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A Community Action Guide to
Teacher Quality
Each school day, millions of children attending public
schools across the nation are taught by caring, competent,
knowledgeable teachers. The role that these teachers
play in the lives of young people is enormous. In the
instruction they give, in the encouragement they provide,
and in the dreams they inspire, teachers help children
realize the fullness of human potential.
Research confirms what many of us know from personal
experience: Good teaching matters. And good teaching
has never been more important than now in this era of
standards-based reform. Our nation has set high goals
for student learning, and teachers are the people who
will make that learning happen.
What is the community’s vision for quality teaching?
What role can the community play in ensuring that all
of its children are taught by highly qualified teachers?
How can the community provide the conditions and supports
that teachers need to be successful?
This guide is designed to help communities better understand
teachers and teaching, as well as the community’s
role in achieving high-quality teaching. It is based
on the experiences of eight local education funds—independent
community-based advocacy organizations working to improve
public schools and build citizen support for quality
public education in low-income communities across the
nation—that engaged their communities in an exploration of the quality of teaching in their public schools. These eight
organizations were supported in this important work by a grant from the US
Department of Education administered by Public Education Network.
While teachers, administrators, and policymakers bear
much of the responsibility for the quality of teaching,
they cannot and should not do it alone. In a democratic
society, teaching is a public act. If teaching is to
be strengthened and supported, it needs public understanding
and it must have public action.
We hope this guide will help every community improve
the quality of teaching in its public schools and, ultimately,
the quality of public education for all of our nation’s
children.
Sincerely,
Wendy D. Puriefoy
President
Public Education Network |
