Research shows that teachers are the most important in-school factor in determining student outcomes. However, schools of education largely fail to require subject mastery or classroom management.
Alternative models of certification are necessary but often lack strong quality controls. Based on international research, the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy argues that we must require subject mastery for certification and provide full-year, properly supervised clinical training for future teachers if we are to challenge America’s students sufficiently and narrow persistent achievement gaps.
IEP provides guidance to states and national philanthropies on curriculum: a teacher’s capacity to decide whether a given set of instructional materials is strong or weak – and how to remedy weak materials. Research shows that the capacity to make these decisions can have far-reaching impact on student performance.
Teachers who use strong instructional materials get better results than those who don’t. Unfortunately, our schools of education have not been teaching curriculum as a skill for future teachers. IEP’s work with partners to overcome this key element of teacher preparation is having early impact. To give but one example, David Steiner is advising 14 states that are engaged in implementing high-quality instructional materials on how best to link that important initiative to supporting curriculum instruction in schools of education.
We field our Teacher Survey of Curriculum Use to learn the extent to which teachers use different curricula and how, illuminating their curriculum. In addition, we administer our School Culture 360™ Survey to hear from teachers and students on the level of academic rigor in the classroom. And our evaluation projects, conducted in partnership with schools and systems, shed light on teachers’ experiences with innovative programs and high-quality curriculum.
Evaluation Projects
Partnership Between Great Minds and San Tan Heights Yields Positive Teacher and Student Outcomes
Two recent studies on the partnership between Great Minds and San Tan Heights, a school in Arizona’s Florence Unified School District, reveal promising outcomes for teachers and students. Established in 2021, this partnership provided high-quality instructional materials, interim assessments, and intensive professional learning support for teachers.
Our research indicates that the partnership positively impacted teacher attendance and may have improved teaching quality without affecting their continued employment at San Tan Heights. In terms of student achievement, although only a small percentage of students have reached proficiency on MAP tests, scores have been improving over time. Notably, students who are not proficient grow more than their proficient peers, suggesting that San Tan Heights is closing the achievement gap. In addition, DIBELS scores show that San Tan Heights students outperform their district peers, with sustained gains as students stay at San Tan Heights.
For more information on this partnership, read the complete reports on teacher outcomes and student outcomes.
Learning First and Executive Director David Steiner Release Second Report: Curriculum in Schools of Education? The Hole at the Center of American Teacher Preparation
This report, a collaboration between IEP and Learning First, on which Dr. David Steiner served as lead writer, argues that learning to teach high-quality curriculum is a complex process that is too often ignored in policy and teacher preparation — leaving teachers across the United States under-prepared to perform these activities. It seeks to show why this situation is so damaging, and what might be done to remedy it. It surveys the current landscape of content that is actually being taught in schools, and reviews how — if at all — teacher preparation programs approach the matter of higher-quality content. It suggests how tomorrow’s teachers could be prepared to understand why high-quality instructional materials matter, how to identify them, and how to teach them. In short, the report calls for schools of education to teach “curriculum.” While this report draws on American examples, many of its observations and their implications are relevant to other systems around the world.
Curriculum for Future Teachers
This paper summarizes the current landscape of how teachers approach curricula; defines curriculum and explains why it matters; and articulates an action plan by which teacher preparation programs and the states in which they operate can ensure the curriculum of all future teachers.
Three Turbulent Decades in the Preparation of American Teachers: Two Historians Examine Reforms in Education Schools and the Emergence of Alternative Routes to Teaching
Cognitive Ability and Teacher Efficacy by David Steiner
Curriculum: What It Is and Why It Matters
IEP Director David Steiner describes why curriculum matters – and what schools of education, districts, and parents can do about it.