Purpose of Assessment

I found Darryl's statement that, "the best way to affect substantive change in a school is to hire 20 first-year teachers" to be quite interesting. I went back to my school and watched with that in mind and I have come to disagree. I see many veteran teachers who are far more able to affect change than their younger colleagues. The reason is simple, first-year teachers are too busy trying to survive to make a substantive change. It may be true that they can be manipulated to do the bidding of the administration more easily, which could amount to change, but would that change be substantive and sustainable? In my experience, teachers with some understanding and experience with students, the education system, and the individual school are better equipped to affect a change of a substantive nature.