“Improving teacher quality is among our top priorities along with raising standards,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said during the hour-long conference. “We need to get the best possible people into the classroom, and we need to support them while they learn and grow.”
Furthermore, said Duncan, “We are facing a national crisis in our education system as well. We are stagnating while the rest of the world is moving forward. We have to get Americans on track for being number one in international education.”
The educational gains made by other nations in the international community can be largely attributed to their professional development investment, Darling-Hammond said.
Netherlands, Singapore and Sweden support at least 100 hours of professional development per year, according to the report.
Darling-Hammond recommends restructuring the educational policies of American schools in a way that allows for more planning, observing and development time.
The capacity of teachers to meet much higher standards, to teach more ambitious curriculum and meet the needs of a growing number of immigrants is embedded in continued learning, she added.
“The idea that teachers go off and get training and that is it for the rest of their career is something we know doesn’t work,” Darling-Hammond said.
Although the initial findings of her report are consistent, Hammond said they are based on a limited pool of studies that discusses specific areas. The report will be part of a multi-year effort that will track the progress of states over time and identify model policies and practices.
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