Taeeee oe Providing Teachers The Help They Need...And Want! (NAPSA)—People are paying more and more attention to how well American students are learning in school. This can be seen in the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which focuses on making sure that all children meet rigorous academic standards. Every state has increased what is expected of students and therefore of teachers. Congress and the President have called for every classroom to have a “highly qualified” teacher within a few years. There are no silver bullets to create better schools but there is a very simple research-proven truth—the best thing we can do to help every student succeed is to provide good teachers. Teachers need and want help to do their jobs well. Good training in college is important but it is not enough. Teachers want the kind of professional development that will give them the knowledge and skills to help their students meet these new academic standards. They want good diagnostic information that allows them to bebetter at adjusting their teaching for individual students. Good professional development is an investment worth making, and one we need to makeif we are to realize our goal of providing a high quality education—not just time in school—to all students. Educational Testing Service (ETS) does research into teaching and learning—not just how to make improved tests, but also a large amount of public opinion research into how teachers, par- ents, and taxpayers feel about key education issues. For example, ETS has found that nine out of 10 teachers feel that they need professional development to help them motivate their students, and more than eight in 10 say professional development is needed to help them TY Improving education standards starts with getting teachers the help they need. diagnose and address the learning needs of their students. For decades, ETS has worked with classroom teachers to understand what teachers need and to develop products that can help them be moreeffective. Teachers have a very tough job, one that is the basis of democracy. America dependson its teachers. Every state is wrestling with how to meet the achievement goals of No Child Left Behind. And, unfortunately, every state is facing significant budget problems resulting in pressure to cut education budgets. As hard as it will be, this is a time to increase our investment in the profes- sional development of the teaching force. It is one investment that we can be sure will pay the dividends weall need. To makesure that we leave no child behind, we must also make sure that no teacheris left behind. Providing high quality professional development, adequately funded and well managed, is absolutely required to reach the goals weall share. To learn more about this issue, visit www.ets.org/testing.
