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Valentine’s Day is a time to appreciate the things we love, and at JerseyCAN, we #LoveEducation. In celebration of our love for the profession, starting Friday, we will be following the #LoveTeaching campaign.
Hosted from February 14 – 21, 2020 on Facebook and Twitter, this grassroots campaign encourages educators to “illuminate why teachers enter and remain in the field of education, offering a mindset shift from seemingly singular focus on the challenges of the profession.”
This positive space for teachers to discuss why they enter and remain in the field of education is critical because it gives us a chance to hear from our best, and we believe in focusing policy and efforts on ensuring that we hold on to our best.
Research suggests that “holding on to our best” is the best thing we can do for students because:
- Teachers matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling.
- Assigning great teachers to a class of disadvantaged students for five years in a row has been shown to close the achievement gap between these students and their privileged peers (Hanushek, Kain, O’Brien, & Rivkin, 2005).
- In addition to benefiting students’ immediate academic outcomes, teachers who increase their students’ learning positively increase those students’ long-term achievements, including likelihood of attending college and earning higher salaries.
School administrators in New Jersey: If social media is not your forte but you still believe in recognizing great teachers, then you can show you #LoveTeaching by recognizing exemplary elementary educators through the NJDOE’s recently announced 2020 Exemplary Educator Recognition Program.
No matter your method for appreciating our best educators, we hope you will spend time this week reflecting on what makes you #LoveEducation too.