What does a great teacher look, sound, and feel like? We took a deep dive into the research to create this comprehensive guide.📚
D. Scott Schwartz, M.Ed.
Author | Education Thought Leader | I am helping School Leaders Build 21st Century Schools (check out my website for more info)
We all want to live in a world where teachers are highly respected, well paid and know how to get the job done.
The problem is that seems impossible to achieve.
But why?
Why is it so difficult for every teacher to know how to reach 99% of their students? Why is it so difficult for every teacher to meet the needs of all learners? And lastly, why is it so difficult for every teacher to not feel burnt out from the day to day tasks of teaching?
Why? Why? Why?
If you want to know the answers to those questions, then you came to the right place.
In this article, we will take a deep dive into the research to answer those questions and if you stay to the very end of this article, you will also learn about a practical solution that you can implement in your school that follows this research as well.
So if you're ready to learn the science of teaching, sit back, relax and enjoy this fascinating read into the hidden secrets of great teaching.
The Myths of Teaching
Before we can begin this comprehensive guide, it's important to address two myths of teaching that prevent most teachers from reaching greatness.
Unfortunately, these myths have been passed down from generation to generation without anyone ever questioning them or their origins. Not only do these myths hurt teachers who believe in them, but these myths directly lead to many teachers feeling isolated and that their only option is to quit the profession.
So what are these myths?
Maybe you've heard this myth before.
"It's all about discipline."
On the surface, the myth doesn't seem to be negative at all. Isn't this sound advice to all teachers?
The problem with this myth is that it does not follow what the research says.
What research? And what does it say?
In America, our school system is run by the US Department of Education and 50 State Department of Eds. All 51 agencies endorse the academic research of this organization called "The Center on Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports."
And according to their research, if a classroom has more than 5 class rules, it will not be able to sustain positive reinforcement throughout the year.
In other words, it's not all about discipline.
The truth is that teachers that follow the "discipline approach" end up causing more problems than what they started with. Therefore, the best approach to classroom management is to limit your rules to a maximum of 5 and reinforce those 5 rules consistently and frequently throughout the school year.
This is a brand new myth that popped up right before Covid.
"Homework isn't necessary."
What do you think?
The problem with this myth is that it also does not follow what the research says.
What research? And what does it say?
One of the co-founders of the PLC (professional learning communities) movement is a researcher by the name of Dr. Richard Dufour.
He is an internationally well-known expert in education and considered one of the foremost thought leaders in education today. Therefore, if he says homework is important, why would people be ignoring him?
How confident are you now that homework isn't necessary?
According to Dr. Dufour, homework teaches kids three very important life skills.
The reason why students and parents started to revolt against homework is simply because teachers never heard Dr. Dufour speak. And thus, they didn't realize that homework teaches these three important life skills.
And that's a huge problem.
The fact is that most teachers use homework the wrong way.
This is why students and parents don't like homework.
But the answer isn't to ban homework.
If teachers start to follow the research, they can start to use homework the right way and teach these three critical life long skills to kids.
Source: Dr. Richard Dufour
How to Become a Great Teacher
Isn't learning fun?
Imagine if students went home everyday after they had their mind blown by what they learned in school that day?
This should be the goal.
But how do we get there?
There's one simple reason why over 1 million teachers have quit teaching in the last decade:
Teachers have more questions than solutions in the classroom.
It's a simple equation.
If a teacher doesn't know exactly what they should do or has the self-confidence to follow the research they were taught, then it undermines their ability to teach.
And that's the bottom line.
Therefore, it should be the job of the principal and school to help the teacher find answers and solutions to their everyday classroom problems.
And this is where the K12 system fails teachers.
But not to worry, because in this article, we are going to take a deep dive into the science of great teaching.
Are you ready??
The Great Discovery
You might be asking: "Why isn't this research in every school?"
Why don't teachers have access to this invaluable information?
Those are very good questions and the only answer I can come up with is that no one sat down to try to find the answer. I know that sounds overly simplistic, but after working inside the K12 system for 20 years, this is what I've observed.
When you walk into a school, no one is on the same page.
Teachers think they are supposed to be doing one thing, while principals want teachers to be doing something different, meanwhile parents expect the school to do something else.
Three stakeholders with three different belief systems.
The result is that teachers and principals end up running around like a chicken with its head cut off and not getting anywhere. This is why student test scores have been declining since 1960 and student behaviors have been escalating and overall control over schools is non-existent.
When I first became a school administrator and saw this for my own eyes, I didn't know what to do.
And that's how 99% of school administrators feel as well.
They can see the chaos unfolding before their eyes, but they don't know what they can do about it.
In some cases, many principals feel they are helpless.
But I have good news for them and every school administrator inside the K12 system. You don't have to suffer anymore. You don't need to feel helpless anymore.
What I discovered, when I started to do academic research 25 years ago was find these hidden secrets of great teaching. In other words, I uncovered the science of great teaching.
And this is the most important point.
All of this research has already been vetted, and it's already been peer-reviewed. All that I did was find the different puzzle pieces and start to put the puzzle of great teaching together, so that anyone could see what the total picture looks like.
Want to see what a great teacher looks like?
Why We Need Great Teachers?
We should not assume everyone knows why we need great teachers. Bad assumptions is what got us into this mess in the first place.
Therefore, there are two main reasons why we need great teachers.
Let's look at the first reason together.
Data.
But what data am I talking about?
Dr. Robert Marzano is considered the foremost data expert in education today. He is respected around the globe as an intellectual thought leader.
According to his research, the quality of a teacher has a major impact on student learning. In fact, according to his data, a bad teacher can cost a student up to 3 years of learning lag or loss.
In other words, if a student has a bad teacher one year, it will take them up to three years of schooling to catch back up to a student who had a better quality teacher. But what happens if a student has two bad teachers in a row?
(Source: Dr. Robert Marzano)
This is why it's beyond imperative that every teacher inside the K12 system be at a certain minimum level of proficiency. And anything less is unacceptable.
But what about the second reason?
Supervision.
Unless you have been a building principal, you probably never think about this problem.
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But do you know how difficult it is to supervise bad teachers?
Bad teachers require more supervision, more time, more effort and more resources.
That's the bottom line.
A bad teacher makes 10x more mistakes in class compared to a great teacher.
Not to mention the other benefit to having great teachers in your school.
Great teachers are great resources.
When you have enough great teachers in your school that means you have enough teacher mentors, you have teachers who know how to build positive cultures, and great teachers hold other teachers accountable.
Because here's a little secret no one tells you in Graduate School.
The best accountability system is the one where teachers hold each other to a higher standard.
The problem is you don't realize these benefits unless you supervise a building filled with great teachers. And that's the problem right now.
Most schools in our school system are filled with bad teachers and so principals are at their wit's end trying to get through the day without losing their minds.
I'm hoping you realize that the answer is not to blame teachers for their performance in class.
That's the wrong approach.
The right approach is to show teachers the science of great teaching.
The Science of Great Teaching
Have I built up your anticipation enough?
So what's the secret sauce?
Here's the answer.
There are four key domains that teachers must not only learn, but need to practice until they become great at them. But that's not all.
The real secret to great teaching is principals being on the same page as teachers.
If a tree falls in the forest, but no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?
Great teaching needs to be observed, otherwise is it really great teaching?
But this is exactly where things start to fall through the cracks.
How many principals can honestly say that they know the research behind these four key domain areas?
So here's the first challenge.
What do you think about lesson planning?
It's ok if you don't know the answers to these questions. The problem isn't "not knowing."
The problem is there's no where to "find the answers."
And this is the same problem that teachers run into as well.
Most teachers will admit that they don't know the answer to something that happened in class. In fact, if you just do a casual internet search, you will see thousands of teachers posting questions every single day in teacher forums because they are looking for help and answers.
The problem is facebook shouldn't be their destination.
The solution is to turn every school in America into a resource center for their teachers.
But just thinking about that gets expensive.
Which is why I created this solution for principals and schools.
It's called the Teacher Development Program.
What this program does is formalize teacher growth.
In other words, this program helps novice and struggling teachers learn the research behind the four key domain areas and then helps them practice them in class until they are really great at doing them.
So what are the four key domain areas?
Why Does the Teacher Development Program Work?
I have been running this program since 2009 and 5,000 teachers have benefitted from this program so far. Saying this program is highly effective is an understatement.
If you said YES to any of these questions, then that's why this program works.
The Teacher Development Program is a formal 2-year program that helps teachers learn the research behind the four key domain areas, but also helps them practice them in the classroom on a daily basis.
This is what "professional development" was supposed to look like, but sadly became a bunch of random presenters trying to inspire teachers in a 60 minute "fly by night" speech.
Do you want to keep bringing in strangers to talk to your teachers, or would you rather implement a support program that makes you look like a genius?
As a former principal and superintendent, I wanted my teachers to see me as someone that cared about them and their career growth. I wanted to earn the respect of my staff and faculty.
The best way to earn their trust is to put their needs first.
And teachers need more help and support in the classroom.
That's the bottom line.
Want to Know More?
The truth is I could lecture all day about the four domain areas and how important they are for boosting student achievement, less bullying in school and also how to make the principal's job easier and less stressful.
But you clicked on this article for research.
So here is a quick rundown of the research behind the four domain areas:
When I first started to conduct academic research 25 years ago, I discovered one important take away.
Academic researchers have already answered most of the pressing questions most educators have on a daily basis.
Therefore, why did I need to try and reinvent the wheel?
The real problem in our school system is not that we don't know the answers, the problem is we don't have access to the research.
This is why I developed the Teacher Development Program.
All I did was put all the little puzzle pieces together, so that we could step back and see what the big picture looks like.
If you implement this program in your school this year - you will see dramatic improvement in your teachers.
I'm talking about seeing improvement in:
The Teacher Development Program is the foundation you need to support your staff the right way. And because its so effective, your teachers will turn around and thank you for caring about them.
If you want to show your teachers that you appreciate them, provide them with the research-based program that helps them handle more in the classroom.
In practical terms, this program will help teachers:
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
I was a superintendent in New Jersey. The reason that's an important detail to know is because New Jersey schools sometimes have to close school due to bad weather, such as snow and ice.
But have you ever heard of students leaving voicemail messages "complaining that school was closed before?"
Probably not.
But every time I decided to close school, that's what I would get.
When I would get to school the next day, there would be around 40 voicemail messages from students yelling at me, "Schwartz, why did you close school? There's hardly any snow on the ground!"
Would you like students who Don't Want to Miss School Too?
Then implement the Teacher Development Program and start showing your teachers the science of great teaching.
Sign Up for the Principal's Academy
If you want to know more about the Teacher Development Program or you would like to talk to me directly about this research, then you should sign up for the Principal's Academy newsletter.
Every principal that signs up will have direct access to me throughout the entire school year.
That means, we can discuss the Teacher Development Program, we can discuss the research behind the science of great teaching or any other issue you are facing in your school building.
That's the point.
Become a member of the Principal's Academy and you will start receiving principal mentorship for the school year.
Simply follow the link above to sign up.
You don't have to start this school year isolated and alone anymore. When you sign up for the Principal's Academy newsletter, you will get principal mentorship immediately.
Hope to see you soon!