Have We Identified Effective Teachers? Validating Measures of Effective Teaching Using Random Assignment

The connection between teachers and students is at the heart of learning. Our work focuses on ensuring that all teachers have the goals, skills and tools to form and strengthen that powerful bond with their students. The first step in doing that is asking teachers what works and what they need to strengthen the teacher-student bond—and then trusting and listening to what they tell us.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve had the honor of serving as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s teaching fellow over the past year. During that time, I have had the opportunity to reflect on the many rich conversations we’ve had at Teacher Advisory Council (TAC) working sessions.

It has been thrilling from day one—in August of 2007—when I was hired as the director of the K-12 Education team. The team was given one year to assess the foundation’s work and propose a strategy for the next phase. We were given this advice:  when you take on a cause where government is spending a lot of money, philanthropy can make the biggest impact by finding a strategic lever that others are missing.