Bill Gates: Great Teachers, Great Schools
Great teachers make great schools. It doesn't take an educational expert or years of research to tell you that. But what makes a great teacher? There's a question that every school across the nation and the world would like to know the answer to. However, the true spirit of education is to always be striving towards new information, new ways of doing things, and bringing those new methods back to the classroom to help guarantee a new generation of students the best education that they can get.
Bill Gates has spent a good deal of time and money looking into the question of what makes a good teacher. Coming from the business world and placing a premium on good performance, data recording, and analysis, he has a few ideas on how good teachers operate and how schools can help their teachers improve. How can you make these ideas part of your crusade for great schools for your child?
Gates believes that a major obstacle preventing teacher analysis is information gathering. Too often teachers are not told what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. Principals and other supervisors are often limited in how often they can observe teachers in action in the classroom. New York state actually has a law stating that test and performance data cannot be used during the tenure approval process for teachers.
Many people would say that defensive policies like these are counter-productive and don't encourage teachers to innovate and be the best that they can be. Gates has indicated in various studies that teachers who were observed and evaluated regularly were better able to change and improve their classes. Improvements in data gathering, analysis, and of course inexpensive video recording all allow new ways for educators of all kinds to see which teachers and teaching techniques are most successful and which need to be adjusted.
Get to know your school and its policies. How often are teachers reviewed? What is the average experience of the teaching staff? What role can parents play in the educational review process? Look for schools in your district that reward innovation and new ideas, instead of keeping teachers in place regardless of performance. Find other like-minded parents and citizens to help you bring your concerns to the people in power. Education is the future.