment of certifications and specializations, content knowledge, experience and effectiveness, affective characteristics, caring and communicating, knowledge of students as individuals, enthusiasm and motivation, personalization of learning, organization in managing instruction, response to student behaviors, academic interaction, group instructional strategies, differentiation, and high expectations are all discussed in depth by the author. I have used this book time and time again in my leadership role as an educator and found the qualities described to be informative and invaluable. In performing my duties as a school superintendent I often question potential teaching candidates on these qualities to assess their understanding, experience, and preparedness for the classroom.
Most recently, due to the difficult financial conditions confronting America’s public schools, the educational journals and research reports have reported upon the increase in student-to-teacher ratios and most notably the spike in larger class sizes across the K-12 educational spectrum. These reports lead me to believe that one of the effective teaching qualities those of us responsible for hiring and mentoring new teachers will be the ability to teach and manage large numbers of students.
Effective teachers appear to be in control of multiple variables simultaneously and add to that a new dimension of increased numbers of students and the very dynamic of effective teaching practices are put to the test. Years of research points to a strong correlation between low student-to-teacher ratios as an indicator of student success. Will the emerging variable of higher student-to-teacher ratios mean that students will experience less success? This is a concern all of us in leadership positions now consider as key educational decisions will need to be weighed carefully as budgets shrink and resources disappear.
The teacher who masters the ability to design and deliver effective instructional practices for larger classes may have a marketable skill in the new reality of public education: increased class sizes. Future research of a longitudinal nature may have to be conducted to prove this variable true, but I am guessing that the teacher who proves to be particularly effective with higher numbers of students will be in demand in the not so far future of America’s public schools.
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