Optimizing Training for Change: Two Iterations of a Teacher Training Program for Judaic Studies Teachers
September 17, 2024Sha’arei Bina Torah Academy for Girls, Hollywood, FL
October 1, 2024
Rabbi Shimshon Gewirtz, editor
If You Don’t Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students! This is the catchy name of a book on educational leadership, and the imagery, while absurd, can be a helpful guide to school leaders as they work to develop and nurture great Jewish educators. When leaders feed their teachers, student outcomes are improved. But what should teachers be fed?
The challenge of making sure that Jewish day schools have great teachers presents itself in several ways. There is the issue of quantity; schools need enough teachers to staff their classes, and it seems to be getting harder to find teachers, with few candidates applying for positions. There is also the somewhat related issue of teacher compensation. It’s reasonable to assume that if teachers were paid better, more people would want to teach. There are some good ideas to help address the teacher shortage and the issue of teacher pay, but these challenges are sticky, to an extent, as teacher shortages are reported in all geographic regions and in every kind of school, and adequate funding will always be a challenge.
Beyond these challenges, is there a way to ensure that the teachers we have in our schools are great teachers? What steps can school leaders take to develop and nurture great Jewish educators? Is there a path to school improvement that is not about replacing teachers but building the ones you already have? Are there programs or models to help school leaders make great teachers out of novices?
In this edition, we present ideas, solutions, and case studies to answer these questions. There are several training models represented. Rabbi Alan Berkowitz describes a residency program for new teachers at Yeshiva of Flatbush. Dr. Rona Novick advocates for graduate education for aspiring Jewish day school teachers and suggests ways to make graduate education more accessible. There is an article by Rabbi Zechariah Weitz on our own Lilmod U’Lilamed program, which trains and mentors new rebbeim and morahs. And Ruhama Welcher and Suzzane Sackstein, Ph. D., describe a teacher training program for in-service teachers from the Office of the Chief Rabbi of South Africa.
In addition to formal training programs, great school leaders provide supervision that improves teacher quality and educational outcomes. Dr. Bradley Herman summarizes the findings from a study he conducted about leadership styles and how they relate to teacher satisfaction in Jewish day schools. Rivka Gottlieb encourages leading by taking risks to encourage teachers to do the same. And we’ve published a selection on best practices in supervision and professional development, taken from a monograph on improving instructional quality in Jewish day schools written by Rabbi Jeffrey (Yosef) Glanz, Ed. D.
Miriam Gettinger provides suggestions for supporting teachers and avoiding attrition. Ahuvah Heyman shares a checklist of human resources and staff support policies that will make your school a great place to teach and engender professionalism from the teaching staff. Chanie Hertzel runs an online school, and her article describes how to support staff in the remote environment. And Rabbi Hillel Adler writes about how using Apploi is helping Jewish day schools fill positions.
Rav Ahron Lopiansky addressed school leaders at this summer’s Think Tank conference and presented an approach to encourage mechanchim to pursue their personal growth in a way that is supportive of and not in conflict with their commitment to their talmidim. It is our honor to share his ideas with our readers.
As always, we hope that you find this edition to be informative, thought-provoking, and enjoyable to read. Feedback is always appreciated – email sgewirtz@cojds.org.