Project on the Next Generation of Teachers
Research clearly shows that the quality of teachers is the most important school-level factor affecting students' learning
Since 1998, researchers at The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers at Harvard University have studied efforts to attract, support, and retain skilled and committed teachers for all students in U.S. public schools. Initially, we focused on new teachers, themselves. We asked about their goals, preferences, practices, and career decisions. We found that these novices were indeed members of a new and different generation of professionals. As a cohort, they were more likely than their predecessors to treat teaching as a short-term career and to be dissatisfied with the conditions of their work—its professional isolation, standardized pay, uniform roles, and lack of opportunity for leadership and advancement.
We also learned that teachers’ satisfaction depends largely on the school context where they work, especially whether it supports them in achieving success with their students. If it does not, they may well transfer to another school or leave teaching altogether. Schools that reliably retain teachers have similar features—a principal who manages the school fairly and effectively, skilled colleagues who collaborate regularly, and an organizational culture that supports students, ensures order, and instills respect for learning. When we compared schools serving demographically similar communities, we found that students learned more in schools that teachers rated positively. It turns out that the workplace matters, not only for teachers, but also for students.
Our research and findings are designed to be of practical use to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. This website describes our research agenda and how it developed over the past two decades. It introduces members of our research team and their current work. It highlights the major themes of our research and, for each topic, includes citations and links to relevant articles, working papers, books, and a supplementary website.
Where Teachers Thrive:
Organizing Schools for Success
Susan Moore Johnson
Since 2000, policy makers and education officials have diligently sought to improve schools by improving the quality of individual teachers. However, even if those teachers are skilled and committed, the schools where they work are all too often disjointed, dysfunctional organizations that serve no one well.
In Where Teachers Thrive, Susan Moore Johnson, Director of the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers at Harvard, argues convincingly that schools must support teachers’ best work if they are to provide a first-rate education for all students. Based on rich case studies in fourteen high-poverty, urban schools, Where Teachers Thrive examines why some schools failed to make progress, while others achieved remarkable results. It explores the challenges that administrators and teachers faced and describes what worked, what didn’t work, and why. It explains how educators within a school can join together to adopt systems of practice that ensure growth and success by all teachers and their students.
Where Teachers Thrive can be ordered from Havard Education Press or Amazon.com.
EXTRA!
The User's Guide: Where Teachers Thrive can be downloaded here.
Teachers, administrators, policymakers, parents, instructors, and researchers will find questions, activities, and suggestions for reflection, discussion, action and further research:
Books and Reports
A User's Guide to Peer Assistance and Review
The report is based on the experiences of seven local districts with Peer Assistance and Review. By Susan Moore Johnson, Sarah E. Fiarman, Mindy Sick Munger, John P. Papay, and Emily Kalejs Qazilbash.
Redesigning Teacher Pay: A System for the Next Generation of Educators
This book analyzes performance-based pay plans and proposes a plan for a career-based compensation system. By Susan Moore Johnson and John P. Papay, published by the Economic Policy Institute.
Finders and Keepers: Helping New Teachers Survive and Thrive in Our Schools
By Susan Moore Johnson and The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers. Winner of the 2005 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education's (AACTE) Outstanding Writing Award for a Book.
Who Stays in Teaching and Why: A Review of the Literature on Teacher Retention
S. M. Johnson, J. H. Berg, & M. L. Donaldson, January 2005.
A Difficult Balance: Incentives and Quality Control in Alternative Certification Programs
by Susan Moore Johnson, Sarah E. Birkeland, Heather G. Peske, with Mindy Sick Munger, September 2005.
