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After ten years of teaching in South Central Los Angeles, Furman Brown got to thinking that there had to be a better way. The students weren’t happy and the teachers weren’t happy. So Brown helped to start a new school, Generation Schools, a public high school, to create a new atmosphere and a new opportunity of teaching in a different way. What he discovered was that yes, it is possible to design something more effective that supports the teachers in their growth, and the students in their growth.
It is generally acknowledged that teacher quality is a problem and especially in poor schools. Working as a teacher for ten plus years, Brown realized that teachers were primarily isolated from their fellow professionals. The opportunity of learning from and working with other teachers was limited. As professionals they were not encouraged to collaborate.
Elena Silva writes about Generation Schools in her report Teachers at Work: Improving Teacher Quality Through School Design. She writes: “Instead of isolating teachers, the Generation Schools model organizes them into grade- and subject-based teams, designed to blend different types of expertise and levels of experience.” This model recognized that if teachers had time to work together, to collaborate, they and their teaching would benefit.
The school developed a different work schedule. Teachers taught the foundation, 90 minute academic courses, in the morning. The afternoon schedule provided time for elective courses and time for the teachers to plan together. Twice a year, teachers would get a 4 week long break which included three weeks of rest and one week to meet and plan. This resulted in a school year that was longer by 20 days (200 days) but essentially the same amount of time for teachers. And this was done without extra money or extra teachers. It was a matter of respecting people’s time and ability more.
Studies from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show that U.S. teachers put in more hours per year teaching than any other developed nation. They teach fewer days but put in more time. In comparison, Korean teachers put in more days but only 800 hours teaching compared to the 1,080 hours that American teachers do. When you compare the results of the international tests such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), they show that the hours invested in the U.S. schools are not producing results.
Furman Brown and his fellow teachers decided that they could develop a school that would produce better results than the schools where he had previously taught. His basic idea for the Generation Schools was to use the time of teachers and students more effectively. “’We are designed to be a community of teachers and learners,’ Brown says. Through the work of Generation Schools, the teachers become a “community of practice” and a “community of learners.”
The process of bringing these ideas to reality is also the result of people working locally. The school leaders need to make this happen by taking the risk that the school would benefit by the change; that teachers working together can create a better school. But states, districts, and unions need to break with inertia and support change. The report’s author, Silva, summarized five of Brown’s recommendations:
· State leaders need to ease restrictions on when school can begin or end
· State policymakers should rethink how they define minimum hours of instruction
· States should encourage experimentation with new design models like Generation Schools
· States should also consider amending requirements for licensure
· Districts also need to give principals and teachers a greater role in defining their professional development needs
Elena Silva ends her article with this hopeful observation: “Teacher quality has never seen so much attention, and a variety of efforts to improve it from the federal level on down are under way. The U.S. Department of Education spends several billion each year on improving teacher quality, and U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan has proposed billions more to improve the effectiveness of all teachers and to ensure that all children get access to effective teachers. This intensity of focus offers an extraordinary opportunity to invest in and evaluate new designs that will lift the teacher profession to its deserved status and reinvigorate public education.”
Source: Teachers at Work: Improving Teacher Quality Through School Design by Elena Silva Education Sector Reports - October 2009
