Effective Teachers

We must focus on recruiting and keeping an effective teacher in every Oakland classroom. Current studies confirm that among in-school factors, teacher effectiveness is the single most important factor in student learning. Further, effective teaching can close achievement gaps and overcome the impact of poverty on student learning and educational attainment.

We want our children to graduate with strong mathematical reasoning skills, a sound grasp of science and the arts, strong writing skills, world-class capacity for creativity and innovation, and strong understanding of civics and leadership. But all this is impossible unless their teachers have the knowledge and skills we want our children to have.

Effective teaching will be assured when...

• Community and educational leaders have a shared understanding of current research on effective teachers, and are committing to uncompromising high standards for the adults we offer the privilege of serving our children.
• School sites make their own decisions about financial resources, time, and staffing. This enables schools to create working conditions that treat teachers as professionals.
• Teachers are: provided time and compensation for collaborating with each other and for participating in relevant professional development; recognized, accountable, and rewarded for their impact on student learning and achievement; and provided opportunities for professional growth.
• Teachers use multiple data sources to assess and adjust instruction, student interventions, professional development, and curriculum decisions.
• Teachers consistently review student work against student learning standards, and assess and adjust teaching practice to better serve student needs.
• Principals have the authority and support to recruit, select, develop, and keep or dismiss teachers and other school staff. This ensures that all schools have high-performing staffs that are committed to that school's vision and approach.
• School sites are provided with budgets, resources, training and tools to build the capacity of their staffs, ensuring that all are focused on high performance student outcomes and standards of work.
• We have a higher base salary for teachers, as well as incentives to retain and reward effective teachers and those who choose to teach in high-needs communities, that is, teachers are paid more!
• Teacher salaries are competitive with those of surrounding districts and communities.
• The teacher recruitment program is powerful enough to attract and recruit the strongest candidates, and effectively induct them into the system; Oakland leaders collaborate with those organizations that have shown that they can recruit and train teachers who positively impact student learning.

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