Teaching Ahead, an interactive project jointly developed by Education Week Teacher and the Center for Teaching Quality, was designed to bring greater exposure to the ideas of standout classroom educators on the future of their profession. Each month, selected teacher panelists were asked to respond to and discuss key issues in education policy and instructional practice. The discussions were intended to help inform the national conversation on the direction of public schools. This blog is no longer being updated.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Humanizing Teacher Professional Development Lets Us Grow Together
How different would our schools be today if all teachers had rich social-emotional experiences with their colleagues for the duration of their careers? That's the question posed by John Troutman McCrann.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Moving Beyond a Sink-or-Swim Mentality for New Teachers
Schools need to do more to support new teachers, including focusing on their potential rather than their shortcomings, Rachel Thompson writes.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Mentoring Can Inspire New Teachers to Teach With Soul
A mentor can provide the help and hope that can make all the difference for new teachers, Lisa Dabbs writes.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
To Help New Teachers, Schools Need Updated Organizational Models
Call me naive, but I firmly believe that if we can boldly move away from the top-down models that were designed for a different era and embrace what has been proven to work dynamic organizations both in and out of education, then we will be able to hire and retain more new teachers into a profession that so desperately needs them.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Creating a Culture of Support for New Teachers
As educators, we know that students need to be in a caring collaborative culture where they have daily opportunity to experience feelings of success. We must establish the same culture for educators.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Helping New Teachers Through Their Hardest Days
During new teachers' "disillusionment phase" in October and November, it's critical for experienced teachers to be honest about how tough teaching can be, Roxanna Elden writes.
Teaching
Opinion
The Problem With Complex Writing Prompts
In teaching writing by using increasingly complex, teacher-created prompts we tend to leave students' actual thoughts and voices out of the process, says Ariel Sacks.
Teaching
Opinion
Creating a 'New, Broader Picture' for Writing Instruction
The common core asks for teachers to accommodate more writing quantity and rigor in the same amount of school days. Teacher Sargy Letuchy says this takes some reflection, time, and effort.
Teaching
Opinion
How to Engage Young Writers: Be Diverse. Be Authentic. Be Responsive.
Teachers must respond to the differences in how to engage today's youth in writing to develop students' writing skills and their self-perception as writers, teacher Janelle Quintans Bence writes.
Teaching
Opinion
Argumentative Writing Helps Students Become Participants in the Real World
Students, particularly high schoolers, are eager for academic and civic arguments. Schools should help them find their place in adult conversations, teacher Casey Olsen writes.
Teaching
Opinion
Getting Strategic About Teaching Revision in Writing
Getting students to revise is even harder than getting them to write. But on the advice of an acclaimed writer and some teaching experts, I've developed a strategy that integrates revision more naturally into students' writing practice.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Solving Teacher Shortages: A Comprehensive Approach
To combat teaching shortages and advance the teaching profession will require effort across multiple levels of government, William Hayes and Sharif El-Mekki writes.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Empowered New Teachers Are Teachers Who Stay
Changes to the teaching-induction system will ultimately lead to educators staying in the profession longer, Alicia Johal writes.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Want to Boost Teacher Retention? Expand Student Loan-Forgiveness Programs
It is shameful that in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, teachers have to shoulder so great a financial burden. However, there are solutions, Nikhil Laud writes.