School improvement programs that work in some places don't work in others. School improvement programs that work with some students don't work with others. Programs that appear to have positive effects in the hands of some teachers don't work for other teachers. If we can't be confident that a program will travel well, from one school or district or state to another, what's a school leader to do? Authors Berliner and Glass cite three problems with transferring programs that seem to work: there's the problem with findings (how strong were they?); the problem with replicability (there are few replications of program effects in the field of education); and the problem with fading effects. The authors suggest three considerations that can increase the chances that experimentation will lead to improvement.Part of a theme issue on "School Improvement: What Works?"

Trust, But Verify

David C. Berliner

Trust, But Verify- thumbnail

How trusting relationships advance school culture and influence student achievement

School improvement and reform

Like the sculptor who remarked that to create a statue of a horse out of a big block of marble, he simply "knocked off everything that didn't look like a horse," educators who want to create better schools need to knock off the bad reform ideas that actually harm education. In this article, Gene V Glass and David C. Berliner critique five of the 50 reform ideas they discuss in their new book Myths & Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools: The Real Crisis in Education: virtual academies ("cyberteaching"); competition among schools; teacher merit pay and value-added measurement; grade retention; and increased homework. They warn, "Today's professional educators are buried under a huge slab of rock that weighs them down with half-baked mandates and reform ideas hatched in the minds of amateurs. Our only salvation is to take up hammer and chisel and chip away at the myths, lies, and nonsense to reveal what truly works."

Chipping Away: Reforms That Don't Make a Difference

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Education policy

Teacher effectiveness and evaluation

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the time spent talking about, preparing for, and taking tests has increased exponentially in schools. The authors contend that all this testing has done little to increase achievement or close achievement gaps, but has had unintended negative consequences. "The tests," they write, "undermine teacher-student relationships, lead to a narrowing of the curriculum, demoralize teachers, and bore students." The article presents statements by teachers and students illustrating how the test-dominated school environment has decreased the motivation of both low-achieving and high-achieving students. The authors call on educators to work together to mediate the damaging effects of NCLB.

Testing the Joy Out of Learning

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Two primary school pupils at their desks in class, close up; Shutterstock ID 432876733

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Student engagement and motivation

Assessment and grading

How concerned should we be about teachers who enter classrooms without pedagogical training and education? To examine the impact of different kinds of teacher training on teacher effectiveness, the authors reviewed the research literature and then conducted an empirical study comparing the performance of undercertified and certified teachers in Arizona schools. The research literature provides persuasive evidence that undercertified teachers do not perform as well as teachers who receive the education and training required for traditional certification. Poorly run and short alternative certification programs—including the Teach for America program—do not provide enough supervision or classroom experience to develop effective classroom teachers. The authors' empirical study, which matched 109 pairs of certified and undercertified teachers, also found the same results, with the advantage of having a certified teacher worth about two months on a grade-equivalent scale. The authors conclude that the hiring of undercertified teachers results in the hiring of unqualified teachers who harm student achievement. Especially as applied to poor students, this education policy is harmful and should be abandoned immediately. The authors hope that the new federal legislation requiring highly qualified teachers will result in teachers with traditional certification in U.S. classrooms.

In Harm's Way: How Undercertified Teachers Hurt Their Students

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Tired 8 years old boy doing his homework at the table. Child reading a book at the desk.

David C. Berliner

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Primary Topics

Articles by David C.

Trust, But Verify

Chipping Away: Reforms That Don't Make a Difference

Testing the Joy Out of Learning

In Harm's Way: How Undercertified Teachers Hurt Their Students

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