Achieving More in a Climate of Less: How to Make Better Use of Education Resources by Improving Classroom Effectiveness 

Published March 31, 2010

Executive Summary

We hear a great deal these days on the topic of classroom/teacher effectiveness and already great many dollars are being dedicated to this issue, to supplement dwindling financial resources to general education funds.  The focus on assessing, measuring, and evaluating teacher effectiveness isn’t sufficient, however, because it does nothing to actually fix the problem. We already know teachers are less effective than they can – and should– be because too much time is wasted in the classroom dealing with unfocused, disruptive or unruly students.  The impact to Washington statewide includes: 

• Over $2B lost in education dollars annually
• As many as 30/45/90 days of lost teaching time in the classroom during an average school year
• As much as $90M spent on teacher turnover every year

And these impacts do not address the related problems of underachievement, high drop-out rate, bullying and other forms of schools violence, students inadequately prepared for the job market, to name a few. This paper will outline why funds are not being used effectively, and how our children’s education needs and goals can be met within the funding parameters already in place.

Recommendations

The popular solutions proposed to fix education fail to address what is the biggest area of drain on time, financial and human resources and achievement. By investing in effective social skills education, directly integrated into school curriculum, we have the ability to

• Develop more effective learning environments,
• Improve teacher effectiveness,
• Decrease discipline and behavior issues,
• Increase academic achievement,
• Develop students with job-ready skills for when they leave the school system

– all within the current, or even reduced, budget levels because the solution is self-funding.

Copyright © 2010 Corinne A. Gregory All rights reserved 

www.socialsmarts.com                                               425.485.4089                               www.corinnegregory.com

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