Improving Education Through Better Teachers 446
theodp writes "The teaching profession gets schooled in cover stories from the big pubs this weekend, as Newsweek makes the case for Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers, and the NY Times offers the more hopeful Building a Better Teacher. For the past half-century, professional educators believed that if they could only find the right pedagogy, the right method of instruction, all would be well. They tried New Math, open classrooms, Whole Language — but nothing seemed to achieve significant or lasting improvements. But what they ignored was the elephant in the room — if the teacher sucks, the students suck. Or, as the Times more eloquently puts it: 'William Sanders, a statistician studying Tennessee teachers with a colleague, found that a student with a weak teacher for three straight years would score, on average, 50 percentile points behind a similar student with a strong teacher for those years. Teachers working in the same building, teaching the same grade, produced very different outcomes. And the gaps were huge.' But what makes a good teacher? When Bill Gates announced his foundation was investing $335 million in a project to improve teaching quality, he added a rueful caveat. 'Unfortunately, it seems the field doesn't have a clear view of what characterizes good teaching,' Gates said. 'I'm personally very curious.'"
Fire teachers? Good luck (Score:5, Informative)
It's almost impossible to fire a teacher. Read up some of the "rubber rooms" operated in Los Angeles and New York.
"About 160 teachers and other staff sit idly in buildings scattered around the sprawling district, waiting for allegations of misconduct to be resolved.
The housed are accused, among other things, of sexual contact with students, harassment, theft or drug possession. Nearly all are being paid. All told, they collect about $10 million in salaries per year -- even as the district is contemplating widespread layoffs of teachers because of a financial shortfall."
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/06/local/me-teachers6 [latimes.com]
just pay them more (Score:3, Informative)
i was kind of disgusted by a recent story i read in the new york daily news
it was a story of a public school janitor who bilked his school's petty cash fund for janitorial services to the tune of $30K
to, among other frivolties, send his kid to private school (irony meter off the charts)
but that's not the real story in this story. the real story here is that this janitor made $86K a year?!
some sort of 40 year tenure you say? no, he was there for only 5 years
how does it make sense that a janitor is making $86K a year considering the average new york city school teacher's salary?
i don't understand how this makes sense to anyone in the new york city school system
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/03/04/2010-03-04_custodians_rap_cleaned_city_out_of_30g.html [nydailynews.com]
Re:Fire teachers? Good luck (Score:4, Informative)
And from New York:
"These fifteen teachers, along with about six hundred others, in six larger Rubber Rooms in the city’s five boroughs, have been accused of misconduct, such as hitting or molesting a student, or, in some cases, of incompetence, in a system that rarely calls anyone incompetent.
The teachers have been in the Rubber Room for an average of about three years, doing the same thing every day—which is pretty much nothing at all. Watched over by two private security guards and two city Department of Education supervisors, they punch a time clock for the same hours that they would have kept at school—typically, eight-fifteen to three-fifteen. Like all teachers, they have the summer off. The city’s contract with their union, the United Federation of Teachers, requires that charges against them be heard by an arbitrator, and until the charges are resolved—the process is often endless—they will continue to draw their salaries and accrue pensions and other benefits."
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/31/090831fa_fact_brill [newyorker.com]
Re:Better teachers and more funding ! (Score:4, Informative)
we spend the money on Education and higher salaries so we can attract better people to teaching
This sounds great on the surface; after all, one gets what one pays for, right? Sorry, here's a collection of links to browse that will VERY quickly dispell that notion:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/edu_spe_per_pri_sch_stu-spending-per-primary-school-student
http://www.epodunk.com/top10/per_pupil/
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66
http://www.heritage.org/research/Education/bg2179.cfm
Now, IF the hiring and firing of teachers worked like going to work at a private company then the spend more get better results method would not only work, it would have worked already. Unfortunately, teaching is a political hot potato. It's nearly impossible to fire underperforming teachers. Just look at the hubbub in Rhoad Island a few weeks ago. At the worst performing school in the state, the superintendent directed the teachers to work 20 minutes per day more. They refused and threw a stink and the teachers' union is litigating the hell out of the district when the superintendent said they'd be laid off at the end of the year. Here in Denver, where the city schools are wretched, a whopping total of 0.4 percent of teachers were not only bad enough but also behaved badly enough to get fired last year. How many people in private sector jobs god laid off in a TYPICAL year, nevermind the crappy economic conditions like last year? 0.4% indicates just how hard it is to get rid of bad ones. And you can't have any performance based pay at all - the union threatens to have a fit every time that's seriously suggested.
The only way to force the teachers to get better at the public schools is to open up more competition. This means vouchers for private schooling, Everywhere this gets tried seriously, the public schools are forced to improve or go out of business. The public teachers' union HATES vouchers though, so it's really hard to get such systems implemented.
Re:Prental Involment? (Score:2, Informative)
I don't have any mod points, but someone please mod this way up.
My wife and I are both teachers, and the number one problem we run into is parent apathy and/or values. All the folks in this discussion blaming teachers don't know what the hell they're talking about. It's not our training, it's not our unions, it's the parents. Parent who commute 2 hrs each way just to put food on the table don't have time to sit down with their kid and help with homework, let alone instill in the child the VALUE of doing the homework. Parents are either too busy chasing a dollar or chasing tail (look at the high divorce rate) or playing WoW or whatnot...to teach their children manners, respect, and the value of education.
So, take the average middle school child. He sees on TV and in magazines the high value we place on athletes and whores (Paris Hilton, etc) and pimps and gangsters (watch a movie, any movie), he sees how lavishly they live and the coin they make..... Compare that to the teacher he sees every day wearing crappy clothing because we can't afford any, he sees the crappy car we drive, pictures of the crappy homes we live in.... If there's no moderating influence at home, there simply will be no respect for teachers and education in general. Of course that directly translates into receiving a poor education.
But go ahead, blame us teachers who could all be making better money in the private sector but opt not to in order to try and make a better world.
Teachers want this more than Administrators (Score:3, Informative)
It's well-known, and also my experience, that administrators don't really care about the quality of the teaching in classrooms. To them it's just a product, and as long as the "sale" is being made, job done. Consider the same dynamics in a helpdesk, phone support situation; what is more profitable?
Consider my sig. First, I had a college teaching job where the union was non-functional and reviews were given by a dean. Result: I had to beg and plead for an assistant dean to come into my room once, ever, for the supposed required review; he stayed for 5 minutes and scribbled something utterly nonsensical about the CS lesson, "Dan's great", that's it. Now, I teach at a school where the union is strongly involved, and every semester I get a rotating series of fellow professors sitting in my classroom for a whole hour, writing a 6-page report, and having a discussion with me about my classroom management, in a very detailed and sometimes picky manner.
American Educator magazine, Fall 2008, had an issue about the effects of teacher governance and peer review. One interesting finding: When the union and teachers are involved in reviews, they are FAR MORE likely to fire teachers than administrators or principals. Teachers care about the profession, and the students, and their reputation; just like doctors or lawyers or engineers. But administrators have other priorities.
Read the article here ("Taking the Lead", p. 37): http://archive.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/fall2008/index.htm [aft.org]
Look, in the last two decades there's been a concerted Chicago-school-type program to wrest control away from teachers and corporatize schools, reducing teachers to low-paid, unskilled at-will labor. Full-time teachers have been replaced by part-time contingent faculty to save costs (example: community college instructors in 1997 were 54% tenured full-time, now just 43%). The majority of funding increases go to grow administration jobs, not in-classroom teaching (growing 41% between 1997 and 2007). Source, AFT State of Higher Education Worforce: http://www.aftface.org/storage/face/documents/ameracad_report_97-07for_web.pdf [aftface.org]
In a software company, the PHB's tend to want to take decision-making away from the engineers, and the result is an inefficiently run company (but in the short-run, profitable for the bosses). The exact same thing is happening right now with the PHB's of the school system trying to squeeze out teacher peer review and shared governance, for the same reasons, with all available data showing the exact same end-results. The more they squeeze, the more students will slip through their fingers. But like a lot of American social issues, the evidence can't get through the wild-eyed tea-party propaganda.
Re:Good Teachers (Score:1, Informative)
There are already plenty of teachers like this. Many of them stay forever because it's what they love. Many others leave because of the bureaucracy and crappy pay. NCLB has made things significantly worse and if you look at the numbers the vast majority of teachers quit within five years. When asked the most common reasons for leaving are having to deal with the inane bureaucracy, the toxicity of dealing with parents, and finally pay. My wife has just finished her fifth year of teaching, she dreads the changes that the state is going to be making to her school this year due to budget problems, and her least favorite part of the job are the paperwork, and the parents.
There is a ton of paperwork and it's very difficult to get students into programs that they desperately need. There is a stigma attached with being labeled as "special ed" or "special needs" so parents have forced the issue and administrators/districts have come up with convoluted methods of testing, rating levels etc that prevent students from getting the help they need until its too late. In some cases it can take three to four years to get a student into the special needs program. At that point the student is so far behind it's too late. This can be for simple things such as reading recovery programs that simply give students additional help or tailored programs for improving reading comprehension or to overcome minor learning disabilities all the way up to the severely learning disabled. The end result is that all students suffer.
Then there are the parents. Most parents are just fine, but there's a percentage that assume the teacher is a moron and their children are little golden angles. Little Johnny couldn't have possibly lifted up that girls skirt she must be a liar and so are you Mrs. Teacher. My son can't possibly be failing, I'm a Dr. don't you know how much education I have! These people are completely oblivious to the fact that teachers not only have four year degrees, but are also required to continue their education to remain licensed. This means specialized training, continuing their college education etc. The number of teachers with masters degrees is actually quite large. Their education is also tailored to education, just like that Drs is tailored to medicine. Yet there seems to be this socially accepted stereotype that teachers are morons and as such it's ok to treat them like dirt. If you are educated then of course you know more than that teacher and could do a better job yourself.
I really don't understand how she puts up with it to be honest. I have significantly less education and make almost four times as much money. I don't have to deal with people treating me like crap, bad mouthing me in the press, and assuming I'm a moron. Even worse is that my work will provide no long term benefit to society it is simply a temporary transfer or wealth between individuals. My wifes job however is to try to help educate the next generation and mold them into people that can think critically, solve problems, and know how to find the answers to questions. While the legislature and unwashed masses attempt to turn education into a factory that churns out unthinking cogs that will consume and can be trained to do simple repetitive tasks. Too bad we shipped all the factories over seas so there's none to stick all these cogs in.
Re:Good examples are there... (Score:5, Informative)
No it doesn't. Education, however, does. Finland was Russia's (and before that Sweden's) economically abused agrarian colony until the first World War, got pummeled heavily by Stalin in second, and had to pay huge tribute for the crime of not surrendering. That tribute had to be paid largely in industrial products. This prompted industrialization and made educated people very valuable, since a nation of a few million people kinda has to care about effectiveness of labour.
As a practical example, consider the cost of university level education in Finland and America. According to usastudyguide.com [usastudyguide.com] the cost of tuition in the United States is between $5,000 to $25,000, and this doesn't include room and board or additional fees. In Finland, in Tampere University, it's 44,50 euros ($60) per year. On top of that, the state pays part of your living expenses plus around 200 euros per month of social security, and usually a single meal per day on top of that in University's cafe.
In other words, in the United States higher education is a luxury that costs you $100,000+ to get, while in Finland it's considered so valuable to society that it actually pays you to get it. Everything else follows from that difference in attitudes.
Cue a thousand libertarians missing the point and ranting about socialism in their responses.
Re:In my experience, authority (Score:2, Informative)
I'm 100% with you up until the point you said "you've either got it or you don't"
The skills for classroom control are very teachable. I've had five years in the trenches at the chalkface and swear by the techniques taught in http://fredjones.com. Dr Jones is a clinical psychologist who studied the "you've either got it or you don't" theory.
He studied 100 "got it" teachers,
Then 100 "don't got it" teachers.
Wrote down what all of group one had in common, wrote down what all of group 2 had in common.
Told group 2 to stop doing X and start doing Y.
Then group 2 became "got it" teachers.
The scientific method *does* apply to proper classroom delivery.
I was a *damned* good teacher... in fact, the graduating class in my last year as a teacher received a 100% pass rate on a nationally standardized exam. Not only that, but we did it a whole school term early. (Allowing many of them to resubmit their work for higher grades).
I really loved the actual teaching... but the politics and bullshit. standardized testing, school league tables based on test results, schools & teachers bullied over test results that are more to do with postal code (socioeconomic status) than anything else were all contributing factors.
Not to mention the constant stream of bullshit articles written by dumb fuckers who've got an opinion about how teaching should be done but have no idea about the realities. Politicians who think they know how teaching should be done. Bollocks!
Everyone seems to think they know what a school should be like because they went to school themselves... but the truth is, there's a lot of stuff about teaching that is counter-intuitive. That's where the field of educational science comes in. (Every teacher in North America must have a university degree in Education).
Anyways. Yes, good teachers matter. Yes, it can be taught.
Re:Good examples are there... (Score:4, Informative)
That means allowing them the space to exercise their experience and common sense rather than regulating their activities into a series of so-called "outcomes" that have to be ticked off so that petty-minded little bureaucrats can get a good night's sleep. It also means not leaving teachers exposed to be pilloried by media and politicians for their own ends.
We need to try treating teachers as valued members of society, for the fact that they are entrusted with the education of future generations, rather than treating them as political footballs. Of course, that also means that teachers need to be paid well enough that they don't feel exploited. After all, who among us really wants to give 100% when we are feeling aggrieved with our employer?
Absolutely! My wife is a primary school teacher. After being injured in a car accident and falling pregnant twice she's a couple of years out of the game now, but when she was last teaching it was as a casual who was taking longer stints to relieve teachers.
I've seen her reduced to tears over being forced to redo reports so that they don't reflect what the students are actually capable of (and it's not in her nature to be at all harsh!). I've seen her abused by family because teachers "get too much time off" - educated relatives that should know better about creating curriculums and preparing lessons no less. I've seen her in hospital because primary school students dislocated her shoulder (I suspect on purpose, but try proving it, and more importantly try and find someone interested in ensuring her safety). As a casual she didn't qualify for maternity leave because to do so where she lives requires 40 weeks of consecutive work without a single day off (even though there may not be enough demand to allow for that). And of course her earning wasn't spectacular.
In short we treat our teachers like shit. I wouldn't become a teacher and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that wants a good life.
Re:Better teachers and more funding ! (Score:5, Informative)
Thats not true.
My wife is a teacher and you can be fired for being seen in a bar, having a facebook page, or just wearing a bikini in public. [wfsb.com] There is zero tolerance as teachers need to be holier than thou and the union can not save you. Also, teachers do not become immune from being fired until about 3 to 4 years and even then you can still be fired for gross negligence such as coming to work drunk. Infact, this happened with a new teacher. He just got hired and partied all night the night before class to celebrate his new job and passed out in the bushes by lunch. He was fired on the spot before the first day finished.
Even a picture of you smoking in public outside the school can get you canned. They are that strict. Firing teachers is quite popular in this political climate. This is true even in minority districts where 65% of students do not speak English as a native language [csmonitor.com]. hmm why do not the students there test at grade level in English?
Must be the teachers fault right? Fire them!
Teachers are fired left and right every 1 to 2 years and rehired so they do not get the union benefits of job security. My wife is always let go and rehired every year. It has a devastating psychological effect as the kids and I freak out every summer about living out in the street only to be rehired. I tell you one thing. If this happens again she will not be a teacher anymore. This crap has got to stop and teachers are anything but un-fireable. Infact, I would even say teachers have less job security than most professions. You do not just go in and teach. Your lesson plans and your schedule have to be very very detailed in a particular format that takes a few college level courses to do it right. Think of it as writing an APA paper? This is for every day and the principals love to ring you in by the neck if its not 100% perfect or not to their liking. Its not fun nor easy anymore.
Re:Good examples are there... (Score:3, Informative)
Except private schools don't do a better job. Compare private schools to public schools in equal socio-economic areas and they do about the same. But private school is self selecting- only those people who's parents have money and care about education will send their children there, thus improving the applicant pool. Public schools accept everyone, and many of those are unmotivated and have no pushback from home. Public schools don't do worse, they just have the bad side of the selection bias.
Re:Good examples are there... (Score:3, Informative)