Educational Debate – Who, What and How
I am currently reading a book by Dana Goldstein called “The Teacher Wars.” She examines the history behind education in terms of how it has transformed over the years. There are a few points she made in the book that I want to discuss in detail below.
First, she mentioned there being numerous issues with our current educational system: “Poor training, low pay, inadequate supplies, inept administration, impoverished students and families.” (Goldstein, 2014) I agree that these issues exist and are hindering student development and teacher success. However, the good news is that these are all solvable problems:
- poor training– Increasing rigor in educational degree programs; classes taught by actual teachers or administrators; and teachers being placed in classrooms for practice as early in the program as possible.
- low pay– Pay teachers based on their successrate
- inadequate supplies– Community donations; teacher creativity to use what is provided; non-profit school supply warehouses for teachers (see Classroom Central); teachers writing grants for needed supplies
- inept administration– Administration should be part of a learning group with a leader who has a successful track record for leadership of both teachers and students; receive professional development based on their schools needs; receive individual coaching by a mentor; cooperation with staff for improvements to leadership based on need
- impoverished students and families– This is hard for a school or school system to fix; however, providing food at school events and collecting clothing and food donations for families in need is helpful.
Second, she also mentioned that “Americans have debated who should teach public school; what should get taught; and how teachers should be educated, trained, hired, paid, evaluated, and fired.” (Goldstein, 2014) I thought that was an interesting point of debate. So much so, I’m going to add my two cents below.
- Who should teach public school- An adult with an education degree (bachelor’s or master’s) who is passionate about making learning fun, connecting with kids and making selfless decisions for the betterment of the student’s development and needs. Too many teachers have a degree, but lack the passion or drive to get the job done well. They punch in and punch out without giving students their best. Every student, in all types of schooling systems, deserves a leader in the classroom with strong content knowledge and an ability to break down hard to understand material so one can be successful. They need to show their human side to draw students in and develop trust and understanding. Loving kids and having a desire to see them surpass their potential is absolutely necessary.
- What should get taught– All standards need to be addressed on a deep enough level to ensure students can master the material when required. Rigor and higher order questioning must be delivered in every lesson so students develop strong cognitive processes. More importantly, manners, respect and perseverance need to be cultivated so students leave the classroom equipped with life skills in addition to academic competencies.
- How teachers should be…
- educated– As mentioned above, teachers need to have an education degree. Many critics of poor teaching performance blame the poor preparation of particular educational programs. I agree to an extent that the program needs to not solely focus on educational theory and historical background but application and classroom practice. With that said, a teacher does not need to have a degree from a selective or elite college in order to be successful in the classroom. Having book smarts and excelling at an elite college does not always translate to strong classroom performance. Talent can be found in all types of undergraduate and graduate programs.
- trained– Training can be found in preparation courses, but much of the training is on the job through professional development. To first address the training of a degree program, aspiring teachers need to be in classrooms as much as possible. Observation hours help a teacher take in all the necessary aspects of a well-run classroom and competent teacher. Better than that though is requiring teachers to jump in and practice with an expert prior to student teaching. Teaching a mini lesson for 15-20 minutes or giving a spelling test are great ways for an aspiring teacher to get their feet wet so when it is time for student teaching, they can jump right in and use their previous experience to lead the classroom effectively from day one. Once hired, professional development training opportunities need to address the current needs of the school, requirements of the district, but more importantly, they need to be differentiated for staff. There is no reason to take a teacher out of their classroom to sit for hours on end learning about something that they are already doing well. That isn’t to say that a teacher cannot work on their strengths, but many schools do a one size fits all professional development session that is not a good use of time for the many in attendance. If 3-4 teachers need help with classroom management, they deserve to attend a quality professional development session led by an expert teacher. The other 45 teachers in the school that have mastered this skill, do not need to attend. Does this make more work for the principal and support staff to coordinate such differentiated opportunities? Yes, but isn’t that what teachers are required to do for their students?
- hired– Oftentimes, a team of teachers, principal, and support staff create a panel for teacher hiring. This allows the school to come together and make a collective decision based on each candidate. The interview questions are the same for each candidate to level the playing field. These questions are designed either by the principal and support staff or the district. Sometimes, once a sample of teachers pass the interview, a follow up interview with just the principal is scheduled to dive into any remaining topics not originally covered. This is a good way for the candidate and principal to feel each other out. A school tour or classroom observation can occur at this point in time as well. This thorough process ensures quality teachers are hired, but more importantly, that the right teacher is hired based on philosophy, skill set and personality. In her book, Dana mentioned there has been an “overhiring of underqualified teachers.” (Goldstein, 2014) I agree that this has happened in the past when the economy plummeted as desperate times call for desperate measures. The result when the economy started to rebound was schools needed teachers immediately. This meant they just started hiring people to get bodies in the classroom. As awful as that is to say, kids needed an adult in the room and teachers needed more reasonable class sizes. So teachers with an education degree were often hired on the spot, regardless of a track record of effectiveness or excellent references. Now schools are dealing with ineffectiveness across the board and need to hire qualified staff to replace the inexperienced. I should mention, this is not the first step as coaching is needed to help these teachers improve prior to being removed.
- paid– We all know teachers are underpaid. I personally like the idea of the initiative called ‘Pay for Performance’ that was rolled out in my school district so that if a teacher performs, they are compensated for it; much like other business structures. I only say that because I have witnessed teachers who make a lot of money due to various degrees and/or years of service but are underperforming when compared to other staff. They can be found doing as little as possible and bragging about it while extremely talented teachers are working over 10 hours a day, 7 days a week and being compensated on a minuscule level. My district is no longer paying teachers for their National Board Certification and are thinking about doing the same for Master degrees. Their logic is that these recognitions do not translate to classroom performance. There is a disconnect between learning and application. Therefore, the district wants to reward teachers who are currently performing in the classroom regardless of the amount of recognitions they have acquired over the years. Although I have a master’s degree and National Board Certification, I see the opportunity to make more than what those recognitions currently provide monetarily. That motivates me to do my best and enjoy the financial benefits of such. I think this approach will keep quality teachers in the classroom because they will be compensated for their time, effort and performance. I also think this will weed out any weaker performing teachers because they will not be monetarily rewarded for their time and effort.
- evaluated– This is such a touchy topic because many teachers feel they are not fairly evaluated. In order to ensure that all teachers are evaluated in the same way, an evaluation rubric should be developed, shared with and explained to all teachers. This ensures everyone is on the same page. When an administrator walks through a classroom, leaving feedback based on the rubric is not only helpful but encouraging for teachers because they know its not personal, its objective. For example, instead of leaving feedback that says “what a fun lesson!” it should read “lesson activity was aligned to objective and developmentally appropriate for students.” The teacher now knows they are meeting the requirements of the rubric and it shouldn’t be a surprise when the real evaluation period arrives. On the other side of the coin, if a teacher receives negative feedback it should still be rooted in the rubric and not a personal attack. For example, instead of saying “this is a horrible lesson” the feedback should read “the lesson lacks rigor which will not prepare students to master the objective for end of the quarter assessments. Stop by at the end of today to see your facilitator to brainstorm ideas on how to beef up future lessons in terms of rigor.”
- fired– I spoke briefly about this above, but firing a teacher is another tricky topic. If they blatantly break their contract or show a lack of character then an immediate dismissal is understandable. Examples could be physically hurting a student or using profanity in the classroom. Of course, this also requires a hearing and cooperation with the school district personnel. However, if a teacher is showing up late, not turning in lesson plans or having a rude tone when talking to students does not call for immediate dismissal. The teacher should be approached by the principal in a respectful, private meeting to discuss the area of concern. The principal should create an action plan of sorts so the teacher knows the required steps to improvement as well as the consequences if the steps are not followed. Getting a signature on this document is imperative so that the teacher is held accountable as well as the district will know this discussion took place and that all parties agreed to the actionable steps. A support staff member should check in often with the teacher to provide coaching and other supportive services to ensure the teacher is successful. An action plan should not be a threat nor should it lack follow up or support. This is meant to help the teacher correct their actions in order to meet expectations. If after the pre-agreed upon time frame, the teacher has not improved then dismissal is an option; of course, with the district personnel being involved in the decision. At the end of the day, whatever course of action occurs, it needs to be professional and not personal. (See “Crucial Conversations” for how to do so.)
Lastly, Dana mentioned that “we must focus less on how to rank and fire teachers and more on how to make day-to-day teaching an attractive, challenging job that intelligent, creative, and ambitious people will gravitate toward.” (Goldstein, 2014) I couldn’t agree more. We need to make quality teachers join the workforce and it will take while to change some of the deterring factors, but I am hopeful that any of the above mentioned solutions can put us on the right path to attracting and maintaining quality teachers for the betterment of our kiddos.
What are your thoughts on Dana’s findings in terms of what are the current issues in education and how we can overcome them?
About the author, Gretchen
I am a teacher trainer and coach. Working elbow to elbow with teachers and teacher leaders to ensure instructional proficiency and student achievement soar lights me up. We have a real need in our nation for strong educators to remain in the field. My blog, book, podcast, courses and instructional materials are geared towards empowering teachers (and those that lead them) to receive the support needed to grow and thrive today, tomorrow and always.