“Creating an environment where teachers are able to do their best work is crucial. That’s hard, for all sorts of different reasons, but as an administrator, I have to keep my eye on the ball so that teachers get to be their best selves.” Great teachers can develop as individuals, but they also emerge from working closely with their peers. The learning environment should facilitate conversations; teachers should be able to discuss issues and work on a common set of goals. Training teachers to have these conversations and providing them with the necessary information and resources is a big part of Ethan’s job. A recent focus at the Manning is helping the staff review and discuss data—an important best-practice tool.
“You have to hold yourself accountable, and that accountability comes through the data. Assessment is a good thing when it’s about improving student performance and not just holding schools and teachers in a publicly critical eye. Data is only useful if it’s used to improve student performance.” The Commonwealth of Massachusetts implemented a statewide standards-based assessment program in all public schools in 1998. Testing begins in third grade, and a student must pass the final tests in high school in order to graduate. Although Boston’s program is more than a decade old, Ethan says he and his staff are still learning how to use the data in the most effective way. Receiving the data often enough to generate the right conversations and move toward measurable progress for the children is important.
Ethan is optimistic and enthusiastic about the Manning School’s future, even though he knows there is much work to be done. “We have a lot of the structures in place for the right things to happen. We have the teams and the facilitators. It takes time to develop the culture. We’ve built the box, but we’ve got to get what happens in the box right. That’s what we’re working on.” After graduating from Milton, Ethan earned his bachelor’s degree at University of Texas at Austin and his master’s degree in youth policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Liz Matson
“If I had to use one word to describe an effective teacher it would be ‘relentless.’”
Milton Magazine
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