Robert Goodman
New Jersey Teacher of the Year
Bergen County Technical High School, Teterboro, NJ
Grade 9-12, Physics

My teaching philosophy
Education is central to human progress: without it we would repeat the past instead of progressing from generation to generation. No activity is more critical to a society than an effective educational strategy.

In action: Students love to learn; they love to be challenged. I have worked towards opening up our most rigorous courses, typically our AP courses, to all the students. Through a social constructivist approach we have gotten high levels of student achievement from students who would normally be tracked away from rigorous AP courses.

My greatest teaching accomplishment
Our students, who are more or less typcial of New Jersey in terms of SAT and demographic data, are taking and passing AP Physics exams at rates that are more than ten times the state average. Our approach has been so successful that it is migrating not only through the science department, but throughout the school, opening access to the most rigorous courses to all of our students.

The most critical issues facing educators today
Education suffers from a lack of agreed upon goals: what knowledge is of most worth and how we assess whether it has been learned. Having common goals is essential if students, administrators and teachers are to work together effectively. This lack has reduced the excitement and sense of purpose in education. Many schools suffer from the resulting malaise.

Ways to resolve this issue
The AP curricula represent a good starting point for establishing rigorous academic standards. Working backwards from these it is possible to create articulated curricula and assessments. Having a strong representation of teachers involved in the creation of these curricula and assessments would do much to get US education on track. Publishing the results of schools, on these mutually agreed upon end-of-year assessments, would give each school's teachers, students and administrators a sense of common purpose. Tracking progess on annual tests would be a much more effective and postive approach than the high stakes tests that are trying to accomplish that same result, but are doing it in a negative rather than a positive manner.

One thought to inspire teachers to succeed
Set high goals for all your students; share those goals with your students, administrators and parents; establish a plan to meet those goals; and then dedicate yourself to working with each student to achieve them. It's a lot of hard work, but the sense of purpose and direction which you and your students will share will make every day exciting and worthwhile.

One lesson every student should learn
Always challenge yourself. Never accept limitations imposed on you by yourself or by others. If something can be learned, you can learn it.

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