Teaching Effectiveness

Teaching quality is our most powerful lever to improve student learning. Of all the things that schools can control – including class size, curriculum, and textbooks – the quality of teaching that a child receives is the strongest determinant of student achievement.

For years, Michigan has lacked a coherent strategy to improve and support our state’s teaching quality and school leadership. While we have made some progress in implementing a teacher tenure system based on performance, we still lack the tools, data and supports needed to ensure that every child has a highly-effective classroom leader.

The national Education Trust has been a pioneer on the issue of teaching quality. Since Ed Trust-Midwest opened in 2010, supporting and improving the teaching profession — and developing innovative new ways to ensure all Michigan students have access to highly effective teachers — has been a top priority for the organization.