A Highly Qualified Teacher is not Enough to Close the Achievement Gap; It Is Time to Focus on Organizing Schools for Success

Forum Addresses National, State, and Local Strategies to Close Student Achievement Gap By Organizing Schools for Success

WASHINGTON – October 24, 2007 – Every child deserves quality teaching in schools organized for success, according to the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF). NCLB took a big step forward on this agenda with the “highly qualified teacher” provision, but more must be done. NCTAF announced today at a national forum that it is time to take another step forward by focusing on schools organized for success.

The goal of the national event, sponsored by MetLife Foundation, is to focus education leaders on the need to bring the spirit and power of teamwork to schools – teamwork that builds the capacity to improve performance, increase teaching effectiveness, and close achievement gaps.

“Preparing today’s students to participate in a knowledge-based economy is a demanding challenge,” said NCTAF President Tom Carroll. “No teacher should be expected to do this job alone.” Everywhere we look, teams are working to solve problems and improve performance – everywhere, except in factory-era schools where we expect teachers to continue to work alone in self-contained classrooms, Carroll said.

NCTAF states that quality teaching is not an individual accomplishment. It results from the collective effort of teachers who join forces to improve performance beyond what any of them can accomplish alone. It is time to create schools where teamwork begins with the careful induction of new teachers into a learning organization that is sustained through professional development that is embedded in the day-to-day fabric of work in the school, Carroll said.

“For decades we have attempted to manage school improvement with command-and-control, regulatory, prescriptive, or market-based incentives that treat school leaders, teachers, and students like the targets of change rather than the agents of change. We need to replace these approaches with strategies that empower those individuals to lead and shape the reinvention of their own learning organizations,” Carroll said.

The forum discussion focused on transforming schools into genuine learning organizations that use teamwork to close student achievement gaps. A video documentary of the work of Richard J. Murphy School in Boston highlighted the power of teamwork to improve student learning and school performance [the video is available at: www.nctaf.org, under “Learning Teams”].

“Teamwork is essential if we want to retain teachers, improve teaching quality, and increase student learning,” said MetLife Foundation President Sibyl Jacobson. “NCTAF is well positioned to demonstrate the importance of teamwork to close achievement gaps.”

NCTAF also announced a “Pledge to Organize Schools for Success.” NCTAF is inviting national leaders to sign on to the pledge and support educators who are engaged in a cultural transformation of their schools. Details about the pledge can be found in the press packet or at www.nctaf.org.

Speakers and panelists involved in the forum include: Dr. Tom Carroll (moderator), President, National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future; Dr. Jack Dale, Superintendent, Fairfax County Public Schools; Scott Frein, Legislative Director, Council of Chief State School Officers; Harry Gilliam, Teacher, Richard J. Murphy School (in Boston); Gary Huggins, Director, Commission on No Child Left Behind; René Islas, Policy Consultant, National Staff Development Council; A. Richardson Love, Program Manager, MetLife Foundation; U.S. Senator Jack Reed; Melissa Rohrbach, Education Council, Senate HELP Committee; Mary Russo, Principal, Richard J. Murphy School; and Dr. Adam Urbanski, President, Rochester Teachers Association, AFT and Director, Teacher Union Reform Network.

The panel members focused on the following topics:

• Transforming school culture;
• Reinventing the teaching profession;
• Creating genuine learning organizations;
• Closing achievement gaps;
• The role of the teacher union; and
• National, state, and local teacher quality policies.

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The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. NCTAF is dedicated to providing every child with competent, caring, qualified teaching in schools organized for success. With a network coalition of 25 states and links to professional educational organizations across the nation, NCTAF provides leadership on innovation and improvement in teaching and learning in America’s schools. For more information, visit NCTAF’s website: www.nctaf.org.

MetLife Foundation supports programs that increase opportunities for young people to succeed, give students and teachers a voice in improving education, create connections between schools and communities and develop leadership. The Foundation works with national nonprofit organizations to develop a variety of programs, many of which address issues raised each year in The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher. For more information about MetLife Foundation, please visit www.metlife.org.