NJ Education Report

Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, considers the “humiliating” decision in New York State to release teachers’ value-added rankings, which is “based on a misconception that “fixing” teachers is the solution to all that ails our education system.”

No single silver bullet will close our educational achievement gaps—not charter schools, or vouchers, or providing every child with a computer, or improving teachers. Each of these solutions may have merit as part of a larger strategy, but on their own they distract attention from the long, hard work required to ensure that our schools are high-performing, mission-driven organizations with strong teams, strong cultures and strong results…

Ensuring that every child receives an excellent education is going to require reshaping our schools so they have the mission, culture and operating approach that support strong teacher performance. We cannot produce 3.7 million effective teachers without overhauling the context in which they work.