Vernon teachers spend day with educational guru

VERNON — Vernon Township School District teachers worked with Dr. James Stonge on Monday, Oct. 13.

Stronge is president of Stronge and Associates Educational Consulting, LLC, an educational consulting company that focuses on teacher and leader effectiveness with projects internationally and in many US states.

Three years ago, the Vernon schools selected Stronge’s evaluation model to measure the district’s teacher effectiveness and student achievement. The Stronge evaluation instrument is used across the district with teachers, educational specialists, and administrators. Stronge’s tool is one of only a handful of evaluation instruments approved by the New Jersey Department of Education.

Stronge’s research interests include policy and practice related to teacher quality and effectiveness. He has authored, co-authored, or edited 23 books and more than 150 articles, chapters, and technical reports.

His message was simple: what teachers do in the classroom affects students in far and deep ways.

Using a wide research base, Stronge presented international data to support the case that highly effective teachers are those who hold deep content knowledge, plan classroom instructional fastidiously, deliver instruction in meaningful and engaging ways, formatively and summatively assess students, contribute to their own professionalism, and have laser like focus on student achievement and growth.

Embedded in the scientific data Stronge presented was the notion that teachers, at the end of the day, must exhibit a deep compassion for their students.

The sentiment struck a chord with VTHS English teacher Carol Cummins.

“I was looking for the ‘human’ piece in all the information presented about evaluations and teaching," she said. "His message that ‘Good teachers will make good communities’ is an important one we cannot forget when we carry out the day-to-day work of teaching and learning,” Cummins asserted.

Cummins’ colleague, Dawn Basso, a seventh-grade language arts teacher walked away from the day with a firmer understanding of how far-reaching the arm of an effective teacher really is.

“One thing that I took away from Dr. Stronge's presentation was the impact one highly effective teacher has on a student," she said. "The positive experience can impact the student for many years after being in the class, and not only does this teacher affect his or her students, but the teachers and students in other classes as well. The spillover effect that a highly effective teacher has on the achievement and performance of her fellow teachers is truly remarkable."