In September of 2010 at NBC's Education Nation Summit, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that he wanted to "professionalize the profession" and simultaneously "attract and retain excellent teachers." As a seventh year teacher in the second stage of my career, I have been frustrated by the flat career trajectory that I have experienced. I have worked very hard to master the craft of teaching, but I wonder what will sustain me over the next 30 years? I am passionate about teaching in my middle school math classroom, and have no desire to leave. However, the options that I have to make a difference beyond my classroom remain a choice between Door A and Door B. Either I can continue what I have been doing for seven years, or I can become an administrator. In the next decade, thousands of talented and ambitious people will enter the teaching profession, and if current statistics hold true, nearly half of them will take their talents and ambitions to another career not long after.

One way to bring driven professionals into teaching and keep them there would be to provide tangible career growth opportunities to teachers while still allowing them to do what they do best: teach children. States should provide Master Teacher Licenses that can provide teachers with additional career opportunities. In many states, a teacher can earn the highest license simply by teaching for three years and writing a check to their department of education. There is no real motivation to earn this license, and no true feeling of accomplishment once it is attained. National Board Certification is currently the gold standard in providing "clear, consistent, and convincing" evidence of excellent teaching and could be used as a model for states in awarding Master Teaching Licenses.

In many professions, those who are motivated to apply for promotions do so based on their demonstrated performance. The Master Teacher license could provide such a promotion to teachers. It could serve as an objective entry point into differentiated responsibilities and additional opportunities for leadership and professional growth. These could include such leadership roles as mentoring, peer coaching, lead teacher status within a school, as well as an option for those who wish to become administrators. Imagine if someone who was once a Master Teacher led every school in America!

While the possibilities for additional roles are endless, we all know that funding is not. States would need to provide the frameworks and supports that would allow districts to find creative ways to provide a career ladder for teachers. For example, a teacher could teach for 2/3 of the day and spend the last 1/3 mentoring an early career teacher or peer coaching. Whatever districts choose, these opportunities must be consistently available to teachers and not just another victim of budget cuts. This will provide an upward career trajectory that can allow excellent teachers to build long lasting careers.

Noah Patel is a middle school math teacher in the Boston Public School District.

Posted by Noah Patel at 12:05 PM | Permalink | 1 Comment | 1 Recommendation

Last year, I was out of the classroom. I was a "teacher on special assignment," coordinating a grant to redesign our school into multiple smaller learning communities. The work was wonderful! It was challenging! I could go to the bathroom whenever I wanted, instead of having to wait for the bell! I was in heaven... except...

I missed my kids. I missed planning activities that would help them learn. I missed engaging them in interesting conversations. I missed seeing their eyes light up when they "got it!" In short, I missed teaching.

This year, I'm back in the classroom full time. On top of that, my school has asked me to continue coordinating the grant on a part-time basis, after school and on weekends. I love being able to continue doing the reform work for my school. I love teaching kids on a daily basis. And the extra pay isn't bad either... except...

I'm exhausted working ten-hour workdays, plus another four to five hours each weekend. When I add the time I spend on my "hobby" of pursuing education reform with the Center for Teaching Quality, the California Teachers Association, and my blogging, I find I have little time for anything else. You can ask my wife: she'll confirm! I was asked on a webinar a few weeks ago, "How do teacher leaders balance life and work?" I replied, "I always make sure to devote an hour every other week for marriage counseling about my work-life balance. ;-)"

Sure, sure, this sounds like a case of Goldilocks, where my job situation is always too hot or too cold. Additionally, lots of the "jobs" I do are voluntary because I enjoy the work and feel like I'm making a small contribution toward positive education reform. However, the point I'm making is this: the options we traditionally pursue for teacher leadership are not sustainable because they either remove teachers from the classroom or overload teachers and put them at risk for burnout.

Instead, we need to have more "teacherpreneurs." Teacherpreneurs have the advantage of keeping a foot in both worlds; they teach half time and spend the other half of their day doing school leadership, or policy work, or curriculum development, or planning professional development, or, or, or....

If we could rethink teacher leadership to imagine that teacher leaders could stay in their classroom part time and have part-time release to pursue leadership roles, public education would benefit from the inclusion of valuable teacher voices in the reform and policy discussions; kids would continue to benefit by having these great teachers still in their classrooms; and my wife would get her husband back.

David Orphal is a teacher and small learning communities coordinator at Skyline High School in Oakland, California.

Posted by Dave Orphal at 11:45 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

The idea of hybrid roles for teachers is not all that new. Some of the happiest moments of my teaching life were spent at Broad Street High School in Shelby, Miss., where some courageous administrators attempted to set up teacher-leader roles within the district. I say ...

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