High-Impact Educators

What educational experiences have helped college graduates to successfully complete their degrees and prepare for their chosen careers? What motivates them to be curious and confident learners throughout their lives? This book examines these questions and more through seminal research and in-depth interviews of 150 college freshmen, college seniors, and recently hired college graduates across the United States. These first-hand accounts—including what helped them overcome their gaps and achieve success, brought fresh surprises. How should we teach to prepare graduates with the needed knowledge, skills, and dispositions to thrive? What learning opportunities are needed for students to have the capacity to think critically and solve problems in the 21st Century? The authors are excited to reveal what high school and college graduates shared about how their teachers and professors impacted their learning and achievement. This book gives teachers, professors, parents, and administrators seeking to understand effective instructional strategies and models for today's students, a framework that analyzes current research and forms a deeper inquiry starting in the front row seats of America’s classrooms. How do high school and college graduates describe high-impact educators and learning? We finally asked.

How refreshing that these authors have designed and shared their research from the voice and experience of students! What could be more relevant or important feedback for teachers than what our students say makes the difference in their success? Novel concept in the field of education! Great read!--Melody Hackney, educator and Virginia's 2021 Superintendent of the Year, Schools and universities can benefit from the data and insights presented in this book. Tufte and Tufte show that student success in K-12 and higher education does not happen by chance. We all can benefit from a deeper understanding of how high-impact educators empower students.--Todd Whitaker, educator, international presentor, and author of What Great Principals Do Differently: Fifteen Things that Matter Most, This valuable research study reveals the components of schooling that students say most contributed to their success in college and in the post-graduate workplace. The authors discuss these components in depth and remind us how many of them can be overlooked as teachers focus mainly on covering curriculum. Using the outcomes of this study, the authors offer constructive suggestions to educators for cognitive, social, and emotional considerations that will enhance students' learning and their future success.--David A. Sousa, author and consultant in educational neuroscience, We've spent the better part of the 21st century determining how to cultivate and develop K-12 educators to create meaningful and rigorous experiences for students. Drs. Brenda and John Tufte's inquiry to uncover what really makes a high-impact educator enlists the often overlooked "expert" knowledge of our recent graduates, who have spent 13+ years in classrooms. Their research findings provide a compelling set of descriptors to aid educators in deepening their impact on students and, thus, society.--Chad Miller, educator and Hawaii's 2012 State Teacher of the Year

John Tufte has taught in secondary and higher education for over 20 years and has served as a dean, principal, and K-12 superintendent. He is a 2012 Outstanding Faculty of the Year recipient and writes and speaks to educators, administrators, and parents on educational leadership, coaching, youth sports, and K-12 curriculum and instruction.Brenda Tufte has taught in K-12 and higher education for over 25 years and is a professor and chair in Graduate Education, overseeing programs in Teacher Leadership and Educational Leadership and Administration. She writes and leads professional development in K-12 and higher education and is the 2012 North Dakota Teacher of the Year, 2014 NEA Foundation Global Fellow, and 2017 Crystal Apple Award recipient for Outstanding Post-Secondary Educator.