Improving teaching is a key to building a better early education system and a new report makes an excellent argument that teacher observational tools are required elements of that effort.

Essentially, the report argues there is wide agreement about the benefits of high-quality learning from birth through third grade, but that teaching quality and its measurement are inconsistent.

One of the answers: Reliable and accurate observational tools.

These tools can allow for measurements that are far less subjective than many of the checklists and rubrics currently used by supervisors as they pop in and out of classrooms, as long as they include two attributes: They need to be reliable, meaning they can be trusted to provide consistent measures of quality no matter who is doing the observing. And they should be validated, meaning that studies show their measures to be associated with positive impacts on children’s learning, helping them to gain skills in language, literacy, math, social interactions, and other domains. -- “Watching Teachers Work: Using Observation Tools to Promote Effective Teaching in the Early Years and Early Grades.” Early Education Initiative, New America Foundation. 11/11.

This report raises another important question: What role should teachers play in developing better assessment tools? My guess is it should be a leading one because effective educators often know what works. Too often, though, teachers’ voices appear muted in education reform debates.

In this case, the report suggests important roles for mentors.

With the help of coaches and colleagues, teachers can customize strategies for improvement. And when used in formal evaluations, objective observation data can lend credibility to assessments of a teacher’s ability to spur children to achieve. Getting at the heart of learning—the interactions between students and their teachers—requires watching teachers work.

I asked one of the report’s authors, Lisa Guernsey, where teachers fit in this effort and we’ll add her answers.

In the future, we also will take a look at the role teachers should play in efforts to improve early learning, and we would like to hear your ideas.