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Ann--
An important reminder, wake-up call, or scolding, as the case may be. At NTC we've always been VERY careful not to overstate the research which shows, indeed, that teacher quality is the most important SCHOOL-BASED variable that impacts student achievement. Here's an example, where it is stated right up front: http://www.newteachercenter.org/pdfs/NTC_Policy_Brief-Hill_Briefing.pdf

Teachers play a significant role in a student life.They can make or mar a future of a student and they are most important "school based factor" indeed.If a students fails to achieve his goal we think that this is a mistake of teacher but parents and students company are also responsible for it.

James Hawk

Football Academys

one needs to ask WHY the student is not there.

Sometimes, unfortunately, it can be the fault of a teacher or administrator.

If a kid has been unfairly accused (happened to one of mine last year) it can have a devastating effect. She was falsely accused of theft by two senior administrators. In this case her parents really stood up for her, and when she needed time out I allowed her to come into my room in classes where I didn't teacher her and explained to her other teachers.

And if a teacher picks on a kid, or bullies, or embarrasses, that may be the reason the kid chooses not to come to school.

I am not saying these are major reasonings, but they do happen.

Also, as we should all know, bullying and teasing by other kids can lead to absenteeism as well.

All of the adults, school-based, home-based, and community-based, should be working together on behalf of what is best for the kids.

When the present "reform" movement goes the way of all our other educational fads, I think pundits will point to the misinterpretaion of that research (i.e. the teacher is the most important SCHOOL factor) as the primary cause of its failure. When journalists and others started reporting falsely that the teacher is the most important factor in the education of a child, it was a simple leap to "If we can control the quality of the teacher, then every child will succeed." This led to the belief that "schools alone" could do the job and that incredibly vacuous mantra "No excuses." I suspect even people like Michelle Rhee did not realize that the research has consistently and repeatedly pointed to the FAMILY as the primary predictor of academic success. This should be obvious to anyone who reads the daily newspaper.

In one of my first graduate school classes, the professor asked us to differentiate between the word "schooling" and "education." At the time, I thought he was just splitting hairs, but many times since then I've realized how important precise language can be. The current "reform" could very well be based on the confusion of two words that are related, but different in meaning. Abraham Lincoln had very little schooling, but acquired an excellent education. The high school graduate had years of schooling, but appeared to be poorly educated.

We CAN improve learning for all our children, but we must begin with what we know to be true.

Teacher Ken - You are right that sometimes, very unfortunately, teachers and administrators can contribute to the absence of a child. And I would say not only in such direct ways as you mentioned. If a child doesn't come to school because she is bored there, or doesn't see its relevance to her life, or feels invisible and that no one cares whether or not she comes, there are things the school can do to encourage that child to come. So yes--the WHY is extremely critical in designing both school improvement efforts as well as more formal social and educational policies.

"All of the adults, school-based, home-based, and community-based, should be working together on behalf of what is best for the kids." So true.

Linda - I agree with most everything that you said (though I bet Rhee does know the importance of the family, but that as with most of her knowledge and policies, she just does a poor job of communicating it to the public). And my concern is what the state of education will be once these reforms fail. Given the media hype around public education these days--the negative hype, as I am sure you have noticed--what kind of confidence will the public, like those in their 20s who will have kids in the next ten years, have in our public schools? What will the lasting impact of all this negative attention be on the education system, the education of low-income children specifically, and ultimately integration (racial and economic) in our society?

Teachers as Vital Trace Elements
To the extent that the teacher is even a slight factor the teacher ought to be able to employ the Best Instructional Practices. Ironically that is more important in schools where student attention and teacher energy are short. Which brings me back to an apparently unbelievable hole in Teacher Education. Strictly speaking there can be no such thing as Teacher Education. There is no core curriculum and no consistency in what is taught to teachers from one professor to another. No other respected profession is without a core of knowledge and an actionable set of "methods" that represent Best Practices. There is NO OTHER PROFESSION from dentistry to barbering with this void. Ironically, this is easily fixed but there is no political will to do so. Nonetheless some of us continue to try - http://bestmethodsofinstruction.com/

Oh, sure. False accusations of theft are most certainly a significant factor behind the millions of absences each year. Why, administrators have nothing better to do than make false accusations of theft.

" we have to make sure that kids are in-class"

Another "oh, sure" moment. Because once the kids are in class, they'll become obedient learners, committed to success.

In California, we have truant officers that threaten the parents with all sorts of charges if their kids aren't in school, and it works to get the kids in school. Where they are sullen and unresponsive at best, disruptive and abusive at worst.

Maybe what we need to do is to realize that forcing kids into school isn't the answer. Maybe we could provide more jobs for kids who don't want to go to high school, and let them pay for education later if they realize their mistakes. Maybe stop letting so many unskilled laborers into the country so we can give our own high school drop outs jobs.

Or, we can keep pretending that all kids need to get to college is nice cooperative parents and their butts in school desks.