Announcing the Excellent Educators for All initiative, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said: “Race and family income too often still predict students’ access to excellent educators. That is simply unacceptable. We must do better, and do better together.”
Watch the White House briefing here.
Reviving an unenforced mandate from No Child Left Behind, President Obama and Arne Duncan introduced three components to this initiative:
- By April 2015, states must submit “comprehensive educator equity plans” that detail how they plan to put “effective educators” in front of poor and minority kids.
- To help states write the plans, the Education Department will create a $4.2 million “Education Equity Support Network.”
- This fall, the Education Department will publish “Educator Equity profiles” that highlight which states and districts fare well or poorly on teacher equity. (Huffington Post)
While the details of the plans and their assessment will emerge over time, we hope they are thoughtful, actionable, and well-supported. At TeachBoost, we will work tirelessly to help districts nationwide in meeting their proposed goals. As Duncan says at the end of his announcement, “All students deserve excellent educators.” Rich or poor, black or white, all students deserve the best education possible. The education community must work to put excellent teachers where they’re needed most.
At the end of his announcement, Duncan shares what the DOE considers to be common themes identified among excellent teachers. He explains,
- “Great teachers follow great principals.”
- “Great teachers want to work on a team with other great teachers.”
- “Great teachers need extra help and support, particularly early on in their careers.”
- “Great teachers want to grow and take on additional leadership opportunities.”
- “Great teachers absolutely deserve to be well paid.”
- “Great teachers and principals are in it for the long haul.”
We’ve found dedicated professionals eager to grow, learn, collaborate, and lead in schools all across the country. One theme we’d add, though, is that these professionals are well-supported by a robust, efficient, collaborative, and targeted system of evaluation and professional growth.
Even the best educators need support from their peers and administrators. A teacher evaluation system that treats educators as the professionals they are is therefore vital to the success of the Excellent Educators for All program. We will certainly do our best to support the initiative on our end. We hope the DOE will as well.
