How to Get All Teachers to Become Like the Best Teachers
By Todd Whitaker
(Routledge/Eye On Education, 2025 – Learn more)
Reviewed by Dennis Schug
What would our schools be like if all the teachers were like the best teachers?
Ask any student, parent, or principal what matters most in school, and you’ll hear this: the teacher in the classroom. No program, curriculum, or initiative can match the daily impact of a skilled, caring teacher. Yet in schools everywhere, some teachers consistently take students towards their personal best, while others struggle to make the same difference.
How can we help every teacher reach the level of the best? Todd Whitaker’s How to Get All Teachers to Become Like the Best Teachers argues that not only can we do it, but we must do it. Whitaker’s book lays out clear points on which to focus while delivering concrete answers to this essential question.
A former teacher, coach, principal, and professor of educational leadership, Whitaker isn’t new to confronting and addressing the issues that face schools today, head-on.
Whether you read one of his 65 books or countless articles, or have the good fortune to meet him or hear him speak, one thing is clear: Whitaker’s words aim to empower principals, teachers, parents, and students with confidence, practical wisdom, and easy-to-apply tools that deliver results. And he does so with his usual sharp wit and willingness to “get real” and “tell it like it is.”
What’s in the book
The book’s short chapters are packed with direct advice and action steps, with real-world examples we all face as educators today. It’s divided into four practical sections:
Part I: Can We Really Help All Teachers Become Like the Best Teachers?
Part II: Hiring Exceptional Teachers
Part III: Improving the Teachers We Have
Part IV: Timeless Truths and New Learnings
In Part I, Whitaker acknowledges that our world is complex, as are the challenges facing our schools, classrooms, and learning communities. He notes that the best bet is to work to help teachers and principals in specific ways in our classrooms and our schools. To do this, we must attract and retain more people in our schools, and work carefully to make all of our teachers succeed. And whether they are entering and new to the profession, or with school experience, we must treat them like we do the best teachers.
The best teachers focus on what’s within their control. They know, for example, that Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t responsible for great teaching. It’s the person using it, and the skill with which they do it. This mindset – that it is the teacher who focuses on what he/she influences – is consistent with the mindset of the best teacher.
Part II focuses on the importance of hiring. When we hire right, the colleagues with whom we work daily change for the better. Whitaker doesn’t shy away from the word talent, noting that when new teachers are hired, we should be looking for those who will fill gaps and strengthen areas of weakness, so they “form new lines”, and not just “fall in line.”
Whitaker offers ways to develop interview questions so they challenge candidates more deeply. He also dives into hiring those who will change the climate with daily positive commitments and – in the long term – change the school’s culture. This is done not only through hiring but also when we assign mentors and welcome student teachers. The best people, Whitaker says, are those committed to changing culture one step at a time.
By Part III, Whitaker has the reader’s full attention and dives deeply into improving the teachers already in our schools. He tackles critical topics such as classroom management, addressing student misbehavior, adult behavior, kindness, and ready-to-use strategies for all teachers to succeed, including self-reflection.
It was here that I paused to consider a new way of seeing what Whitaker refers to as “the learning relationship” between the teacher and the students. He connects a standard suggested practice of greeting students as they enter the classroom with establishing “business mode,” which is a tone that is delivered with kindness, politeness, and respect.
This business-like approach sets the tone and the boundaries for what is expected in the class between the teacher and students. It aims to maximize the teaching and learning time together most efficiently and effectively. It is where everyday routines become special and are treated as shared classroom rituals. In my estimation, this is where the classroom climate contributes most significantly to classroom and school culture.
Part IV presents some “classic” Whitaker themes worth revisiting in the context of this book. He explores how teachers build learning relationships with students and why it is important that all teachers do so. He also urges that principals prioritize supporting, reinforcing, and valuing our best teachers regularly. For example, he distinguishes between teachers who are motivated during even the most challenging stretches of the school year, noting the fine line between the best teachers focusing on “keeping it up” and the teachers who need motivation – who are satisfied with being “off to a great start.” This is a critical role of a strong school leader, and someone who does not shy away from addressing those who may not be meeting or exceeding shared expectations.
Teacher investment is the principal’s business
In closing, Whitaker reassures his reader that the best approach to ensure that “education is not broken” is to invest in our teachers. By making those we already have exceptional teachers, and by adding and mentoring more exceptional teachers, we grow talent and draw out teachers’ gifts to reach and teach students.
On a personal-professional level, this book made me pause and reflect on how the learning relationship and business mode can help teachers. Additionally, principals who invest in their best teachers and coach all teachers to be like the best teachers are also those who can expect to see their school climate shift and school culture positively evolve. It’s about choosing to put in the work to grow all teachers.
In conclusion, Whitaker’s message is clear: great teachers aren’t born. They’re grown, supported, and inspired by leaders who know what to look for and how to help. This book is a straightforward guide for doing exactly that.
Dennis Schug serves as a middle school principal on Long Island, New York. Previously, he was an assistant principal and an elementary school teacher in co-taught classrooms for 13 years. A principal since 2010, he has served as Suffolk County Middle Level Principals’ Association (SCMLPA) President and a New York State Middle School Association (NYSMSA) regional representative, prioritizing professional sharing at the middle level between counties and regions.
Schug prioritizes building learning organizations focused on communication, collaboration, learning, leadership, and relationships. An avid consumer of MiddleWeb resources, he eagerly learns, applies, and shares what he learns with staff and colleagues.
