Teacher Learning: Sine Qua Non of School Innovation

By Stephanie Hirsh

It’s hard not to get swept up in all the excitement over educational innovation, given the amounts of money and attention the Obama administration has committed to the cause. And yet, I find myself troubled by a core part of the current reform agenda.

Lately, it seems, policymakers have seriously underestimated the strength of the nation’s teaching force. This has caused them to emphasize recruiting, retaining, and replacing teachers, and to overlook what decades of research has shown to be the far better long-term strategy for increasing student achievement: improving learning conditions for all teachers.

You wouldn’t know it from current discussions about teacher effectiveness, but the talent and expertise needed to raise student achievement already exist in many, if not most, schools. Unfortunately, too few of them have a culture that encourages teachers and administrators to work together on a regular basis, to consult each other more often on matters of teaching and learning, to share responsibilities for instructional improvement, and to implement professional-learning opportunities that address both their...