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Yesterday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan hosted a town hall meeting to launch the RESPECT (Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching) Project, a proposed $5 billion program included in the Obama Administration’s 2013 budget. Typical of this administration’s education initiatives, this program is competitive and challenges states and district to work with teachers, unions, colleges of education and other stakeholders to comprehensively “reform” the field of teaching. 

I would have preferred that the Secretary used language that was more in line with “support and strengthen” the field of teaching since the word “reform” has been coopted by every harsh critic of public education, most of whom have  little interest in exploring solutions that could strengthen the complex nature of teaching and learning.  Having said that, the initiative provides much to celebrate and works to move the conversation around the important work of supporting public schooling to the strategy level in which all interested parties (which should be all of us) are involved.

The goals of this new program – ensuring that teaching is highly respected and supported as a profession and that accomplished, effective teachers are guiding student learning in all classrooms – are good ones.  And many of the strategies proposed to reach these goals, such as collaboration among teachers, principals, colleges of education and other educational leaders to ensure that teacher candidates and those on the job are effective, adequately supported and fairly compensated; new career pathways for teachers and expanded teacher leadership roles; and improved professional learning, are the same ones advocated by leaders from organizations in the Learning First Alliance (LFA). 

As Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association (NEA, an LFA member), points out, much of the RESPECT plan mirrors the NEA’s Three-Point Plan for Reform, released in December 2011. Both call for more rigorous standards for entry into the profession and development of systems that help ensure that those who are in the classroom maintain a high standard of practice. According to him, the NEA “ believe[s] strongly that the systemic approach outlined in RESPECT represents the kind of thinking that’s going to improve our public schools, making them all exceptional institutions of learning for all students.”

Stephanie Hirsh, executive director of Learning Forward (an international membership association of learning educators focused on increasing student achievement through more effective professional learning; also an LFA member) also applauds the initiative.  As she puts it, “We have for some time advocated a vision of teaching and learning where teachers collaborate not only in their teaching but also in their learning. In such a vision, teachers need the kinds of support this project outlines, and they need a clear path before them that moves them into new areas of responsibility and accountability for improving student performance.”

Sharon Robinson, executive director of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE, an LFA member), also commends the Administration for its focus on preparing a more effective, appropriately compensated education workforce. She points out that many university based teacher preparation programs are already moving in the direction the Administration is seeking by recruiting top talent, working with local school districts to respond to their workforce needs, and participating in the design of a performance assessment that will measure beginning teachers' ability to impact student learning before they are credentialed and enter a classroom.

I personally find the context in which the program is framed unfortunate.  The underlying assumption in the language used in the announcement is that nothing is currently working in teacher preparation and practice and that everyone in the profession needs to change.  Change is an important dynamic in all fields of endeavors these days, including political rhetoric and leadership.  The call for collaboration among successful professionals currently serving as classroom practitioners and district and state administrators acknowledges that much of the wisdom necessary to strengthen the teaching force lies in the professionals currently in the field.  Going forward it will be helpful for all involved if the leadership at the Department of Education acknowledges there are both challenges at the local level and strategies that work that they are less familiar with and that we’re all both responsible and accountable for the change in public schooling that will take place with the support of this new federal program, should it be authorized and funded.

It has been leaders from within the education community who have advocated for this program and the national leadership stance it represents. It’s my hope that as the planning and implementation moves forward, our political leadership at the national level will acknowledge the experience currently in the field that is necessary for this change initiative to truly succeed.