Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
CALL TO ACTION
Investments in principals are investments in teachers
By Frederick Brown
October 2022
There’s no doubt about it — this is a challenging time to be an educator. With the disruption of the pandemic, school safety concerns, political tensions about what teachers should teach, student trauma, and more, it’s no wonder that teachers are reporting high levels of stress, burnout, and thoughts about leaving the profession. Recent reports have presented contradictory conclusions about whether “teacher shortage” is the right phrase to describe what’s happening in the teaching profession today. But what’s clear is that our schools have an acute need to identify, hire, support, and retain more qualified teachers — especially teachers of color, whose numbers are far from representative of the students they serve. More than half of schools in a recent nationally representative study reported that
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References
Aladjem, D.K., Anderson, L.M., Riley, D.L., & Turnbull, B.J. (2021, February). Principal pipeline self-study guide for districts. Policy Studies Associates. www.wallacefoundation
Bleiberg, J.F. & Kraft, M.A. (2022, August). What happened to the K-12 education labor market during COVID? The acute need for better data systems. Annenberg Institute at Brown University. www.edworkingpapers.com/ai22-544
Gates, S.M., Baird, M.D., Master, B.K., & Chavez-Herrerias, E.R. (2019). Principal pipelines: A feasible, affordable, and effective way for districts to improve schools. RAND Corporation. www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/Principal-Pipelines-A-Feasible-Affordable-and-Effective-Way-for-Districts-to-Improve-Schools.pdf
Hart Research. (2022, September 15). Voices from the classroom: Developing a strategy for teacher retention and recruitment. Author. transformschools.ucla.edu/voices-from-the-classroom/
Institute of Education Sciences. (2022). 2022 school pulse panel. Author. ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/spp/
Learning Forward. (2022). Standards for Professional Learning. Author.
McMurdock, M. (2022, September 22). Traditional university teacher ed programs face enrollment declines, staff cuts. The74. www.the74million.org/article/traditional-university-teacher-ed-programs-face-enrollment-declines-staff-cuts/
Podolsky, A., Kini, T., Bishop, J., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2016, September 15). Solving the teacher shortage: How to attract and retain excellent educators. Learning Policy Institute. learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/solving-teacher-shortage
Steiner, E.D., Doan, S., Woo, A., Gittens, A.D. Lawrence, R.A., Berdie, L., Wolfe, R.L., Greer, L., & Schwartz, H.L. (2022). Restoring teacher and principal well-being is an essential step for rebuilding schools. RAND Corporation. www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-4.html
Sutcher, L., Darling-Hammond, L., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2019, April 8). Understanding teacher shortages: An analysis of teacher supply and demand in the United States. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27(35). epaa.asu.edu/index.php/epaa/article/view/3696
Frederick Brown is Learning Forward’s president | CEO. Fred is an education visionary who knows firsthand that our nation’s schools need transformational change if we are to meet the challenges of the next decades. Fred advocates that every child deserves to reach their highest potential and every educator must have the opportunity to participate in exemplary, ongoing, professional learning programs to provide students the skills needed to meet their unique needs.
Supporting educators at all levels and improving student achievement are through lines of Fred's career. An elementary school teacher, a middle school assistant principal, and school principal, Fred saw firsthand the impact high-leverage instructional practices and school culture have on school success.
Fred is a frequent speaker on leadership and building high-quality learning in schools. He has co-authored two books that have made significant contributions to the field of education, demonstrating how a comprehensive approach to professional learning can be achieved so that everyone in a system is a learner, and how principals apply a learning lens to their many critical responsibilities to create a productive climate for learning and collaboration. "Becoming a Learning System" and "The Learning Principal -- Becoming a Learning Leader" are time-tested Learning Forward resources for schools and leaders.
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