Small groups of ''critical friends'' observe one another's classrooms, review and critique one another's assignments and students' work. Second, we can offer teachers the same working conditions that their counterparts in other developed countries take for granted. These include not only a salary that conveys respect for the profession, but ongoing training and autonomy to make informed decisions about what to teach, how to teach it, and determining when a student has mastered it. Finally, we can make schools and teaching loads small enough so teachers know all their students well. We can make time in the school day for faculty members to consult with one another routinely, especially about their students.
Most teachers work in debilitating isolation.
As a new school year begins, students aren't the only ones with the jitters. New teachers in ever-growing numbers will stand in the front of our classrooms, hired in a massive turnover as the baby boomer generation begins to retire. If we are truly serious about attracting and keeping qualified teachers, we must provide them with the support they so desperately need. Barbara Cervone is the national coordinator for the Annenberg Challenge, Brown University. Vito Perrone is director of teaching and a senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.