Boston Globe: A higher bar for future teachers

Parent Cafe
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<p>A wake up call issued by Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and president emeritus of Teachers College, Columbia University.</p>

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Universities must conduct clear-eyed evaluations of teacher-education programs instead of treating them as cash cows. They must commit to close poor ones, strengthen promising ones, and expand strong ones within five years.</p>

<p>If universities do not carry out this responsibility, states must turn in their rubber stamps and conduct their own rigorous reviews, shutting down weak programs and helping middling ones build on their strengths. States also need better data systems, so that they can track student achievement gains and trace back the good (and bad) news to the programs that produced those students' teachers.</p>

<p>We also need to shift the home base of teacher education. Today, more than half of America's teachers (54 percent) are prepared in master's degree-granting institutions, as opposed to research universities that grant doctorates. On average, master's institutions require lower standardized admission test scores and high school grades than do research universities. They have higher student-to-faculty ratios, retain less distinguished faculty, and graduate less effective teachers than research universities.</p>

<p>Research universities tend to put teacher education on a lesser footing than most other fields. They must assume greater responsibility for teacher education, expanding their programs. States will have to invest in that expansion.</p>

<p>We need to end the old argument about whether teaching is a profession like law and medicine, requiring substantial education before one enters practice, or a craft like journalism to be learned on the job.</p>

<p>Teaching is a profession. It requires deep content knowledge, a familiarity with ways to teach that knowledge effectively, and an understanding of how young people learn and grow.</p>

<p>Future teachers should complete a traditional arts and sciences bachelor's degree in a content area such as math, history or English, and then undertake a year of graduate study to learn how to communicate their subject in ways that promote student learning.</p>

<p>Scholarships will also be necessary to encourage our most talented students to choose teaching careers over high -profile, better-paying professions.</p>

<p>Improving the quality of teaching will be an uphill battle until the nation is ready to pay teachers more. But that's no excuse not to clean up Dodge City. We must ensure that teachers are prepared in programs that are held to high standards and are engaged in the pursuit of excellence, not irrelevance.

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<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/10/31/a_higher_bar_for_future_teachers/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/10/31/a_higher_bar_for_future_teachers/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>the thing about that is teaching is not a lucrative profession so highly motivated people wills till be less inclined to become teachers unless the governemtn is willing to shell out mroe $$$$$</p>

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unless the governemtn is willing to shell out mroe $$$$$

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<p>it is easy to just blame the gov't, but the truth is that it is a question of what the tax payer is willing to bear. you can't raise salaries if you are worried about your entire budget being voted down by taxpayers who are not seeing their own paychecks grow in pace with their tax increases.</p>

<p>don't counter me with arguments about the value of our teachers -- i couldn't agree more. but where i live i've seen programs slashed, class sizes grow, etc, as the districts try to avoid having the budget voted down -- something that seems to happen with increasing frequency these days.</p>

<p>it would be nice to expect the state to kick in more money to the districts -- but they also have to worry about antagonizing voters with higher taxes.</p>

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<p>Perhaps the U.S. should consider changing teacher training to a system similar to the way it's done in Canada. The B.Ed. is a post-degree one year program and those who are applying are, obviously, not 17 year olds who think they want to be teachers. The requirements at the programs to which my D applied two years ago were a B+ average in university, minimum to even be considered, 300 hours of in class volunteer experience, a rather involved personal statement detailing how and why they thought they would be a good teacher, three letters of recommendation from profs and the teachers in whose classrooms they volunteered, and an interview. The program she finally chose had 3700 applicants, they interviewed 250, and chose 120. This was for primary and junior education, K-6, although the same selectivity exists for middle and senior years. In addition, for middle and senior, the applicants must have majored in the areas which they plan to teach, and have an additional 'teachable', which requires a certain number of course hours (forget the actual number). </p>

<p>Of course, there's no guarantee that all of these individuals will be great teachers but, at a minimum, they know that they are truly interested in the profession and have taken the steps necessary to fulfill that goal. The practicum, (placement training), is excellent in these programs, too. It just seems like a more practical, and intelligent, way to train teachers to me than the way it is being done in many schools in the U.S.</p>

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<p>Lets see: more spending - oh right</p>

<p>The reality is having BOTH a committed father and a mother standing behind the child -is probably the single most important factor in a student's peformance in school</p>

<p>Of course the mere mention of massive illegitimacy is a non-politically correct topic that one will rarely ever see discussed in the Boston Globe or by the authors it allows to write articles</p>

<p>Ok teachers are now comparable to lawyers and doctors I see?</p>

<p>Try working 60 to 70 hour weeks year-round. The Globe seems to leave out this part</p>

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<p>Why is the Boston Globe and its article writers always defining everything as a teacher-centric problem - when it has been the Boston Globe that for years now has been one of the biggest proponents of self-esteem based education along with "whole language" reading and writing and the noticeably disasterous fuzzy (rote learning is bad/caculator preferred) math techniques of the last several decades?</p>

<p>When Johnny finishes middle school -he may not be able to read, write, or do math - but he at least he feels good about it</p>

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<p>"School Enrollments Up, Teacher Candidates Down"
"In US, Fewer Choosing to Teach"</p>

<p>These front page headlines greeted me the other day when I opened my October edition of the International Educator. I think the cash cow is drying up of countless talented women teachers who approach retirement, college graduates, Phi Beta Kappa members. They follow all the women in the past who taught because that was what was offered to them. My grandmother taught in a one room in Cool, Ca in 1900 a graduate of San Jose Teacher's Normal School. My mother took one of two job offers in Los Angeles county in 1930 when she graduated from USC. I'm good for a few more years and I love my work but I chose to go abroad so my son would get a free private school education where his classes had no more than 10-15 students. It made a difference.</p>

<p>One final question, do you "train" lawyers? I was never trained to be a teacher. It is an art. I was educated.</p>

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<p>Teaching will never be universally considered a profession if it is unionized.</p>

<p>Around here, teachers are very well paid & have hours & benefits that most could only dream of. Their salaries are published in the local paper each year & I am always shocked at how some of the most inept are earning six figures. Thanks to tenure, there is no accountability, so the range of talent & competence is huge.</p>

<p>I would insist on mastery in a content area in addition to the understanding of effective teaching methods for different learning styles.</p>

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<p>overseas: I agree that the opening up of opportunity to women has watered down the pool of teacher candidates. Same goes for nursing.</p>

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<p>My sister teaches 3rd grade. During the school year, she easily works 60 hours minimum. Over the summer, she takes Continuing Ed courses, so she's not spending 8 weeks at the beach. For high school teachers, the workload is even higher. </p>

<p>I do think the concept of tenure should go the way of the dinosaur. Is there any other profession where you are granted permission to keep your job no matter how poorly you perform? </p>

<p>There are serious taxpayer issues with simply spending more money, but this is why we should be shifting our education funding from local property tax funded schools (which build on iniquities and encourage continued class differences in how our children our educated) to some other method. I do think this is a federal issue, because the future of our economy, health care system, productivity -- it all hinges on having a well educated work force.</p>

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<p>alwaysamom</p>

<p>The University of Wyoming tried that years ago. Get a four year degree and then follow it up with an education degree. Their enrollment dropped and students went elsewhere to get the degree in 4 years instead of paying for 5 years for the same credential. It would have to be a nationwide thing for it to work.</p>

<p>UW also required all students to take the CAT test then. Only students in the top half of the graduating HS senior class were able to enroll in the college of Education. I still like that requirement.</p>

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I would insist on mastery in a content area in addition to the understanding of effective teaching methods for different learning styles.

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<p>this is actually a concern i have about teacher requirements these days -- i really do have trouble seeing how a bs in math, rather than one in child development will make someone better able to teach elementary school. (not talking about secondary ed here). if anything, from my personal experience, people who were really adept at advanced math, were sometimes the worst at being able to explain very basic math concepts -- because it was just so intuitive to them. again, i'm talking about elem school teachers. (at the secondary level i've seen plenty of "math" teachers who could have used more expertise in their field! :) )</p>

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<p>One of my problems with public schools is how prone they are to educational fads. Forget phonics, let's do whole language. New math, anyone? Is it any surprise many kids can't read or do basic arithmetic? But this phenomenon doesn't start with teachers - it starts with administrators with dubious credentials trying to justify the existence of their very jobs. If you're trying to improve the level of teaching, lets start at the top - not with teachers but with administrators who run the schools. If you're trying to improve the level of learning, lets also start at the top - with a sound curriculum.</p>

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<p>Sticker Shock, my mom totally agrees with you. She quit when the union came into her district in CA. I have never worked in a unionized district so I have no idea what that means. My sister has and she just retired. She was brilliant in her profession and has a very nice retirement package! I envy it. </p>

<p>Again, like SS above says, the pool of teacher candidates is changing. I am working this year with two Harvard graduates who are going into teaching so who knows. It is such an incredibly creative profession that it will still attract those who are truly teachers.</p>

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<p>Katliamom, Oh, the fads! Makes me laugh.</p>

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<p>Education is also a field where they are very willing to try new methods without appropriate testing to determine if those methods actually work. I say this as a victim of New Math.</p>

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If you're trying to improve the level of teaching, lets start at the top - not with teachers but with administrators who run the schools.

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<p>amen!</p>

<p>when i was in hs (back when dinasaurs roamed), i took a year of algebra, a year of geometry, a year of trig -- each subject nice and separate, a natural progression within the couse. when my d started hs, nys had just implemented Math A and Math B -- each were 3 semester courses (so before taking the regents exam, a student had to have a summer interupt the course of study and the 3 semesters usually meant 2 separate teachers) and seemed, to me at least, a hodgepodge of subjects -- one week my d seemed to be working on something to do with algebra, the next geometry. i felt as if someone had taken the curriculum and thrown it up in the air!!</p>

<p>well after problems with low passing rates on the regents exams and a major state review of the curriculum, nys will be introducing something new -- they will teach algebra one year, geometry another .... !!!!!</p>

<p>[can you tell this is a real personal pet peeve of mine!! :) ]</p>

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<p>"During the school year, she easily works 60 hours minimum. Over the summer, she takes Continuing Ed courses, so she's not spending 8 weeks at the beach. For high school teachers, the workload is even higher."</p>

<p>Until they actually start WORKING full-time - they will never be put on par with full-time professions - however glad to see teachers currently contracted at 185 days a year won't mind moving to a 250 day year as a mandatory min actually WORKING AT THE SCHOOL like other professional jobs. They can tutor kids on those extra 65 plus days</p>

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<p>unbelievable: My son's 3rd grade math teacher told me "I hate math!" I am not kidding. So I'd take a math major anyday.</p>

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<p>My daughter (who wants to be a teacher) was caught up in the Math A/Math B debacle. The educracy has to create jobs and career paths for people whose only skills are to come up with stupid names for classes. The split between Math A and Math B never made any sense whatsoever and made it difficult for kids to really learn those subjects properly. Major pet peeve of mine, too. Arrrrrrgh!!! Anyway, daughter wants to teach high school biology so every school she applied to will have her graduate as double majors in bio and secondary education. Except Plattsburgh which has a five-year master's in secondary education for biology. She also plans to continue her research projects in college and beyond. I wonder how she will do with the unions and the hierarchy in the NYC public school systems. I have a bunch of friends who are teachers and they find the unions to be a huge impediment to providing a good education. It's their belief that the unions protect the lowest common denominator among its members at the expense of the others.</p>