Effective Teaching Communities

Publication April 201615 pagesTysza GandhaAndy Baxter

Lessons from high-needs, high-performing Delaware schools

Teachers hold the greatest potential impact on student achievement compared to every other in-school factor. Yet schools with the greatest needs, those with a high percentage of low-income students and students of color, face the greatest teacher and leader turnover. They also often have less experienced and less effective teachers, according to national analyses.

SREB’s educator effectiveness team set out to find high-needs schools where teachers and students were beating these odds. What we found was a consistent theme: teachers who learn together teach better. Teachers and administrators at three Delaware schools showed evidence that staff who can create an effective teaching community help students make extraordinary gains in learning.

Learn more about what it means to be an effective teaching community in Effective Teaching Communities, part of the Southern Regional Education Board’s Spotlight Series. What can we learn from the success of these schools in Delaware? What implications do they hold for educator effectiveness policies and practices?

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