Strengthening the Education Workforce: Rethinking Human Capital in Education
Thinking and acting strategically about human capital development and management is the lifeblood of most high-performing businesses and organizations. Public education in this nation should be no different. Principals’ and teachers’ performance has more effect on student achievement than any other factor and their effectiveness in increasing student performance varies widely. Given the stakes, it is imperative to act on that knowledge and strengthen the education workforce to better serve students.
Yet, few urban school districts have acted on this knowledge to make strengthening human capital a centerpiece of their improvement strategies. To generate and build momentum for new approaches to strengthening human capital in education, the Aspen Program on Education and Society has launched a multi-year effort that will:
- articulate what a systematic human capital system in education might look like building on best practices in education and business both here and abroad;
- identify entry points for rapid change from current practice to more effective approaches as well as specific models and implementation strategies; and
- engage influential thought leaders, policymakers and practitioners in supporting implementation of these new approaches.
We coordinate our efforts with complementary projects on teacher and school leader excellence (or rethinking human capital) including those carried out by:
Resources
Human Capital Management in K-12 Education: Organizing for Success provides a framework for thinking systematically about strengthening the teacher workforce. The framework and accompanying self-assessment can help practitioners and policymakers organize their thinking about the full scope of the issue, assess the work they are doing, and develop strategies for improvement.
Creating and Sustaining Urban Teacher Residencies: A New Way to Recruit, Prepare, and Retain Effective Teachers in High-Needs Districts (August 2008). This report, a collaboration between the Aspen Institute Education and Society Program and the Center for Teaching Quality shows how the emerging innovation of Urban Teacher Residencies (UTR) can improve teaching quality in urban schools. The report is intended to inform those interested in UTRs generally as well as those who are considering launching an urban teacher residency as an additional pathway to improve teaching quality.
Urban Teacher Residencies, published by Voices in Urban Education (summer 2008). This article is a summary of Aspen's paper on Urban Teacher Residencies (see above) and was published in Annenberg's Voices in Urban Education.
Readings from 2008 Summer Workshop on Rethinking Human Capital in K-12 Education: Designs for Urban School Districts
In July, 2008, the Aspen Institute convened policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to develop new approaches in three specific areas that have the potential to leverage significant improvements in the human capital of urban school districts -- the integration of practices from teacher preparation through to tenure; strategies for retaining and developing teachers in years four through ten; and strengthening principal leadership. The Workshop’s background readings provide an overall context for thinking about this work as well as an orientation to these specific issues.
Readings from 2007 Summer Workshop on Rethinking Human Capital in K-12 Education
In August, 2007, the Aspen Institute convened policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to examine new approaches to human capital in education. The Workshop's background readings provide an orientation to the issues of supporting and increasing teacher and school leader excellence.
Readings from 2006 Aspen-OECD Conference on Learning from Abroad: International Teacher Policy
Other nations face the same challenges as US school systems, but do better at attracting, supporting and retaining effective teachers. What can the U.S. learn from abroad? The following Aspen reports, which were compiled for a 2006 joint seminar co-sponsored by the Aspen Institute and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) based in Paris, provide lessons for U.S. policymakers and practitioners.
The Program on Education and Society's work on Teacher and School Leader Excellence has been made possible by a generous grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Ford Foundation, and The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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