Farr is careful to say, is not the only path to success

The model the book lays out, Farr is careful to say, is not the only path to success. But he is convinced it Rosetta Stone Languages can improve teaching and already has. In 2007, 24 percent of Teach for America teachers moved their students one and a half or more years ahead, according to the organization's internal reports. In 2009, that number was up to 44 percent. That data relies largely on school tests, which vary in quality from state to state. When tests aren't available or sufficiently rigorous, Teach for America helps teachers find or design other reliable diagnostics. So far, only one independent, random-assignment study of Teach for America's effectiveness has been conducted. That report, published by Mathematica Policy Research in 2004, looked at the organization's teachers and found that, in math, their students significantly outperformed those of their more experienced counterparts. (In reading, though, the teachers' students did the same as other teachers' students.) Another study is due out in 2012 or 2013. Mr. Taylor, the fifth-grade math teacher in Washington, D.C., is not a member of Teach for America. He grew up attending D.C. public schools and then joined the profession the traditional way: he majored in education in college and then was certified. But Mr. Taylor has a lot in common with the teachers Farr has found to be most effective. On a typical Monday, Mr. Taylor's kids come to class and begin silently working on the Problem of the Day written on the blackboard. They sit in four clusters of desks. Each group has a team leader, who is selected by Mr. Taylor each month. Mr. Taylor walks in and says good morning. Good morning! they answer in kid unison. He is wearing a scarf, a black-and-white pinstripe cardigan, and small, oval Dolce Gabbana glasses, and he looks tired. Rosetta Stone V3 He is taking classes on the weekends to get his master's in education administration. He has a Bluetooth headset in one ear and an earring in the other. After a few minutes, Mr. Taylor announces that it's time for Mental Math. The kids put down their pencils and grab the orange index cards and markers on their desks. Mr. Taylor begins to walk around the class, reading problems aloud. How many 5's are in 45? The kids have to do the math in their heads. All of them write their answers on their cards and thrust them up in the air. With a quick scan, Mr. Taylor can see if every child has written the right answer. Then he says, What's the answer? And all the kids call out, Nine! When they get an answer right, they whisper-shout Yes! and pump their fists. If some kids get it wrong, they have not embarrassed themselves by individually raising their hand and announcing their mistake. But Mr. Taylor knows he needs to give them more attention or, more likely, have their team leader work with them. Children, he has learned, speak to each other in a language they can better understand. Now I'm going to trick you, Mr. Taylor says. What's 3 times 120? The orange cards go down and back up. Ooh, ooh, ooh! says one little girl, unable to contain herself. Ooh'? Is that the answer? Mr. Taylor says, silencing her. Next, Mr. Taylor goes to the board to teach a new way to do long division. It's a clever method that takes a little longer but is much easier than most other methods, Rosetta Stone Spanish and I've never seen it before. You want to work smart, not hard, he tells me later. If you just show them the traditional method, not everyone understands. He actually learned the method last year from one of his students. Mr. Taylor follows a very basic lesson plan often referred to by educators as I do, we do, you do. He does a problem on the board. Then the whole class does another one the same way. Then all the kids do a problem on their own. During the we portion of the lesson, Mr. Taylor calls on students to help solve the problem. But he does this using the equity sticks a can of clothespins, each of which has a student's name on it. That way, he ensures a random sample. The shy ones don't get lost. As the kids move into group work, there is a low buzz in the room. I try, but I can't find a child who isn't talking about math. One little boy leans across his desk to help another with a problem. What do you add to 8 to get 16? he says, and then he waits. Eight, the other boy says. Then, says the first, you subtract that and what do you get? The activities come in brisk sequence, following a routine the kids know by heart, so no time is lost in transition. In Teaching as Leadership, Farr describes seeing such choreography in other Rosetta Stone high-performance classrooms. We see routines so strong that they run virtually without any involvement from the teacher. In fact, for many highly effective teachers, the measure of a well-executed routine is that it continues in the teacher's absence. On the front wall, Mr. Taylor has posted different hand signals if you need to go to the bathroom, you raise a closed hand.