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As I continue my journey through the Learning First Alliance (LFA) member publications, I encounter more articles rich with ideas than I can write about.  However, the January 2011 issue of The School Administrator, published by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), offers up an opinion column that I found especially compelling.   Harold Kwalwasser, a private attorney in Washington, DC, who is researching and writing a book on school reform, has penned a column entitled “Overselling the Myth of the Bad Teacher and Tenure”, that boldly states that, “Eliminating teacher tenure is at risk of being seriously oversold.” 

Kwalwasser has spent the past year researching more than 40 successful school districts, high-performing charters, and respected private schools for a book he’s writing on what works in education.  What he learned is that while tenure is often central to political talk, it has very little to do with success or lack thereof on the ground.  In districts that were organized to promote learning, teachers were motivated even with tenure in place and the system had its own way of encouraging poor performers to leave.  High performing school districts assess students frequently and make the data available to principals and teachers.  The transparency and sharing of student data creates real peer pressure.  His findings were that the result of introduction of major data systems in several districts caused teachers who did not like the measured environment or who could not meet its demands simply left or were counseled out without a fight.

The key to success is not about the few wonderful teachers at the top of the scale, or the few awful ones at the bottom.  The answer is about building a system where all the ones in the middle can rapidly and radically improve their game.  Good districts have good systems where most teachers, not just the magical ones, can flourish.  Good districts focus on student achievement and put a series of things into place:

• Meaningful course work
• Computer systems to capture student data including regular assessments
• Professional development to teach principals and teachers how to use data to drive instruction
• Time for teachers to collaborate
• Mentors and master teachers available to assist

Kwalwasser believes that a school district that just eliminated tenure, but didn’t institute any of the approaches listed above would not see student achievement scores rise.    And, the myth of the incompetent teacher and its twin, the magical teacher needs to be put to rest.  The focus has to be on the system in which they work.

I remember a wise colleague once saying that “Put a good person in a bad system and the system wins every time.”  With a respectful approach to system reform and the nurturance of educational leadership from all the professionals in the district, the question of tenure will become moot and we can concentrate on what we all care about the most---the success of all our students.