Empowering Effective Teachers Initiative
“Helping students achieve by helping teachers excel.”
Our Mission in this Initiative
As part of our mission to cut high school dropout rates in half by 2018, and to graduate students both college and career ready, United Way is advocating for policies and reforms that support and empower effective teachers.
Why our focus on teacher effectiveness?
Overwhelming research over the last decade shows that the single most powerful factor of student achievement that schools can control is an effective teacher. No matter a child’s circumstances or background, an effective teacher can produce powerful learning. Every child deserves a great teacher in every subject every year.
In other industries, the best employees are acknowledged for their exceptional contributions. A career in teaching should be no different.
Our society needs to celebrate educators and the work that they do. We must reward the teachers who stand out, who inspire our students and who ultimately change lives. We can't produce world-class students if we don't train and support world-class teachers.
To ensure that we have the best possible teacher in every single classroom, we need to recruit the best and the brightest. We have to provide teachers with proven tools, training, and coaching. Teachers should be fairly evaluated using a variety of measures -- including student achievement -- so that outstanding teachers are justly rewarded.
Teachers Rock!
Every day, in communities across the country, America's teachers put their hearts and souls into the important work of educating young people. United Way believes teachers deserve the encouragement, support and training they need to be great teachers.
You are invited to share a story about a teacher who changed your life.
United Way will share these stories to send a strong message of support for educators Broward County. Submit your story and support our teachers and all they do.
Submit your story here
Click here to read other inspiring teacher stories
A Call to Action!
Our community’s involvement in these issues is both a moral and economic imperative. In Broward County one in four students do not graduate from high school. Among African-American males it is almost 50%. Of our graduating students who do go on to college, 42% require remediation in reading and math because they are not graduating college ready. 68% of eight graders do not read, write or are proficient in math at an eighth grade level. This is the future workforce for Broward and the State of Florida. According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce over the next decade we will be facing a critical shortage of a skilled workforce making economic growth for Florida unsustainable. We must act now to support change and reforms that insure our children’s success. The economic future and the health and well being of our community depend on it.
What Can You Do?
Regardless of our personal politics or philosophies, we can find common ground and work to remove barriers to supporting and empowering effective teachers.
We must support conditions that enable our children to flourish!
- Get involved with your local PTA/PTSA.
- Know the issues, and learn what impact policies and legislation will have on supporting effective teachers.
- Write or email your State Legislator.
- Share your ideas and feedback. Below are links to online surveys for parents and teachers. We will be sharing your feedback with our State legislative delegation and the Florida Department of Education.
Resource Library:
#1 Scholastic Gates National Survey of Teachers
#2 US Dept of Education Blueprint for Reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act
#4 2010 Florida Teacher Quality Yearbook from the National Council on Teacher Quality
#5 Florida Council of 100 Report on Closing the Talent Gap in Florida
