Instead of turnstile teachers

Larry Cuban (A teacher for nearly 40 years) -  However policymakers and researchers define success in teaching, the hard-to-measure influence of teachers upon students turns up time and again in those graduates who reach out to their former teachers. Those graduates seek out their former teachers because of how they were pushed and prodded, how intellectual doors were opened, how a ready ear and kind word made possible a crucial next step for that young man or woman. Student test scores fail to capture the bonds that grow between experienced teachers and children and youth who look for adults to admire, adults who live full, honest, and engaged lives...

My friend's story of her former 11 year-old student still staying in touch because the relationship forged in 1960 between a group of sixth graders and a young teacher had taken on enhanced meaning as decades passed. Something beautiful and long-lasting occurred when those bonds were forged in that New York area elementary school, something that continually eludes current reformers eager for getting new teachers into classrooms while not worrying too much if they leave after two years since a new crop of fresh newcomers will replace them.

Turnstile teachers--as I call them--cannot forge those lasting bonds with students. Staying at least five-plus years in the same school gives teachers the experiences and competence to connect with classes and individual students. Students lucky enough to have veteran teachers who had their older brothers and sisters (and in some cases their mothers or fathers), whose classrooms students come to daily to eat their bag lunches, whose reputations for being tough, demanding, caring, and a dozen other admirable traits drew students like magnets to their classrooms, their impressions and memories of these teachers will serve as guideposts for decades. These are the teachers school boards must retain through mindful policies that spur teacher growth in what they teach and how they teach it. What is needed are state and district policies that pay teachers a livable salary, foster collaboration, and motivate them to stay at least five-plus years in classrooms.