Improving the Classroom Experience

The most valuable asset of the Newton Public Schools is our talented and dedicated teaching staff. In educating Newton students, our teachers manage to overcome many obstacles– from classrooms with wildly fluctuating temperatures to outdated textbooks to disruptive students. By supporting the efforts of our teachers, we can improve the classroom experience for all Newton students.

Summary of Proposed Solution

To improve the classroom experience for all Newton students, Newton should:

i) Provide teachers with the support they need, including training, tools, materials, and equipment;

ii) Involve teachers in the curriculum development process;

iii) Limit class sizes;

iv) Bring relevant technology to the classroom; and

v) Address quality of life issues.

Discussion and Implementation Plan

i) Supporting Teachers with Training and Tools

Nothing is more important than the front line classroom teachers with whom our children spend most of their school day. All too often our teachers are undermined by external factors that ignore the challenges they face in the classroom. For example, teachers recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching a given subject does not serve students who learn in different ways. Sometimes teachers find it helpful to use supplemental materials, such as different text books, to help these students learn. Teachers should be given more discretion regarding which tools will help them best to serve their students and should be provided with adequate resources to bring necessary supplies, equipment, and other materials to the classroom. Teachers should no longer have to buy materials or equipment out of their own pockets.

By a similar token, our teachers need support to improve their skills and to keep pace with changes in the educational environment with appropriate and continuous support for professional development. Such professional development includes close collaboration among teachers at the same school, as well as with teachers at other schools in our system and beyond, especially with the increasing availability of remote collaboration tools. Teacher collaboration and training should be scheduled so as not to interfere with classroom instruction. Exceptional teachers should be rewarded for their performance with stipends to attend professional development conferences and other training events.

ii) Involving Teachers in the Curriculum Development Process

In most service-based organizations, a top-down management model usually fails to incorporate feedback from the people who are providing services on the front lines. Involving service professionals in management decisions helps everyone to focus on objectives and builds a feedback loop into the decision-making process. Education is no exception to this paradigm. We should take advantage of the experience embodied in the teaching staff by relaxing rigid requirements that they always use fixed curricula and instructional materials for all of their students. Our teachers should play a role in the curriculum development process, offering their insights as to which changes would be useful and productive. At the same time, curriculum coordinators should spend some of their time teaching, so that their knowledge of curriculum theory is complemented by practical classroom experience. This interactive process will both help to focus our curricula on strategies that support students’ academic success, and will also improve teachers’ commitment to those curriculum frameworks.

iii) Limiting Effective Class Sizes

Class size is one of the most important factors influencing the extent to which each student receives sufficient attention. Past discussions of this issue in Newton have focused on average class size at each grade level, a statistic that does not highlight the existence of some very large classes. We propose to change the approach to class size management by establishing an acceptable range for each grade level and re-allocating resources as needed to make sure that no classrooms fall outside this range, since one lost year can have a lasting negative impact on a child’s education. We also propose to make use of parent volunteers, teachers’ aides, graduate student assistants, retired volunteers, and other available resources to provide additional individual attention to students, lowering the burden on teachers and reducing the effective class size for all of our students, who will have more quality individual attention.

iv) Bringing Technology to the Classroom

In this rapidly changing world, we know that technology plays an increasingly important role in our continuing success at all levels. Traditional tools such as chalk and blackboards, pencils and paper, books and libraries have served us well, but now have powerful digital counterparts. Reading, writing and arithmetic remain core educational elements, but the instructional material and teacher collaboration tools are rapidly going digital. Our investment in technology for each classroom and each school needs careful attention to ensure that our children and teachers are well served and well prepared across the school system.

Our education technology strategy should be focused in three areas: improving students’ comfort and skill in using computer applications (e.g. Internet research, creative design software, etc.), providing students an understanding of how computers are programmed, and using technology to teach traditional subjects. All too often, we focus our efforts on the first objective, not putting adequate thought and preparation into the others. For example, it is not enough to provide computers in the classroom simply so students can learn about their use. We should also be taking advantage of computer programs that help students to learn foreign languages, algebra, and other subject material. We should hold our technology to the same performance standard to which we hold our professional staff: is it producing the measurable results we seek?

v) Address Health and Quality of Work Life Issues

Teaching a classroom of students with diverse abilities and interests is difficult enough without having to cope with threats to the health and comfort of students and faculty, such as poor air quality and classrooms that are very cold or hot. Each of our schools should establish and meet strict criteria for its physical environment. Classroom temperatures should be in an acceptable range, air filters in HVAC systems should regularly be cleaned or replaced, as needed. Rugs should either be removed or kept dry and clean to avoid the growth of fungus and other allergens. These issues should all be addressed under new school building management practices, as discussed below.