By Pete Pillsbury

What’s the single most important decision educational administrators make?  The answer, research tells us again and again, is the selection of a classroom teacher.  The classroom teacher, without a doubt, is the most critical element in a student’s growth and academic achievement.  Peel all the layers of administration and there would remain the core of the educational process—a teacher in a classroom with children.  Think of teacher hiring as the leverage for moving the development of youth and their performance upward to new levels.  The teacher is the lever, and the quality of the teacher will determine how much leverage our students get to positively affect their learning and growth.  Thus, in my mind there is little doubt that teacher hiring is the most important action an educational leader takes. Continue reading →