Effective Teachers in the 21st Century

Jasmine Edwards
St. Thomas University
October 8, 2014

Effective Teachers in the 21st Century

Effective Teachers in the 21st Century

Teachers are being held accountable now more than ever to ensure student success.
Today, teachers, as well as principals, are being removed from schools if they are found to be
ineffective. With the drastic changes made to education such as Common Core and the revised
Texas Essential Knowledge and Standards, the pressure is on them to raise standardized testing
scores, prepare students with skills for the real world, and prepare students for college. There
are various underlying factors that can contribute to success or lack of success in the classroom.
How can a teacher be labeled as effective ensuring that their students are well prepared in the
21st century?
To be labeled as effective according to INVEST, a teacher evaluation system based off of
outcomes, teachers are evaluated based on four domains. Those domains are planning and
preparation, classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities. In order for a
teacher to be labeled effective they must attain a score that shows proficiency in these areas. The
evaluation does not take into consideration, outside factors that can affect the success in a
classroom such as parent volunteering, learning disabilities, or socioeconomic status. On top of
this, student growth is also considered when labeling a teacher. With student growth there are
also factors to consider that may affect the achievement of student growth. Students start at
different levels and while we want all students to grow how can these students at different levels
show growth when they take the same assessment.
The first domain is planning and preparation. Planning and preparation must be given
careful consideration. Teachers must keep their students in mind when planning. Careful
planning is a must when it comes to preparing students for success. If teachers go to the
classroom unprepared, students will suffer because they will not receive any knowledge of the

Effective Teachers in the 21st Century

required content. The teachers will suffer as well because their students will have unsatisfactory
scores. Every classroom has students at different levels. One classroom may contain 504, gifted,
ESL, and inclusion students. So a teacher could spend hours researching strategies, retrieving
information, preparing centers, preparing group work, and planning accommodations for all
levels of their students. There is more to planning and preparing than discussing content and
typing lesson plans.
The next domain to be considered is the classroom environment. The classroom
environment must encourage student learning, students must feel safe in the classroom. This
environment must be one that enables all of the students that we tech to be successful. When
observing an effective teachers classroom all students would be actively engaged in learning.
The teachers preparation and planning would also be obvious when this classroom is observed.
Student transitions from one activity to the next would be smooth. Through effective planning
and practicing the procedures, no time would be wasted in this classroom environment. Everyone
in this classroom would take the classroom environment as something that is not important.
It is important that teachers know that the classroom environment is a very important part of
student learning.
The third domain is instruction. In this domain, teachers should show that they are
qualified to teach their area or subject matter. Teachers are always getting instructed on reading
and mathematics. Many times teachers leave these trainings more confused than when they
arrived at the training. Administrators need to really listen to their teachers and find out what
teachers need in their classroom in order to be effective in this domain. A solid partnership
between the administration and the teacher can lead a teacher being effective at instruction.

Effective Teachers in the 21st Century

Students are required to learn a plethora of content and it is important that the teachers as well as
the administration know the content that is required.
Teachers are expected to uphold themselves at a certain standard. Not only are teachers
responsible for teaching students, teachers have to make sure that they understand their other
professional responsibilities. Teachers must maintain contact with parents, participate in
activities on their campus, and attend professional developments. Certain professional
developments are required for teachers to go to while others remain optional. In this domain
there is a lot of extra time that is spent outside of classroom time, or conference time to be
effective in this domain. This domain goes into staying after school, traveling, and spending time
outside of teaching and planning, which already takes up a lot of time. Having a relationship with
parents and attend professional development does help a teacher to be successful. Holding up the
professional responsibilities of a teacher cannot be left out when determining the effectiveness of
a teacher.
Evaluating teachers based off of a specific system is a great tool, but it does have its
flaws. Some flaws can be avoided while others cannot. Factors that are overlooked when it
comes to evaluating teachers are the fact that some evaluators do not spend enough time in
classrooms. Due to so many other responsibilities that administrators have they may not spend
enough time in classrooms. When teachers are not observed often enough, how can someone
label a teacher as effective or ineffective from a limited amount of information? In order for
someone to be scored properly and to ensure they are being labeled correctly teachers should
have several walk-throughs throughout the year. This could also help with the lack of
relationships developed between administrators and teachers. Also, by having administrators in
classrooms more often they will be able to identify various teaching strategies that may not be

Effective Teachers in the 21st Century

familiar to them prior to formal observations. It would also make sense for administrators to
know content that teachers are teaching so that they will be familiar with what teachers are
teaching. A lot of times administrators do not understand the skills that teachers are teaching, so
how can a teacher be evaluated when the person observing cannot properly evaluate their
instruction? Evaluation systems help to maintain order in the classroom, but there has to be a
way that these systems can become less flawed.

Effective Teachers in the 21st Century

Reference Page
INVEST: An Outcome Based Model. (2014). Retrieved October 25, 2014, from
http://www.aldine.k12.tx.us/cms/rise/main.cfm?siteID=133&PageID=1918