ASSIGNMENT: TEACHERS’ PAY
THE MOST important issue in teacher negotiations is teacher professional time — what is called adult time (“Teacher salary system decried,’’ Page A1, Jan. 18).
Teachers cannot improve the quality of education if they don’t have sacrosanct time to talk about instruction, assessment, and their students.
Look at any successful school and then count the number of hours per week that teachers meet together. See whether they have a clear purpose to raise student achievement, hold one another accountable, and nurture a continual feedback loop.
Schools will not improve if we continue to view teaching as an isolated task where one teacher alone could possibly be responsible for student achievement.
Linda Nathan
Co-headmaster
Boston Arts Academy
Boston 
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