Impact Your Craft: Effective Teaching Campaign
We believe in the power of teachers to change the lives of students. Our Effective Teaching Campaign is a long-term commitment to supporting effective teaching policies in Oakland. Research confirms what many educators, parents and students already know — no other in-school factor has more influence on a student’s achievement than the effectiveness of their teacher.
All Oakland students deserve highly effective teachers who spark curiosity and passion, and believe deeply in the potential of all students. Oakland needs to be known as the best place in the Bay Area to live and work as an educator. To do so, Oakland needs a comprehensive approach to recruiting, supporting, and retaining teachers.
To ensure that all students have access to the teachers they need, we need Oakland educators to feel supported, valued, and trusted. This will help stabilize school communities and allow students to build relationships with the adults on campus.
In particular, this campaign focuses on ensuring that our highest needs students have the teachers they need.
GO aims to advance the following core policy goals:
- Teacher Compensation: Increase teacher compensation to attract and retain the best educators.
- Diversity: Increase number of teachers who represent the racial and ethnic diversity of the Oakland community.
- Improved Professional Supports: Support and develop teachers throughout their careers by providing intensive supports for beginning teachers, ongoing differentiated professional learning, and career pathways that honor the expertise of great, experienced educators.
- Labor Partners: Work effectively with all labor partners to build trust for long-lasting improvement.
- Assignment Policies: Ensure that teacher assignment policies increase student access to effective teaching, treat teachers fairly, and allow school communities a strong voice in hiring teachers.
- Evaluation: Create a teacher evaluation system that includes multiple measures of good teaching, and emphasizes professional growth and support for teachers.
- Teacher Career Pathways: Establish career pathways that ensure that our best teachers deeply influence policy and decision-making.
- Principal Support: Ensure that principals are given the training, time, and support necessary to provide strong instructional leadership.
