What Makes a Teacher Great?

In all this talk of education reform the one constant that most seem to agree on is this – a great teacher makes all the difference. But what IS a great teacher?

Is a great teacher…

…entertaining?

…organized and well prepared?

…caring and thoughtful?

…knowledgeable of and truly interested in his/her content area?

…one whose students have improved their test scores?

…young and fresh?

…older and seasoned?

…someone with outside business experience?

…someone with a master’s degree or PhD?

…gifted and talented?

…a good listener?

…goal oriented and focused?

…a leader?

…a good follower of directions?

…a rebel?

…willing to change and improve?

…willing to be observed?

…an effective communicator with parents?

…a thorough planner?

…a hard worker?

…creative and inventive?

…a good team player?

…willing to think outside the box?

…one who keeps their students busy and quiet?

…one who allows noise and confusion in class?

…willing to work long hours?

…persistent?

…satisfied with their lives?

…able to achieve curriculum objectives?

…one who assigns a lot of homework or little homework?

…one who gives students choice and voice?

Think of all the teachers you’ve had in your life. Now think of the ones you liked the most, the ones you would consider to be great. The list is probably pretty short, but definite.

One teacher popped into my mind immediately, my high school Reading for College teacher, Dr. Caruso. Dr. Caruso was great in my mind for two main reasons.

1. She turned me onto the subject matter. I grew to love reading (boring!) Victorian era novels in her class.

2. She cared about me. She invited me into her classroom after school to chat about anything -- school, family, friends, religion… To this day we still exchange holiday cards.

So, what made her great? The class I took from her was an elective, one of my choice, therefore, I was interested in the subject matter even before I took the class. Yet I did learn a lot in her class, but I believe the MAIN reason I loved her as a teacher was because of her compassion. Quite simply, she cared about me.

Did other students in her class think she was great? Probably not. Or, I don’t know. Or, yes! It doesn’t matter because believing a teacher is great is a personal experience, unique to each student.

So, it REALLY irks me when I see federal or state educational programs (like, Race to the Top) that have a pay for performance stipulation. To qualify for Race to the Top funding, states must be able to link students test scores to teachers and must distinguish between effective and ineffective teachers.

Given that defining a teacher as great is personal, how can an effective teacher be measured? Here’s an idea written by a reader of this blog in January, 2010:

“I do think teacher quality is absolutely essential & pay should be linked to quality, but how you measure quality is the $6 million question. Way too easy to pin the whole thing on standardized test scores, which doesn't promote good teaching. How about 360-degree performance reviews, as businesses often use? Teachers would get evaluated annually by their principal, peers, students, parents, even submit a brief self-evaluation as part of the process ("how did I do this year?"). Test scores could factor in, to ensure that kids aren't completely missing the basics...but should be just a fraction of performance measurement, so that someone who's teaching to the tests but not really "growing" students wouldn't have an unfair advantage. Yes, a 360-degree system would be complicated, but technology could help. Some brave state [or school] needs to take on this challenge & work w/teacher union to pilot this kind of system, or something like it.”

To recap:

A great teacher is defined in a very personal way by each individual student.

A great teacher may or may not possess some of the attributes listed above.

A test score does not determine whether a teacher is great or effective.

If you agree, sign this petition from the Economic Policy Institute.

High quality teachers are essential components of effective schools. Determining whether or not a teacher is great or of high quality is a complicated and personal process. This determination should be made differently in each school, depending on the unique needs of the population of the school. That is, there is no one answer or program or easy fix to determine greatness of teachers. Nor should there be.

A final thought about great teachers --

Great teachers help students learn that what matters most is what matters most.

What qualities did your greatest teachers possess?