What is Expert Teaching?

What does it mean to be an expert teacher? This is a question that can yield different answers depending on who you ask. One way to measure expertise is through the state teacher evaluation systems - a higher ranking indicates a more expert teacher. Currently, in most parts of the country, principals are or should be having meetings with teachers to review the evaluation system and provide opportunities for discussion and dialogue. However, so much more goes into teaching than what is recorded on state teacher evaluations. To me, expert teaching falls into several "buckets" highlighted in the picture below.

As I see expert teaching, not only does teaching include what is on the state teacher evaluation, but it also includes what we focus on as a school and/or as a district, which is often captured in a classroom walkthrough or learning walk/instructional round form and additionally includes non-negotiables within our schools that may be very specific routines/procedures/expectations that are unique to our school or community. It is only together when a teacher does all of these things and does them well, they are indeed an effective and expert teacher.

Therefore, as principals, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that we have provided not only professional development on our classroom walkthroughs and non-negotiables but that we have worked with our teachers to help them have clarity on how to be successful and to be experts on the areas of the classroom walkthrough and non-negotiables.

It is, additionally, incumbent upon us as superintendents to pay attention to and to utilize classroom walkthrough and non-negotiable data in an equal and similar fashion as we use teacher evaluation data so that our expert teaching stool is balanced and level, and our principals are operating as wide-ranging instructional leaders and not just as teacher evaluators.

So my question to you as school and district leaders is, what have you done as we start this school year to ensure that you are getting your teachers off on the right start to become expert teachers?

Yours in education,

t