...Meeting the Challenges of Stakeholder Engagement and Communication: Lessons From Teacher Incentive Fund Grantees The Harvesting Project Julia E. Koppich J. Koppich & Associates Meeting the Challenges of Stakeholder Engagement and Communication: Lessons From Teacher Incentive Fund Grantees As of August 2010, a total of 33 states, school districts, charter school coalitions, and other education organizations¹ had received Teacher Incentive Funds (TIF) to redesign compensation programs for teachers and principals. The U.S. Department of Education named a new cohort of TIF grantees on September 23, 2010. TIF grantees have faced a number of challenges as they have worked to design and implement new educator pay programs. Among the most demanding challenges has been developing a targeted set of metrics around available and manageable data. Grantees use these metrics to measure teacher or principal effectiveness and assign pay. Recently, grantees have made it a priority to sustain operation programs once their federal funding expires. TIF grantees have also found, often belatedly and unexpectedly, that effective stakeholder engagement and communication are challenging and essential to the success of their pay programs. Stakeholder engagement helps to create buy-in and initial acceptance of the TIF plan. It allows different voices and perspectives to be heard and recognized as new approaches to compensation develop. Communication provides the synergy to broaden buy-in and...
Words: 7252 - Pages: 30
...‘C’mon PE (TE) it’s time to get changed for dance’ (Keyworth and Smith, 2003: 107). A small-scale investigation into the challenges faced by the teacher in teaching dance activities as part of the Physical Education National Curriculum, and the impact of the teaching upon the response of pupils in relation to learning. Use literature; autobiography, personal reflection, questionnaire and observation data; and unit materials to support your responses to the following: Some pupils are very good at reading the spaces in team sports, while others read music fluently. Some find mental calculations easy; some are good at constructing 3D objects; some express ideas elegantly through dance (Arthur and Cremin, 2010: 278). It is clear from this quote alone that dance has an important role to play within the development of learning of some pupils. Tinning (2009) believe that the holistic approach incorporated within the teaching and leaning in dance is essential to allow a child’s full, embodied experience, seeking to nurture ‘thinking bodies’ and ‘moving minds’. Dance can provide an ideal vehicle through which children can start to explore and establish confidence in the processes, appreciating, composing and performing which are three ‘key factors in determining teaching and learning programs’ Smith-Autard (1994:1). Schools that incorporate dance programs within their curriculum have found that the educational experiences for both learners and staff members alike are enriched...
Words: 4700 - Pages: 19
...Today, classrooms are getting more varied and diverse with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and students with a disability. It appears that teachers must meet the needs of all students successfully and individually to effectively teach a classroom of diverse students. This paper will first identify three challenges involved with ensuring that teaching strategies are appropriate for culturally diverse children. These three challenges are acknowledging there is a difference and that all students are not the same, establishing school-wide cultural collaboration, and implementing culturally responsive teaching. Second it will discuss these cultural challenges in the classroom using the sociological perspective of conflict theory. Third and finally it will discuss these cultural challenges in the classroom using the relevant perspective of Piaget’s preoperational stage of development. To make certain that all students in a certain classroom justly feel like they belong to that class, teachers who teach in diverse and inclusive classrooms must employ major strategies. The first challenges involved with ensuring that teaching strategies are appropriate for culturally diverse children is acknowledging there is a difference and that all students are not the same. To be effective teachers, the teachers are expected to acknowledge that every child in the classroom is unique and different. Every child has a distinct learning style, personality, distinctive characteristics...
Words: 1312 - Pages: 6
...As teachers of multi-grade school, you are normally faced with more challenges and constraint than a teacher in a mono-grade school or class. Multi-grade teaching has remained an unrecognized phenomenon globally including Jamaica. Base on this concern the writer sets out to introduce you to the nature of the multi-grade school and the challenges that principal, teachers and students experiences in the implementing curriculum instruction. Multi-grades are found in very rural or remote communities, where population are scattered. Within these areas there are not many teachers or students, so one classroom has different age group and grade. These students are in one class and taught by one teacher; for example one class comprises of grades 1, 2, 3, &4, 5, 6 or 1&2, 3&4 and 5&6. The multi-grade class structure is known by various names in different countries; these include 'composite' or 'combination' classes, 'double' classes, 'split' classes, 'mixed-age' classes and 'vertically-grouped' classes (Veenman, 1995). Multi-grade school can be defined as a class in which students of two or more adjacent grade levels are taught in one classroom by the one teacher for most if not all of the day, such multi-grade classes are embedded within the traditional graded system: students retain their grade level labels and are promoted through the school with their grade level cohort (Mason & Burns, 1996; Veenman, 1995). Expectations of Teachers in Multi-grade Schools While...
Words: 1912 - Pages: 8
...Challenges and Rewards of Teaching Ever since I was a child I have known in my heart and soul that I want nothing more than to be a teacher someday. Being a teacher is one of the most rewarding careers one can have, however, there are also challenges to be faced in this field. Three rewards of being a teacher include student improvement and growth, improving as a teacher, and appreciation, and three challenges include student behavior management, effective communication, and differentiation among students. The most rewarding aspect of being a teacher, in my own opinion, is seeing your students learn and grow each and everyday. Being able to take them from a starting point in the beginning of the year and watch them expand their minds and knowledge as the year progresses is one of the most remarkable things. In my own personal experience working at my local daycare I have learned that it is incredible to see a child light up when they have learned something new as a direct result from your teaching. It provides a sense of accomplishment not only for the student, but for the teacher as well. Another reward of teaching is self-improvement. When most people think of school they probably think of it as a place for just students to learn. The way I see it, however, it is a place for both the student and the teacher to learn. I believe that everyday in the classroom provides an opportunity for the students and teacher to learn something from one another. One way of improving...
Words: 989 - Pages: 4
...Being a teacher can be one of the most rewarding careers in todays time. When thinking about what a teacher does truly is amazing. Teachers are the ones who teach people of all ages. They shape the future for ones life by setting them up with the knowledge they need to succeed. Along with that, they also get to gain relationships with their students which can result in a more positive learning environment. Now having the job one faces both challenges, and rewards. Three of these challenges are being able to manage time, building relationships with students, and executing the lesson in an effective way for various learners. Some of the rewards of being a teacher, the best part, is once one has built relations with students, knowing that students learned what they needed for the day, and students having a positive attitude coming, during, and leaving the classroom. Managing time will be one of the hardest challenges for first year teachers. Planning a lesson, being in the classroom and ready to go when the students walk in, staying after class to end the day, than going home with stacks of papers to grade will be very exhausting. It is going to take a lot of time for a new teacher to get a routine going. It may take trial and error until they have one that fits them. Especially if a teacher has a family at home they have to take care of as well at the end of the day. Thinking about one having to be up and active and on top of things in a classroom and at home seems almost impossible...
Words: 1104 - Pages: 5
...The Rewards and Challenges of being a Teacher First day of school! First day of teaching! First day to change children's lives! Many first time teachers get discouraged because they aren’t prepared for their first year of teaching. Starting your first job at a new school can be intimidating because you don’t know what that year has in store for you. However it’s okay if you ask other teachers for advice as you work with students throughout the year. Being a teacher comes with a lot of challenges and rewards. Some rewards that I will face while teaching are building relationships with students and parents, influence a child's life, and share my passion for teaching with students. Some of the challenges that I will face while teaching are time management, bullying, and conflict between students. To begin with teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs. A national survey found that teachers are generally satisfied with their career choices and their level of satisfaction has increased in the last 25 years (MetLife, 2009). Teachers have the opportunity to build relationships with students and their parents making their bonds very strong. The teachers spend most of their time with parent’s children and it's important to let parents know that they will be taken care of. I believe that it is important to know each student individually and make every one of them feel like they are important to the teacher and to their classmates. In addition one challenge that I will face is time management...
Words: 903 - Pages: 4
...Teaching Strategies Monica Santo SOC 312: Child, Family, & Society Instructor: Jeanette Maxey July 13, 2015 Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Strategies Teachers in today’s classrooms have a challenging position in making sure to use developmentally appropriate teaching strategies with culturally diverse children. Not all children learn and understand information in the same way especially, when coming from different cultures. Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) teaching strategies can aid teachers in helping children meet certain learning goals. Teachers can select a DAP teaching strategy that is suitable with the particular culturally diverse classroom to help every child learn. Although DAP teaching strategies are effective for culturally diverse children, teachers may encounter challenges when utilizing a teaching strategy. Stereotyping is a challenge that teachers may encounter when ensuring teaching strategies are developmentally appropriate for culturally diverse children. Teachers should not make decisions about a child such as who the child is or their abilities based on their culture. Teachers may compare one child to another when the children share the same cultural background and then assume that using the same teaching strategy will be effective for all children from that same culture. A teacher should not base a child’s abilities or weaknesses on the culture of the child. Even positive stereotyping does not get positive results. Kemick (2010) noted...
Words: 924 - Pages: 4
...next bubble. Facebook will replace classroom instruction. Textbooks will go away, and some colleges will, too. In other words, everything is going to change. Or, at least, that's the talk we in education and technology regularly hear these days. It sounds exciting—and, to some, scary. But it also sounds like what I heard during the dot-com boom of the 1990s when a lot of companies—including Blackboard—began using technology to "disrupt" the education status quo. Since then we've made some important progress, but in many ways the classroom still looks the same as it did 100 years ago. So what's different this time? Is all the talk just hype? Or are we really starting to see the beginnings of major change? [Read the U.S. News Debate: Are Teachers Overpaid?] I believe we are. There are a lot of reasons but one of the biggest is the way that technology has given rise to a new kind of education consumer—the active learner—who is using technology to drive change in ways that we haven't seen before. In the past, change was usually a top-down process, led by campus administrators, district leaders, and other officials. It was often slow in coming, if at all. Look at technology: Mainframe computing gave way to client/server computing and later intranet computing. These shifts were slow and phased—an orderly rollout from the administration with little urgency or room for consumer choice. And why would there be? Typically students had few choices of any kind, particularly before new options...
Words: 4111 - Pages: 17
...I stated m caee in an The Challenges Facing Beginning Teachers New teachers bring varying backgrounds, motivations, experiences, and preparation levels to their initial teaching experience. Their view of the profession and their role in it is shaped by these motivations, as well as by the context in which they begin their work. This chapter explores the commitments that new teachers bring to their roles and the challenges they face. It sets forth the need for the development of a comprehensive induction program to help all new teachers become fully committed and more effective in the classroom. A CASE OF BEGINNING TEACHING Anna was a first-year teacher in an urban school. Although Business was her undergraduate major, she found her initial foray into the business world to be very unsatisfying. She wanted a career that would allow her to make a contribution to society. She heard about the need for teachers— particularly for math teachers—in her area. Not being quite sure what she needed to do to become eligible to work in a teaching capacity, she attended a recruitment fair put on by the local school district. There she heard about the program that would allow her to begin teaching while she completed work on a teaching credential through a district-led or a university-led alternative certification program. 1 Bartell 01.qxd 7/21/04 5:45 PM Page 1 After taking a test that measured her “basic skills” (reading, math, and writing), she was sent on some interviews at several middle...
Words: 7754 - Pages: 32
...Running head: Teaching students with EBD Challenges of Teaching Students with EBD Anissa R. Dillard Grand Canyon University SPE558 February 1, 2011 When it comes to teaching students with Emotional and behavior disorders the first thing that comes to mind is the saying “it takes a village”. Educating students with EBD is a challenging feat that requires the cooperation of a host of individuals beginning with parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, school counselors, and in some cases social workers and medical professionals. In the academic world these group of individuals in a called a SPED team. This team works together to strategize and implement proper intervention techniques to help the EBD student overcome the academic and social issues that can be a result of the underlying disorder. Challenges The first major challenge of educating students with EBD is defining exactly what EBD is. According to IDEA, emotional and behavior disorders: EBD is a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance: An inability to learn which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. A tendency...
Words: 1414 - Pages: 6
...Number：11011494 Submission date：16/12/2013 Introduction Most people has an incorrect perception that teacher is a simple occupation with plenty of holidays. However teaching essentially involves many difficult and challenging work tasks. In Hong Kong, teachers especially have been put on a lot of burden that come from increasingly educational accountability and the pressure originate from student, school, parents, society and etc. This is particularly true for new teacher where they are lack of experience to deal with pressure and stress coming from the challenges of their job. This paper discusses the issue that related to the new teachers and the ways to foster resilience in beginning teaching and its implication for my future practice. This paper is divided into three major aspects. Firstly, discuss the hurdles and the problems of being new teachers in different areas which included 1) Students. 2) School, its policies and collegial interactions. 3) Parents. 4) Commodity. Secondly, explore the meaning of resilience which includes its concept, developmental assets and importance to the beginning teachers. Thirdly, deliver resilience skills for new teachers. 1. Challenges in different areas for the beginning teachers 1.1 Collaboration with students The most challenging aspect that faced by new teachers is classroom management. As a first-year teacher, they do not have much experience, professional skills and unprepared for dealing with behaviour problems in...
Words: 2912 - Pages: 12
...disservice to teachers and ultimately to its students. As public employees, the Detroit school teachers advocate for their jobs, respect, and cost-effective training opportunities. This paper examines the financial and benefit challenges of Detroit Public School District and the salary components of Detroit Public School Teachers. According to analyst and state education officials, the financial challenge with Detroit Public School District is tied to “declines in state aid, falling enrollment, caps on cash-flow borrowing, and the districts' unwillingness to make deep cuts, (Devitt, 2013). Additionally, the employee benefit challenges of Detroit School Teachers is that teachers were denied retirement benefits and given low salaries compared to teachers in other districts. Information has been obtained from Devry University Library articles, journals, educational websites, and a documentary. Strategies detailed in this paper emphasize theories to improve the educational system and compensation of Detroit School Teachers. Also, the present paper gives an example of another public school district with turnaround success. Recommendations are focused on the need for community and state support of Detroit school teachers, so that the teachers are not poorly compensated and undervalued. In addition, the conclusion provides reasons why teachers should pursue a National Board Certification to increase job performance and compensation in public schools. Keywords: financial challenges, benefit...
Words: 2430 - Pages: 10
...THE ACTIVITIES AND REFLECTIONS The world is at the cusp of an information age. These changes have catapulted the industrial age into a knowledge age. This transition from the industrial to the knowledge age has come with its inherent challenges. This article will examine how organizations are being affected by rapid change and complex challenges associated with these transitions. The article will further examine the industrial age embedded in operation and practices of the organization. a) How the Elementary School is affected by rapid change and complex challenges associated with the move from Industrial Age to Knowledge Age In the elementary school, where I teach, children are in their budding stages of education. This makes it the most liable to rapid changes associated with the knowledge age. The knowledge era is characterized by technological advancements. The use technology in teaching has necessitated frequent adjustment of the qualifications of teachers in elementary school. There are inadequate teaching staffs that are competent in the latest technology that can enhance learning. The competitive landscape coupled with the rapid of increase in the number of students interested in technical and science oriented subjects is a big challenge. According to (Halal & Taylor, 1999), “The knowledge era is characterized by a new competitive landscape driven by globalization, technology, deregulation, and democratization (Uhl-Bien & Russ, 2008, p. 189) On the social...
Words: 1802 - Pages: 8
...Ethics and Legality in Classroom Management A teacher must deal with disruptive classroom behavior throughout their career. To do so, they must not only develop their skills in handling these situations but also develop ethical standards for their classroom. These standards set forth by the teacher will help them deal with their students, those students’ parents, the school administrators and their community. There are numerous articles written that could help a teacher when researching any legal or ethical issues that may arise during their teaching career. This paper summarizes four peer-reviewed articles that address the legal and ethical implications for classroom management related to the rights and responsibilities of students, parents and teachers. The first article under review is Public School Law-Teachers and Student’s Rights in which the legal rights of both the teacher and the students are defined. The article also includes the legal liabilities of the teacher in the classroom. The Negligent Tort Law states that a teacher may be held accountable by a court of law if he or she could have foreseen and prevented the injury by exercising proper care (McCarthy & Cambron-McCabe, 1992). The duty of the teacher in the classroom is to protect the students (McCarthy, et.al, 1992). The teacher must take all precautions to unsure that proper care and supervision is given to every student while in the care of the teacher (McCarthy, et.al, 1992). If an accident or injury...
Words: 1440 - Pages: 6
