Teacher Quality, Teaching Quality and School Improvement.Leslie S. Kaplan and William A. Owings provide an excellent body of research in Teacher Quality, Teaching Quality and School Improvement that reveals a path to better qualified teachers and better student achievement. The authors document research showing teacher preparation programs have a far greater influence on student achievement than other factors such as class size, overall spending and teacher salaries. To assure high quality in teacher preparation, Kaplan and Owings recommend that schools incorporate testing programs, such as the Praxis prax·is n. pl. prax·es 1. Practical application or exercise of a branch of learning. 2. Habitual or established practice; custom. II, into their teaching training. Mentorship programs have reduced the attrition rate Noun 1. attrition rate - the rate of shrinkage in size or number rate of attrition rate - a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit; "they traveled at a rate of 55 miles per hour"; "the rate of change was faster than expected" of teachers who leave the field within their first five years of teaching from 30 percent to 5 percent in several major school districts, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the authors. These mentors provide dayto-day support for the mechanics of teaching, moral support in adjusting to the school culture, and collegial col·le·gi·al adj. 1. a. Characterized by or having power and authority vested equally among colleagues: "He . . . dialogue on how to improve student performance. Mentorship programs provide administrators with a significant avenue of opportunity to retain good teachers. Kaplan and Owings provide examples of successful programs that can be replicated and adjusted to school districts that are also concerned about retaining good teachers. (Teacher Quality, Teaching Quality, and School Improvement by Leslie S. Kaplan and William A. Owings, Phi Delta Kappa Phi Delta Kappa is an international professional organization for educators. Journal The Phi Delta Kappan is a professional journal for education, published by Phi Delta Kappa. International, Bloomington, Ind., 2003, 72 pp., $12.95 softcover soft·cov·er adj. Not bound between hard covers: softcover books; a softcover edition. ) Jerry Horgen Adjunct Professor, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minn. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion