Set Up Teachers for Success for 21st Century Student Learning

Research suggests that teachers are as important as ever. The RAND Corporation finds that teachers are the most important school-related factor influencing student success. Yet fewer people are graduating with teaching degrees and many current teachers are struggling with low morale. These factors, understandably, have school districts concerned about attracting and keeping top teachers in their schools.

Thankfully, there are steps districts can take to recruit and retain top teachers.

Dr. Lori McEwen, a former assistant superintendent and chief of instruction with three decades’ experience in education, partners with district leaders across the country. Together, they plan strategically and implement student-centered, equity-focused initiatives. Dr. McEwen has:

• Developed tools that school leaders can use to determine which candidates are best suited to serve the district’s unique
• Created professional development opportunities that keep educators engaged and growing
• Supported district leaders in crafting portraits of successful student personas and teacher personas, helping them to answer the question: what does success look like in your schools?

Start With the Students: Creating a Portrait of a Learner

Finding the right teachers begins with identifying the desired outcomes for students. Every school wants to equip students with the skills they need to adapt and thrive both now and in the future — but which skills are deemed most important may vary from district to district.

For that reason, Dr. McEwen advises districts to assemble a diverse group of people to develop what she calls a “portrait of a learner.” It’s a composite of the attitudes and competencies school leaders want students to develop over the course of their academic career.

Dr. McEwen finds that, across districts, similar skills essential to 21st century life “come up over and over again.” They include:

• Innovative thinking
• Collaborative working styles
• Clear communication
• Creative problem-solving
• Growth and learner mindsets

For districts who haven’t yet created one, Dr. McEwen encourages them to look at those made by other districts to get a sense of what to do.

“You want to get a whole bunch of folks together to say, ‘What is it the kids need to know and be able to do in the future? What do we need to develop in them?’ Get a group together of teachers, parents, and kids, and you’ll be able to develop that.”

Continue with Teachers: Creating a Portrait of an Educator

Once a district has a good grasp on what they want to develop in their students, they can use that knowledge to determine the attributes their educators need to be successful.

McEwen says that a portrait of an educator should answer the following: “What are the essential skills, attitudes, attributes, and dispositions necessary to create schools and classrooms of deep and joyful learning?”

The right person to create the ideal type of classroom will depend on the end goals outlined in the portrait of the student. “If we want to build risk takers in our students, how do we reward and elicit risk-taking in our teachers?”

Districts can use their portrait of an educator as an aid to assess which teaching candidates will best suit their open positions. They can use the portrait as an aspirational guide for new hires few if any teachers will meet all the ideal standards outlined in the profile from the get-go, but each can grow. That’s where the district comes in. “For school and district leaders, how are we supporting our educators to develop these skills in themselves so that they feel comfortable modeling them for students?” asks McEwen.

Update Both Every 3-5 Years

Educator and student profiles are not set in stone. McEwen advises setting up committees that regularly check on the efficacy of those profiles. “You want to say, ‘Are we developing what we said we were going to develop? If we’re not, is it because something else has emerged as a priority and something has not been as important? Is the language exclusionary to some people?’” Revisions can be made based on those answers, and profiles can be updated every three to five years.

You want to say, ‘Are we developing what we said we were going to develop? If we’re not, is it because something else has emerged as a priority and something has not been as important? Is the language exclusionary to some people?

Reflect On District Policies To Support Students and Educators

Once these aspirational guides are established, Dr. McEwen suggests that it’s the districts responsibility to then look inward, asking questions of their own policies:

• “How have we or have we not developed the essential conditions under which innovative, collaborative, and analytical educators thrive?”
• “Are your teachers empowered to say, ‘Hey, we as a group of teachers would like to do something a little bit differently?’”
• Which systems can be left in place and which need to be revamped?

When district policies can truly support a learner-centric culture, students and educators both benefit.

Using Professional Development

Another way the system can support its educators is by using professional development to build up the skills and competencies the district wants its teachers to model.

McEwen recommends using a variety of practices to do this:

• Instructional coaches: A district taps their own teachers to take a deeper look at what it means to deliver high-quality instruction. Those teachers then occupy a coaching and support role for their peers.
• Teacher mentorship programs: New teachers partner with seasoned educators who have a track record of developing the competencies outlined in the district’s portrait of a learner.
• Committee leadership: Allowing teachers to lead their own professional learning communities, with a focus on the competencies outlined in the portrait of an educator.
• District “university”: A district-developed plan for professional learning, with micro-credentialing, potentially in partnership with an institute of higher education.

School districts have every reason to be concerned about attracting and retaining the best teachers they can find. With an educator profile in place, they can find educators who fit their schools’ needs, and help them strive to be the best teachers they can be.

Dr. McEwen has provided resources to help you create your own educator profiles. You can find them here, along with her webinar.