By Franklin P. Schargel
Schools cannot produce highly successful graduates unless there are enough highly effective educators in classrooms and school front offices.
I have spent my life in education, and I watch with concern as experienced teachers leave the profession faster than new ones are prepared. Teacher preparation programs provide valuable theory, but many graduates enter their first jobs feeling unready for the real demands of the classroom.
I still recall my first day as a teacher. After completing the required paperwork, the assistant principal gave me a brief tour: the teacher’s lounge, the staff restrooms, and my classroom. He handed me a roll book and the classroom keys, wished me luck, and sent me on my way. Like many new teachers, I believed my university training had prepared me for everything. It hadn’t. No institution can anticipate every school context, grade level, student population, or local culture. The practical, time-consuming work of becoming an effective teacher must happen in schools, supported by experienced colleagues and school leaders.
New teachers often have strong theoretical knowledge, but lack the practical tools and classroom experience needed to meet diverse student needs. It’s similar to reading every book about swimming and then being told to jump in the ocean: you can answer questions about swimming, but you still need guided practice to perform well. Placing inexperienced educators into classrooms without adequate support puts students at risk. Too often, the least trained teachers are assigned the most challenging students, and schools have become the nation’s emergency room for social problems—expected to teach safety, refusal skills, drug prevention, sexual health, and suicide prevention without the time or training to do so effectively.
This is not only an American problem. The global demand for skilled teachers is growing. Studies and reports have highlighted shortages and rising attrition in many countries, and large increases in student enrollment in recent decades have intensified the need for trained educators worldwide. As student populations expand, education systems require more qualified teachers and better systems to recruit, retain, and support them.
Three essential components of world-class, globally competitive schools
- Bold, empowering leadership. Leadership forms the foundation of school improvement. Effective leaders set direction, ensure the right people are in the right roles, and create conditions for continuous improvement. No single leader can do everything alone; principals must empower other staff, build leadership capacity across the school, and concentrate on creating high-quality teaching and learning conditions. Everything else is secondary.
- School cultures that embrace learning. A school’s culture can either support or undermine leadership and instruction. Healthy school cultures prioritize student learning, support families, and nurture staff. Toxic cultures can destroy even well-intentioned leaders, so cultivating a positive, collaborative environment is essential for sustained improvement.
- High-performing classrooms. Research consistently shows that teachers have the greatest direct impact on student achievement. Strong principals extend that influence by setting clear priorities and supporting instructional excellence. High-quality leaders affect student learning by: setting direction and tracking progress through a clear vision; developing people by providing teachers with meaningful support, feedback, and training; and organizing systems so that structures and processes enable rather than hinder teaching and learning.
Throughout my career I have worked in diverse settings—teaching poor and affluent students, remedial and Advanced Placement classes. My college professors focused heavily on theory and less on practical classroom strategies, so I learned much of what I needed on the job. Over time I delivered more than 250 workshops to roughly 50,500 educators, and at nearly every session I ask, “Were you well prepared to enter the classroom when you graduated from your school of education?” The majority say no. That consistent response points to a systemic gap between teacher preparation and the realities of classroom practice.
Addressing teacher shortages and raising the quality of instruction requires a multi-pronged approach: better pre-service preparation that includes extended, supervised practice; stronger induction and mentoring for new teachers; supportive, instructional leadership; and school cultures that prioritize learning for students and staff. Investing in these areas helps recruit and retain highly effective educators and protects students from inconsistent or inadequate instruction.
About the Author
Franklin P. Schargel is a former classroom teacher, school counselor, and school administrator who designed and implemented programs that increased parental engagement, boosted post-secondary enrollment, and significantly reduced dropout rates at a Title I high school. His work has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, Businessweek, Fortune, NPR, PBS, and The New York Times. He served as Education Division Chair of the American Society for Quality and helped develop the Malcolm Baldrige Award criteria for education.
Schargel is an international speaker, trainer, and the author of thirteen books, including Creating Safe Schools: A Guide for School Leaders, Classroom Teachers, Counselors and Parents. He has written more than 100 articles on school reform and teacher effectiveness.
This article was originally published by The Learning Counsel, a research institute and news media organization focused on the shift in education to digital curriculum.
Material in this series has been extracted from the book Who Will Teach the Children? Recruiting, Retaining & Refreshing Highly Effective Educators by Franklin P. Schargel, School Success Network Press, 2019.