In Bill Gates' (2013) TED Talk entitled, "Teacher need real feedback", he says that teachers receive almost no systematic feedback. He started his talk with the alarming statistic that over 98% of teachers receive only 1 word of feedback from their administrators and that word is, "satisfactory". Since there is no data specifically on how teacher feedback relates to student performance, Gates looked at student proficiency scores in reading, science, and math from countries around the world. The United States is in a 3-way tie for 15th place in reading proficiency, 23rd place in science proficiency, and 31st place for math proficiency. The country that ranks 1st in all three categories is China (specifically Shanghai). Gates looked at the reading proficiency rankings and found that 11 out of the 14 countries that rank higher than the U.S. have a formal system for helping teachers improve and develop their skills. In Shanghai, beginning teachers have the opportunity to observe and learn from more experienced teachers, have weekly teacher study groups to discuss successes and failures in the classroom, and get feedback from their colleagues about the lessons that they regularly observe. Gates created a project entitled, "Measures of Effective Teaching" (MET) where 3,000 teachers across the U.S. are being observed, rated, video taping themselves, and reflecting on their own practices. This self-reflection is important for teachers to be able see what they are actually doing in the classroom and improve upon it. Gates says that teachers need to be given supportive tools and have the opportunity to watch other master teachers at work. In my own teaching, I have been given this "satisfactory" feedback. Although I was also provided with an explanation, it was from an administrator who observed me teach not even 5 times the whole year. Teachers deserve frequent feedback from not only their administrators, but also from their peers in order to develop their skills. But as Gates said in this TED Talk, MET is an expensive process that will take time to show results.
In Ken Robinson's (2013) TED Talk entitled, "How to escape education's death valley", he discusses the dropout crisis and disengaged students in the United States. He attributes the dilemma in U.S. education to 3 main reasons: 1) policy, 2) curiosity, 3) creativity.
Reason #1) policy, relate to lack of administrative support: Robinson says that educational policy, particularly No Child Left Behind (NCLB) promotes conformity rather than diversity. He says that on the contrary, we should be striving towards having a broad curriculum. How does this relate to student motivation? If teachers are forced to follow strict standards and guidelines made by policymakers, who tend to have little to no experience in the actual world of education, this stifles (at times) what can be done in the classroom. For example, NCLB has caused many teachers to "teach to the test". The nature of the lessons taught and the pressure of a looming test puts excess stress on students and forces many into their shells because they would rather not try than try and fail (on said tests). A lack of available resources in schools has also made it difficult to properly and fully teach all of what should be done. Every day teaches, such as myself, are forces to buy their own supplies
Reason #1) policy, relate to lack of administrative support: Robinson says that educational policy, particularly No Child Left Behind (NCLB) promotes conformity rather than diversity. He says that on the contrary, we should be striving towards having a broad curriculum. How does this relate to student motivation? If teachers are forced to follow strict standards and guidelines made by policymakers, who tend to have little to no experience in the actual world of education, this stifles (at times) what can be done in the classroom. For example, NCLB has caused many teachers to "teach to the test". The nature of the lessons taught and the pressure of a looming test puts excess stress on students and forces many into their shells because they would rather not try than try and fail (on said tests). A lack of available resources in schools has also made it difficult to properly and fully teach all of what should be done. Every day teaches, such as myself, are forces to buy their own supplies
Esme Raji Codell's (2009) book entitled, "Educating Esme", is a diary of Esme's first year teaching in a Chicago public elementary school. She details the trials and tribulations, feelings, and celebratory triumphs that she experienced throughout that year. A few times throughout the book she discusses disagreements that she had with her administration. On page 137, she describes a teacher workshop that was provided to them where they were to list their unit titles for the year. An administrator said to Esme, "You can't possibly teach all you say you teach. A teacher can teach a maximum of fourteen units per annum" (p. 137-138). How uninspiring and unmotivating of this administrator! Esme also says this about teacher's meetings: "All these people conspiring to make children's days as boring and meaningless as possible. All the meetings are variations on a theme: How can we all be the same and get the children to do likewise?" (p. 116). With an administration that does not support it's teachers or value their ideas or feedback, teachers begin to feel that their opinions do not matter and that the student's well-being is not always taken into account. Esme's principal once said to her even that "he didn't care what [her] philosophy was, just try to do what he asks for a change" (p. 117). Administrators should be there to encourage their teachers, support the [good] decisions they make in their classrooms, and provide them with resources and feedback to be able to improves their practices. In my experience, my administrator tended to be not very present. They visited my classroom and observed my lessons only a few times, did not provide me with many resources that I needed in order to properly teach (for example, AP Biology labs), and were not very open to change.
Stigler (Willis, 2002) stresses the importance of professional development for teachers and states that it should be long term and curriculum-based. Teachers need to analyze their practice, share their experiences, and collaborate with one another in order to gain more knowledge (Willis, 2002). To become better at what we do, teachers need to help one another and share our knowledge and wisdom within our cohorts. Where I taught, we had Professional Learning Communities (PLC) in which teachers met on a bi-weekly basis to collaborate and help one another. Not all teachers have the opportunity for teacher development or have access to useful professional development opportunities. Like Esme (2009) suggested in her book, many teacher meetings are not actually helpful. It is in the hands of school administrators to provide their teacher with adequate opportunities to continue to learn and grow as a working professional.