Excellent Educators: A Wise Giver's Guide to Cultivating Great Teachers and Principals

Laura Vanderkam

Apr. 2014 · The Philanthropy Roundtable

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The strongest influence on whether a student learns (and how much) is the teacher. Never mind fancy facilities, new technology, top curricula, or more school spending—research shows that the intelligence, skill, and dedication of the instructor is two to three times as important as any other contribution to student outcomes. If we want to improve schools, we must raise the quality of teachers. 

Yet credentials, degrees, years on the job have little to do with classroom excellence. Fascinating investigations have recently given us clearer pictures of what a successful teacher looks like. Now leading schools are beginning to hire and mentor teachers differently, with a clear-eyed focus on their demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge to their students. New techniques for measuring and enhancing the teacher’s capacity to add value in the classroom are the most promising elements in school reform today. Putting them into effect, though, requires wise and brave school leaders. Without bold, sober, demanding principals, few schools will build a truly excellent set of instructors.

This book is for public-spirited donors who want to foster educational excellence by elevating teachers and principals. It reviews the latest academic research and on-the-ground experience of reformers and offers practical advice on multiple fronts. It is written for philanthropists and allies active in the field who want to make a positive difference.

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Laura Vanderkam previously authored Blended Learning: A Wise Giver's Guide to Supporting Tech-assisted Teaching for The Philanthropy Roundtable. Her writing on economics, education, careers, and technology has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest, Scientific American, City Journal, and other publications. She is the author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think and the What the Most Successful People Do series of e-books. She is a member of USAToday's board of contributors, and writes the "168 Hours" blog for CBS MoneyWatch. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and three children and blogs at LauraVanderkam.com. Karl Zinsmeister is editor of The Philanthropy Roundtable's guidebook series, which include volumes on blended learning, high‑achieving students, teacher and principal excellence, charter schools, Catholic schools, and other topics of interest to education donors, as well as books on philanthropy for the poor, veterans and military families, and other causes. He also oversees Philanthropy magazine, and the Roundtable's website and online publications. He is creating the forthcoming Almanac of American Philanthropy. Zinsmeister has authored eight books, made a PBS film, and written hundreds of articles for publications ranging from The Atlantic to the Wall Street Journal to Reader's Digest. He previously was a Senate aide to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the J. B. Fuqua Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and chief domestic policy adviser to President George W. Bush. He is a graduate of Yale University and also studied at Trinity College Dublin.