School principals and administrators take note: the Education Sector's newest report, The Benwood Plan: A Lesson in Comprehensive Teacher Reform, shows readers how drastic improvements can be made with just a little bit of elbow grease and creative school-based reforms. Penned by Elena Silva, the report, released earlier this month, tells of the rigorous measures that boosted teacher support and transformed the schools of Tennessee's Hamilton County.
In 1999, when eight of his schools made the state's 20-worst list, Superintendent Jesse Register knew that it was high-time to make some dramatic changes to revolutionize his struggling urban schools. Choosing to forego a traditional campaign that would attract fresh talent to the district, he opted to strengthen the teachers he already had.
But first, knowing that he needed to weed out the dead weight, Register decided to force all 300 of his teachers to reapply for their jobs for the 2002-2003 school year. Although this was a controversial move, the district ended up rehiring a large majority of its teachers, assuring Register that he had a competent team committed to change.
He made reforms in the following school year by increasing teacher support with new mentoring programs and by hiring additional staff to provide extra help in the classroom. Also, he instituted a merit-pay system and beefed-up professional development.
Substantial results were seen in the matter of a few years: the 2004-2005 school year saw an increase in teacher performance when Benwood teachers boasted an "above-average" rating in effectiveness according to Tennessee's value-added assessment scale (note: teachers added after the 2002 rehiring are not included in these results). And predictably, this also translated into student success, with third-grade reading levels increasing from 53 to 80 percent in the span of four years.
Teacher retention rates also improved. The number of new teachers hired in 2006 was half the number in 2002. To Silva, this statistic alone provides clear evidence of the positive impact that a supportive and challenging environment has on teacher morale and motivation.
To read more on how Benwood taught its old teachers new tricks, see here.
