Our View: New ideas in teaching yield dramatic results

With a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, a master's in biomedical engineering and no teaching credentials, Mark Ware, 25, might strike people as out of place in a Houston alternative school instructing students who failed in regular public school. But Ware's inexperience didn't prevent fellow teachers from recently voting him teacher of the year at Alta Charter School.
Another unlikely teacher is 23-year-old Ash Solar, who just finished his first year at Ryan Elementary School in a poor neighborhood in Houston. Unlike other teachers there, Solar grew up in an affluent part of Houston, attended private schools and graduated from an Ivy League college. But he connected with the students. Although Solar's Hispanic students started the year unable to write a paragraph in English, 89% ended up passing the state's writing test.
What Solar and Ware have in common is both just completed their first year in Teach for America. Since 1990, the non-profit program has placed more than 10,000 graduates from the nation's top colleges in school districts facing the toughest education challenges. In spite of their lack of classroom experience, they have improved students' math performance more than experienced teachers have, and they've proved as effective in reading instruction as classroom veterans, according to a study released by the research firm Mathematica this month.
The reason why new teachers lacking formal training can be so successful in the classroom is no mystery. Solar and Ware represent what's missing in schools: enthusiasm, idealism and a rigorous college education. Teachers coming through traditional-preparation routes too often lack those qualities. Students aspiring to be teachers score lower on college-admission tests than those planning other careers, and, in many states, veteran teachers have difficulty passing certification tests pegged to knowledge high school seniors are expected to master.
In fact, a decade of experimentation in education reform has led to the conclusion that a lack of effective teachers is the main impediment to raising the standards of failing public schools. Poor teaching keeps low-performing schools stuck in that rut, numerous research studies have found. By contrast, students assigned highly effective teachers three years in a row will see their ranking based on test scores more than double, according to several studies by education researchers in Tennessee in the 1990s.
The lack of strong teachers is all the more disturbing because tools for boosting their performance are within the reach of nearly all school districts.
Among the proven ways:
•Tie pay to performance. Teachers are typically paid based on the years they spend in the classroom, not their effectiveness. After Phoenix's Madison School District experimented with a performance-based pay system in 1999, student achievement soared in four schools in poor neighborhoods three years later. One of the schools, Madison Rose Elementary, won Arizona's top school award this year. Bonuses for top teachers run as high as $15,000, nearly a 40% boost over the average salary of $40,000.
•Keep good teachers. Chattanooga, Tenn., pays $5,000 bonuses and tuition for master's programs to retain effective teachers in poor-performing schools. The effort has reduced turnover by 50% over two years, and the number of third-grade students able to read at their grade level or higher increased 50% during that time.
•Recruit non-traditional teachers. Teach for America succeeds by luring excellent students who otherwise might not consider a teaching career. Some states have other ways to attract strong candidates who lack teaching degrees. Texas used mentors provided by school districts to train more than half its new hires this past school year.
•Improve teacher colleges. Education reformers have long complained about weak teacher colleges. Now efforts are underway to improve them. In Ohio, for example, researchers are sifting through student test scores to help the University of Dayton identify effective classroom teachers. Lessons learned from observing those teachers will help Dayton's education professors improve their curriculums.
Teachers' unions say paying teachers for their performance can backfire by making the school climate too competitive. Other factors, such as how much districts spend on education, better explain why many students fare poorly in school, they say.
Certainly, U.S. schools have thousands of dedicated and highly qualified teachers, but far too few of them work where they are in critical need: the poorest and most challenging schools.
Teach for America and other innovative programs are trailblazing paths to find those good teachers. Now, the nation's school districts need to muster the will to follow.

Opposing View: Solution isn't that simple
By Reg Weaver
When common sense and research meet, they should provide guideposts for action. Parents and teachers have long understood the value of parental involvement, teacher quality and class size from direct experience. Numerous research studies confirm the impact those factors have on student achievement. And public opinion recognizes that after parental involvement, teacher quality and class size make the biggest difference in how much students learn.
Unfortunately, policymakers too often look for the flashy, cure-all remedies when what is needed is a comprehensive approach that takes into account all of the factors that address teacher quality. Again, research confirms what common sense suggests — that schools must address a range of issues, such as teacher preparation, entry-level requirements, ongoing evaluation and professional development, and compensation to get the type of teachers that parents want and students need.
Every year, well-intentioned people issue reports or proposals to address teacher quality. But the National Education Association and its affiliates are involved in taking on these issues every day — before school boards, state boards of education and legislatures. We've been at this work since 1857, and we will continue as long as we exist.
Proposals to pay some teachers more than others do nothing to motivate all teachers and simply create a competitive environment, in contrast to efforts that foster teamwork among teachers and achieve the goal of a qualified teacher in every classroom. Proposals to make it easier to fire teachers do nothing to address the challenges schools face in attracting qualified teachers to take their place.
We can and must take steps to attract and keep smart, energetic and committed people in the teaching profession. And we must also work to address other issues that affect student achievement.
Students can't learn when they are hungry or sick. Expanding access to nutrition and health care programs are essential parts of education reform. Low-income students are less likely to participate in developmental child care programs and all-day kindergarten. Both have proved effective in promoting long-term educational achievement. Helping young parents understand how they can help their children by reading to them and staying involved in their academic lives can also make a huge difference. The need to boost parental involvement argues less for a government program than for better communication between parents and teachers.
It's clear what won't work — more finger-pointing and simplistic solutions. Teachers and parents must work together. Schools and communities must work together. And policymakers must listen to the views of teachers and parents.
If we all do our part, we can make public schools great for every child.

Reg Weaver is president of the National Education Association.