'Teacher In Classroom' photo (c) 2006, www.audio-luci-store.it - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Check out my three-part series in Education Week Teacher: Reducing Attrition In Urban Schools ‘By Listening To Our Teachers’

Much is written, especially by “school reformers” about the importance of merit pay and how much more money will motivate us all to work harder and better. I’m all for a fair and just wage, but working conditions are a key element of teacher retention and a quality education for students.

Here are my choices for The Best Posts & Articles About The Importance Of Teacher (& Student) Working Conditions (you might also want to check out The Best Posts & Articles About OECD’s Survey Of Teacher Working Conditions):

I’ve got to start off with a great xtranormal video created by Dan Brown called “Keeping Teachers Around.”

I worked with a group of talented inner-city teachers from throughout the United States last year through the Center For Teaching Quality. We created a pretty thorough report, “Transforming School Conditions: Building Bridges to the Education System That Students And Teachers Deserve.” You can read my summary of the report in The Washington Post, as well as finding a link to the entire study.

Stephen Lazar has written an important three-part series on issue:

Turnover – The Biggest Problem We Face: Part 1

Part Two

Part Three

U.S. vs highest-achieving nations in education by Linda Darling-Hammond appeared in the Washington Post earlier , and makes several good points about issue.

Accountable for What? at Failing Schools

Gen Y Teachers and the Future of the Profession by Barnett Berry

The beatings will continue until teacher morale improves appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and is by Walt Gardner.

The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries is by David Eggers and Nínive Clements Calegari and appeared in The New York Times.

More Time for Teachers Means Better Time for Students is by Barnett Berry.

Learning From Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning is from The Wallace Foundation.

What teachers need and reformers ignore: time to collaborate is an important column by Linda Darling-Hammond that appeared in The Washington Post

Why collaboration is vital to creating effective schools is from The Washington Post.

Dallas Shows That Teacher Working Conditions Matter is by Paul Bruno.

Quote Of The Day: “The Stress Rolls Downhill”

Teacher Turnover Negatively Impacts Student Achievement in Math and English is from The Journal.

Quote Of The Day: “Why Do Teachers Quit?”

Lesson Study is an excellent post at Class Teaching about that well-known form of professional development in Japan.

Teacher Turnover Affects All Students’ Achievement, Study Indicates is from Education Week.

Can’t Wait for Monday is by Rafe Esquith.

Getting Beyond the Blame Game is by James Harvey.

An Open Letter on Teacher Morale is by Dina Strasser.

Five Reasons Teacher Turnover Is on the Rise is from TakePart.

Teacher autonomy and teaching quality: Putting more think into the think tank is by Barnett Berry.

Paul Bruno has written an excellent follow-up to the program we did on BAM! Radio about teacher attrition in high-poverty urban schools.

More Time for Teachers, or for Students? Utah Proposal Raises Debate comes from Ed Week.

Can Professional Environments in Schools Promote Teacher Development? Explaining Heterogeneity in Returns to Teaching Experience is a new Harvard report showing how important working conditions are to teacher effectiveness.

Are Working Conditions Related To Teacher Effectiveness? is another recent study.

Report: As Teacher Demographics Change, Districts Must Prioritize Retention is from Education Week.

Kamenetz & Gallup Nail the Key to School Improvement by John Thompson is a good commentary on a recent Gallup Poll and on a Hechinger Report post analyzing the poll.

Report highlights impact of more time for teacher collaboration is from Ed Source.

Survey: Teachers Worldwide Seek More Opportunities for Collaboration is from Ed Week.

Three Stories Hidden in OECD Survey of U.S. Teachers by Emily Richmond is another story on the same survey.


Quote Of The Day: “Do Students Learn More When Their Teachers Work Together?”

The Teacher Dropout Crisis is from NPR.

The Dropouts No One’s Talking About: Teachers is from Ed Week

The Problem Isn’t Teacher Recruiting; It’s Retention is from The Journal.

Lessons from a school that scrapped a longer student day and made time for teachers is from The Hechinger Report.

Teachers Can’t Be Effective Without Professional Working Conditions is from Gatsby in LA.

Low Salaries Keep Many Teachers Out Of The Middle Class: Report is from The Huffington Post.

Professionalizing Teaching is by Walt Gardner at Ed Week.

Trust and Obey is a great post by Nancy Flanagan about teacher absences.

Treating Teachers like Professionals is a good infographic.

High-stakes testing, lack of voice driving teachers out is the title of a report on a new study.

Half of Those Leaving Teaching Report Better Working Conditions in Other Jobs is from Ed Week.

The teaching profession gets a makeover is from Marketplace.

5 maps that show the best states for teachers is from The Washington Post.

Why Do Teachers Quit? is from The Atlantic.

Researchers Offer Prescriptions for Retaining Teachers is from Education Week.

A New Focus On Social Capital In School Reform Efforts is from The Shanker Blog.


Quote Of The Day: The Benefits Of Collaboration

Teacher Pay Is Poorly Understood is from Ed Week.

Why Teacher Voice Matters is from The American Educator.

Want to Close the Achievement Gap? Close The Teaching Gap is by Linda Darling-Hammond.

A Call to Action for the New Year is by Ellie Herman.

Quote Of The Day: More Time For Teacher Collaboration Better Than Longer School Day For Students

Second Statistic Of The Day: “A Country Where Teachers Have a Voice”

Update On Teacher Turnover In The U.S. is an interesting post from The Shanker Blog.

How We Know Collaboration Works is by Greg Anrig.

Research Says / To Go Fast, Direct. To Go Far, Empower is by Bryan Goodwin. Here’s an extended quote from it:

A-recent-study-involving

Statistic Of The Day: Teachers Need To Feel Like They Are Learning, Too

Which Teachers Will Quit? is from Ed Week.

Statistic Of The Day: “The Hidden Costs Of Teacher Turnover”

Quote Of The Day: The Reality Of Teachers’ Salaries

Statistic Of The Day: What Is The Accurate Percentage Rate Of Teacher Attrition?

Second Quote Of The Day: Why Teachers Stay (& Why They Leave)

Developing Workplaces Where Teachers Stay, Improve, And Succeed is from The Shanker Blog.

What teachers really need to stay, improve and succeed appeared in The Washington Post.

QUote Of The Day: The Importance of Teachers

Collaboration Can Be a Colossal Waste of Time is from Peter DeWitt’s blog.

You may have heard about “sick-outs” by Detroit teachers to protest the appalling conditions in their schools. Here are some articles (and photos) about it:

Crumbling, Destitute Schools Threaten Detroit’s Recovery is from The New York Times.

Detroit Teacher ‘Sickouts’ Close Schools Again is from NPR.

How bad are conditions in Detroit public schools? This appalling. is from The Washington Post.

Statistic Of The Day: U.S. Educators Spend A Lot Of Time Teaching

Improving Teaching Through Collaboration is from The Shanker Institute.

Study Finds – Wait For It – “School Climate” Matters For Student Learning

Quote Of The Day: The Value Of Teacher Collaboration

The Intervention That Works Across Settings With All Children is from The Shanker Institute and is about teacher collaboration (and collaboration with other stakeholders).

New Study Finds That PD, Collaboration, Safety, Expectations Important For Schools – What A Surprise!

Statistic Of The Day: Teachers Are Under-Paid

Study Finds That It’s True: Good Teaching Conditions For Educators Equals Good Learning Conditions For Students

No Surprise Here: Study Shows Teachers In U.S. Are Underpaid

Want more young people to aspire to become teachers? Try paying teachers more is from Chalkbeat.

Your state’s teachers are underpaid. Find out by how much. is from Vox.

STATISTIC OF THE DAY: A LOT OF TEACHERS ARE QUITTING THE PROFESSION

 

Teacher stress linked with higher risk of student suspensions is from Science Daily. I don’t share this as an excuse, just a possible explanation

I WONDER HOW MANY DISTRICT & SCHOOL LEADERS ARE APPLYING THIS RESEARCH FINDING TODAY?

UNSURPRISING STATISTIC OF THE DAY: MORE TEACHERS ARE CONSIDERING LEAVING THE PROFESSION

Why Teachers Are Dropping Out is from The Nation.

NEW VIDEO FROM THE NY TIMES: “EMPTY CLASSROOMS, ABANDONED KIDS: INSIDE THE GREAT TEACHER RESIGNATION”

NY TIMES QUOTE OF THE DAY: STOP ATTACKING TEACHERS

Addressing Working Conditions to Improve Teacher Retention: An Exploration of the Research is from REL Northwest.

One Idea to Keep Teachers From Quitting — End the Teacher Time Crunch is from Ed Surge.

Teachers Don’t Need More Self-Care. They Need Self-Efficacy is from Ed Week.

Additional suggestions are welcome. I’m sure there are some great articles out there that I just don’t know about.

If you found post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to blog for free.

You might also want to explore the over 600 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.