{"id":262078,"date":"2010-02-01T15:40:12","date_gmt":"2010-02-01T20:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"tag:business.theatlantic.com,2010:\/\/3.35132"},"modified":"2010-02-01T14:46:22","modified_gmt":"2010-02-01T19:46:22","slug":"what-makes-a-great-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/262078","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Great Teacher?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the day President Obama’s budget plans an overhaul of US education policy, it’s probably appropriate to finally pass along this excellent Atlantic magazine piece<\/a> about what makes a great teacher.<\/p>\n

\n

What did<\/i> predict success, interestingly, was a history of
\nperseverance–not just an attitude, but a track record. In the
\ninterview process, Teach for America now asks applicants to talk about
\novercoming challenges in their lives–and ranks their perseverance
\nbased on their answers. Angela Lee Duckworth, an assistant professor of
\npsychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and her colleagues have
\nactually quantified the value of perseverance. In a study published in The<\/i>Journal of Positive Psychology<\/i>
\nin November 2009, they evaluated 390 Teach for America instructors
\nbefore and after a year of teaching. Those who initially scored high
\nfor “grit”–defined as perseverance and a passion for long-term goals,
\nand measured using a short multiple-choice test–were 31 percent more
\nlikely than their less gritty peers to spur academic growth in their
\nstudents. Gritty people, the theory goes, work harder and stay
\ncommitted to their goals longer. (Grit also predicts retention of
\ncadets at West Point, Duckworth has found.) <\/p>\n

But another trait seemed to matter even more. Teachers who scored
\nhigh in “life satisfaction”–reporting that they were very content with
\ntheir lives–were 43 percent more likely to perform well in the
\nclassroom than their less satisfied colleagues. These teachers “may be
\nmore adept at engaging their pupils, and their zest and enthusiasm may
\nspread to their students,” the study suggested. <\/p>\n

In general, though, Teach for America’s staffers have discovered
\nthat past performance–especially the kind you can measure–is the best
\npredictor of future performance. Recruits who have achieved big,
\nmeasurable goals in college tend to do so as teachers. And the two best
\nmetrics of previous success tend to be grade-point average and
\n“leadership achievement”–a record of running something and showing
\ntangible results. If you not only led a tutoring program but doubled
\nits size, that’s promising. <\/p>\n

This year, D.C. public schools have begun using a new evaluation system
\nfor all faculty and staff, from teachers to custodians. Each will
\nreceive a score, just like the students, at the end of the year. For
\nteachers whose students take standardized tests, like Mr. Taylor, half
\ntheir score will be based on how much their students improved. The rest
\nwill be based largely on five observation sessions conducted throughout
\nthe year by their principal, assistant principal, and a group of master
\neducators. Throughout the year, teachers will receive customized
\ntraining. At year’s end, teachers who score below a certain threshold
\ncould be fired.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n



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On the day President Obama’s budget plans an overhaul of US education policy, it’s probably appropriate to finally pass along this excellent Atlantic magazine piece about what makes a great teacher. What did predict success, interestingly, was a history of perseverance–not just an attitude, but a track record. In the interview process, Teach for America […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}