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Because of the teacher shortage in the United States today, recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers is a challenging tasks for principals. This article discusses the principal's critical role in supporting teachers' professional development and offers specific examples based on personal experience.
With the anticipated need for 2.2 million new teachers during this first decade of the twenty-first century (U. S. Department of Education 1997), school districts must find ways to attract talented young men and women to choose teaching as their career. Once recruited, these talented individuals will need support and encouragement to ensure their success and increase the likelihood that they will remain in the profession. Fallon (1999) suggests, "teacher quality is the most important variable in producing student achievement." Principals must work to ensure that all teachers are able to address the many challenges the contemporary classroom presents by helping to provide meaningful and effective professional development opportunities. Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution (1996) and Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century (1989) offer frameworks for middle and high school reform. Both documents include teacher professional development as one of the key elements to successful school reform efforts.
Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution asserts that leaders who are genuinely interested in the reform of the high school must be willing to depart from the old and forge new ways of educating youth. Teacher support is essential for the success of any new endeavor in the school, and teachers often need additional knowledge and skills to implement the desired changes. The principal plays a critical role in ensuring that teachers are prepared through appropriate professional development to bring about school reform and improved learning for all students.
Breaking Ranks offers five specific recommendations for professional development. These recommendations are designed to ensure that the school is a learning community in which the faculty and the support staff are engaged in ongoing professional growth designed to meet both individual needs and the needs of the school community. The purpose of professional development is to provide teachers with the knowledge and skills to improve student achievement. Breaking Ranks also emphasizes the importance of collegiality in professional development. Collaborative approaches to school improvement and professional development further ensure learning benefits for...