NEA's Keys to Excellence: KEY 5

Resources to Support Teaching and Learning

For effective teaching and learning, teachers and education support professional need an adequate supply of appropriate resources. In high performing schools, the concept of resources is defined broadly to include: (1) physical resources such as space requirements, textbook and other curricular materials and computer hardware and software; (2) a safe learning environment, free from crime, violence or bullying; and (3) health, social and psychological services including recreational opportunities.

Indicator 1: Computer hardware and software supplies are adequate for students and teachers.
This indicator, which focuses on both student and teacher needs, identifies some of the physical resources that have been found to support teaching and learning in effective schools. It examines whether your school is equipped with the computer hardware and software required in instructional activities.

A 1995 survey by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) revealed that three-quarters of schools have sufficient computers and television sets, and about two thirds have sufficient printers, videocassette recorders, and access to cable television. Very large numbers of the same schools, however, report insufficient wiring to plug in a computer. Staff development was an even more difficult issue.

Indicator 2: Support services are adequate.
This indicator identifies some of the psychosocial resources available to students in your school, as well as support services which are available to teachers. Specifically, it examines whether your school provides counseling/guidance, psychological/social work, extracurricular, and health-related services to students, and basic technical support services to teachers, all in a clean, working environment.

Indicator 3: Space for instructional activities is adequate.
This indicator examines whether or not your school adequately meets space requirements for instructional activities. It focuses on the space requirements not only for "regular" classrooms but for "special" activities as well.

Indicator 4: The school provides a safe environment for learning.
This indicator examines whether or not your school has a clear school safety policy and whether or not that policy is reinforced in all teaching and learning activities.

Tragic shootings that have taken place in schools around the country in recent years have brought home the reality that safety is an issue that every school must address. An NEA report in 1999 recommends that educators go beyond the campus to address school safety. Violence at home and in the community tends to move into the school because of a number of reasons: gang presence and activities, hate-motivated behaviors, drugs, and the availability of weapons.

Indicator 5: Academic resources are adequate.
This indicator examines whether or not the workbook, textbook and other curricular materials used in your school are appropriate for the goals of instruction.

Curriculum is a powerful determinant of student achievement. In some cases, the cost of upgrading the curriculum seems minor, but deep change is often costly. When making a decision about programs, school staff must understand the entire situation and how the curricular resources relate to needs.

Go to KEY 6.