Jerry Jennings's Blog
DRAFT Audio Education Online Blog Probe

Audio Education Online Blog Probe
Submitted by Jerry Jennings

February 23, 2010

Would training teachers to teach better turn around failing schools?

As stated on his web site http://teachers.net/gazette/wong.html Harry Wong is the most sought after speaker in education today. He has been called "Mr. Practicality" for his common sense, user-friendly, no-cost approach to managing a classroom for high-level student success. More than a half-million teachers worldwide have heard his message. Because he is fully booked for two years, he has agreed to and has invited his wife to join him in doing a monthly column for Teachers.Net so that more people can hear their message.

Harry Wong is the Main Interview for the Audio Education Online publication this month. The interview is sure to get your attention. Here are three portions of that interview.

  • Mr. Wong states that the single greatest effect on student achievement is the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom. And he asserts that to be effective a teacher must do three things: they need to be an extremely good classroom manager, they need to deliver the subject matter and they need to have very positive expectations for their students.


  • Mr. Wong also asserts: Programs do not produce student achievement. Teachers produce student achievement. A school is only as good as its teachers. You cannot have a better school if you don't have better teachers.


  • Further, Mr. Wong states: You teach the teachers to be effective and you have student achievement. But the history of education has shown that we still haven't caught that message. For 75 years, we keep jumping form one fad, one philosophy, one ideology to another, and oftentimes even recycling the same fad or ideology even though it hasn't worked.

Here are a few probes you might want to respond to:

Mr. Wong is convinced that teachers must have positive expectations for the students they teach. From your point of view, what kinds of expectations should administrators have for the teachers who work in the schools or districts they administer?

Is the "elephant in the room" simply that we in America have many teachers that have not been taught to consistently and effectively teach students so that they actually learn? Please explain your thinking.

In the district you serve, are there some "elephants in the room" somehow related to teachers teaching so students learn - that that are not currently named? Please explain your thinking.

Mr. Wong is a man of great passion. Please react to any of his comments or points from the interview. Please let us know why you chose that comment or point.

Could it be that a school with a significantly different staff could dramatically improve learning outcomes? Please explain your thinking.

Thank you, in advance, for being part of the conversation related to this month's interview.

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