Research Based Teaching: Can it Be an Instrumental Part in Good Teaching?

I thoroughly enjoyed Monday nights forum. It was great to be able to hear what good teaching is from an administrative standpoint. These are the people who will be determining whether or not I have a job sometime in the not so distant future. I especially enjoyed Leona's input about indications of good teaching, first that the students are actively involved in the classroom and second that they know what they are learning. In addition she mentioned that good teachers act like facilitators and are intentional about their goals. I know that I for one can tell the difference between a teacher who has a clear plan, knows what they want to happen and one who is just making us do busy work. These kinds of qualities are given depth when implimented along with data driven research. Now this may seem like a leap in connection, but if a teacher is is using research that proves methods and strategies to be affective then they will see greater student achievement. Any teacher who truly wishes her students to learn the most they can in the time that she is allowed in her classroom will want to know that she is using the most effective strategies for those children based upon their current cognitive level of development, based upon the results that show, if you do this activity, your students will gain these skills or this knowledge. I believe this is one aspect of NCLB that will improve our nations education system. By encouraging, through mandating that there be research based education strategies we are ensuring that teachers are not simply letting their students do arts and crafts every day. Now I am not saying that this is going to stifle creativity or take away from a teachers right to teach what interests them, it is simply a standard that will keep classrooms on track for the majority of the time.