CONFERENCE STRANDS

TOPIC AREAS

Boosting Teacher Confidence
School Leaders Matter
Professional Development
Teacher Collaboration
Supportive Work Environment
Teacher Affect
Transition to Teaching
Teacher Leadership
Standards for Professional Learning
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Reflective Practice: A Strategy in Enhancing Teacher Quality
Disruptive Innovation in the Classroom
Teacher Appraisal System: Models and Practices
Induction and Mentoring Teachers
Teacher Licensure and Teacher Quality
The Market of Teacher Quality
Increasing Accountability in Teacher Education: Making Teacher Training Selective and Rigorous
Recruiting and Retaining Smart Teachers
Performance Management and Teacher Evaluation linked to Retention and Reward
Teacher Quality and Accreditation
Expanding Alternative Routes for Teachers in High-Need Schools
STEM Teacher Quality Initiative
Value Added Modeling (VAM) and Teacher Quality
Teacher Quality Partnership
High-stakes Teacher Assessment
Teacher Characteristics
Teacher Classroom Behavior
Public School Competition and Teacher Quality
K to 12 Improves Teacher Quality
Increasing Teacher Quality in Low-Income Schools
Teacher Placement Practices and Policies
Teacher Quality in Special Education
The Assessment of Science and Mathematics Teacher Quality
Teacher Quality and Learning Outcomes
Instructional Leadership and Teacher Quality
Instructional Policies and Practices and Teacher Quality
Teacher Quality and Technology
Teacher Quality and Instructional Support
Teacher Quality and Teacher Personality
Teacher Quality and Parental Involvement
Teacher Quality and School Improvement
The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality
Teacher Quality and Career Development
Teacher Quality and Teacher Distribution

The extent to which teachers are able to deliver quality teaching services depends in great measure on the identification and communication of a well-defined set of teacher standards and yardstick that guide the professional expectations and behaviors of teachers in the field. These standards are valuable guideposts that make explicit the elements of quality teaching which include professional knowledge, practice and engagement.

As with any profession, teaching comes with its share of joys and difficulties. Understanding the changing landscape of education vis-a-vis the forces of social, economic, cultural, technological, political and ethico-moral imperatives situate today's teachers in a realm where they are expected to evidence a high degree of resiliency, adaptability, capability, copeability and sense of grittiness that make them stay in the profession and make a big difference in the lives of their students-the end-users of all educational efforts. Today's teachers are challenged to make-sense of their ever-changing education milieus and psyche of the their students and other stakeholders of education.

Teacher Quality Pressure

Teacher Quality Treasure

Celebrating teaching and teacher quality is an open invitation to see teachers as leaders. Power learning demands power teaching. Today, more than ever, schools are challenged to create powerful opportunities that nurture in every teacher a set of skills, values and dispositions for sound and effective leadership. Such opportunities demand the creation of an authentic and caring ecology that invites risk taking and seeking behaviors, In the final analysis, empowered teachers make learning possible, success doable and schools great. As Fullan succinctly describes "the litmus test of all leadership is whether it mobilizes people's commitment to putting their energy into actions designed to improve things. It is individual commitment, but above all it is collective mobilization."

Teacher Quality Measure

Measure

Pressure

Treasure