ELEVATING EDUCATION THROUGH TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS
At the heart of teacher effectiveness is the teacher’s ability to understand the individual profiles or the strengths and weaknessesof every student in the classroom.
Another factor teachers must consider in order for them to become more efficient are their instructional materials and their ability to apply the instructional strategies and cover the appropriate material as outlined in the scope and sequence of their school’s curriculum. Consistent, high-quality instruction is directly affected by the teachers’ level of expertise, as well as their level of mastery using the instructional materials.
Moreover, in order to be effective, teachers need to make the connection between them and their students. Teachers must be knowledgeable about their student’s behavior and performance in the classroom. We can do this by determining our student’s rate of learning orhow quickly they are making progress towards gradelevel standards. With that said, it is also important that we establish goals and expectations for each student’s learning and then manage to those goals.
As an educator myself, this level of understanding gives me better clarity of purpose and anticipated outcome, as it also helps me adjust the instructional intensity necessary in order to meet my students’ academic goals.
On the other hand, for those students working at or above grade-level, we can extend the academic goals to encourage students to reach higher levels of achievement. Most importantly, the teacher can set his or her instructional priorities and manage available time and resources to help the students who are in the greatest need.
When teachers succeed in these steps, they must then master and establish a consistent instructional process, in order to be effective in their role.Furthermore, schools can achieve higher levels of teacher effectiveness by empowering teachers through a shared and clear understanding of core instructional materialsand embracing the process with consistency. A commitment to this kind of approach benefits teachers, students, administrators and the entire school community.
To conclude, teaching effectiveness is important because effective teaching helps student learning. It has become even more important as the emphasis on quality in higher education has increased. Effective teaching does not occur by chance. Effective teachers have become good at what they do because they evaluate their practice and are passionate about making an impact to their student’s learning experience.