Lessons From Abroad: Teaching Policy to Improve Student Learning

Originally Published:
February 15, 2007

Source:
The Aspen Institute

New Aspen Institute report by Education Week Editor Lynn Olson looks to other nations for examples of new approaches to teaching policy

WASHINGTON, DC February 15, 2007 – If school systems were graded on the job they do at getting, keeping, and supporting great teachers, many would get grades of C or D. Other nations face the same challenges – but do better at attracting, supporting and retaining effective teachers. What can the U.S. learn from abroad?

Lessons from Abroad: Teaching Policy To Improve Student Learning, a special report commissioned by the Aspen Institute and appearing as an insert in the February 14th issue of Education Week, looks at how eight other nations are working to strengthen teaching and identifies approaches relevant to the United States. The report includes descriptions of robust programs to attract and support new teachers in Switzerland and Japan; systematic support for established teachers to improve their teaching in Ontario Canada and Japan; and new approaches to career progression and pay for expert teachers in Singapore, England, and Sweden.

Report author, Lynn Olson, the managing editor of special projects at Education Week, reflects on how the U.S. might develop teacher career systems that progress in stages from novice to expert, with different expectations, responsibilities, and compensation at each stage. Recognizing that staying in one job or even one profession is increasingly rare, Olson also looks at how school systems can both encourage highly effective teachers to stay longer and make the best use of teachers who will be in the profession only a few years.

To read Lessons from Abroad: Teaching Policy To Improve Student Learning and for more information and research on international teaching policy, including profiles and analyses of teaching policies in the nations highlighted in the report, visit the Aspen Institute website at http://www.aspeninstitute.org/education/teachingpolicy. Lessons from Abroad: Teaching Policy To Improve Student Learning

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