By Steve Chestnut
The Maricopa Unified School District is well known in our community as an educational institution with six elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school. We are also one of the biggest businesses in Maricopa with a $41.5 million budget and 650 employees.
As a school district, our goal is to make sure each of our 6,700 students learns the knowledge and skills they need to meet rigorous academic standards, thereby making MUSD an A-rated school district. This is accomplished through daily lessons provided by teachers in every classroom. Effective classroom teaching is our “core business,” which means the key to our success is to hire and retain excellent teachers.
What makes a great teacher? Educational research says the following four characteristics are very important.
1. Knowledge. Good teachers have deep knowledge of the subjects they teach.
2. Organization with a purpose. Effective teachers provide a structure that enables all students to learn at high levels. This is more than just assigning homework and giving tests. Good teachers create high-quality lesson plans, provide clear expectations, insist students meet rigorous standards, etc. In other words, effective teachers know how to apply and teach their knowledge in a way students can understand and learn. We refer to this package of teacher skills as “effective instruction.”
3. Compassion. Excellent teachers maintain positive interpersonal relationships, particularly with students. There is an old expression that describes how important this is: “Students don’t care how much the teacher knows until they know how much the teacher cares.”
4. Professionalism. Great teachers reflect on their teaching, maintain accurate records, communicate with families, assist colleagues, contribute to school-wide events, seek feedback on their teaching, etc.
As the superintendent/chief executive officer of the school district, it is my responsibility to make sure we hire teachers with these four characteristics and we support their professional growth in these areas. Our recruitment and hiring process does a good job of identifying qualified applicants, and our professional development program assists teachers in learning new knowledge and applying that knowledge when working with students.
To improve interpersonal relationships with students we are training teachers at three schools on “Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports,” and we plan to include more teachers in that training next year.
The characteristics that make great teachers are similar to those that make great employees in other professions. And if you want to move your organization from a “B” to an “A,” make sure you are investing in the employees responsible for your “core business.”
Steve Chestnut, Ed.D., is the superintendent of Maricopa Unified School District.
This column appears in the March issue of InMaricopa.
![A blue square highlights the area of the proposed affordable housing development and "Restaurant Row" sitting south of city hall and the Maricopa Police Department. Preliminary architectural drawings were not yet available. [City of Maricopa]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/041724-affordable-housing-project-restaurant-row-100x70.jpg "Affordable apartments planned near ‘Restaurant Row’")
