![[The Brazil Times nameplate]](http://www.thebraziltimes.com/images/nameplate.png)
|
|
Overcast ~ High: 37°F Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 |
|
Licensing of Educators & Education AdministratorsPosted Monday, September 7, 2009, at 7:49 AM
Wow! Sometimes one can be surprised at their own misconceptions by reading a newspaper article buried in a newspaper. Such a revelation came to me when I read the Associated Press article on Page 4 of the Sept. 4 edition of The Brazil Times entitled "Teacher licensing changes advance."
I had not realized that "Education" was a college major or that a person could qualify to teach at the high school level without extensive study of the subject that they chose to teach at that level. The new Superintendant of Public Instruction, Dr. Tony Bennett, is seeking to change that. I see that as a good thing, but I realize that it may jeopardize education within the state unless there is a provision for a period of adjustment while teachers strive to meet any new qualifications that come about. We don't want to lose good teachers by changing the rules in the middle of the game without a period of adaptation, so to speak. I do see a difference in the teaching of elementary school, middle school, and high school students. At the elementary school level, the teacher must familiarize the beginning student with general knowledge in various subjects and evaluate the effectiveness of different teaching methods as compared with the student's specific method of learning with the input of both the parent and the administrator. At the middle school level, that evaluation and matching of teaching to learning methods is still occurring, but the course material becomes more detailed requiring more in-depth knowledge of the subject on the part of the teacher. By the ninth-grade, the student that has not developed their own learning method and adapted to differing methods of presenting information is "at risk" of not being able to succeed in life and needs specialized assistance beyond the scope of the teacher who is perfectly capable and well-qualified to teach the average student. At the high school level, the teacher needs to be thoroughly knowledgeable in the subject to be able to challenge the student. In what I consider a good student-teacher relationship at the high school level, at the end of the course both the teacher and the student will know more about the subject than when they began because they will have challenged each other to learn more. This is how the knowledge base of Mankind expands, by the constant challenge to learn what is already known and expand upon it. Dr. Bennett also wishes to open school and district administration to people from fields outside of traditional education channels. I also see this as a good idea, kind of a "fresh eyes" concept. Understanding that our education system is based in law, affected by politics, funded by government, dedicated to the education of future generations, must meet the needs of the public, but must operate on sound business principles is sometimes lost by people who have only worked within the education system for years and decades. While education has changed while they have been isolated, the world has changed faster. Allowing people to more readily step into education administration from other careers would interject more new ideas into our education system faster than our current method of having professional education administrators who are overseen by school boards made up of many people of various career fields. However, I do have some reservations because most of our district superintendants and many principals hold doctorates indicating considerable education and dedication to their career path. A person who is stepping into the position from outside would be required to learn a large amount of pertinent and vital knowledge faster than their lack of that knowledge could get them into trouble or cause any degradation in the education of the students. What say you? Comments Showing most recent comments first [Show in chronological order instead] |
Hot topics Every Day's a Holiday - Data, Scope, and Perspective(0 ~ 7:15 AM, Sep 22)
On People, Permanence, and the Almost Perpetual Nature of a School Corporation
'PORK' and the Fallacy of Community Schools in Indiana in 2010
Professionals, Experts, the Common Man and Government Decisions
Musical Chairs, What a Game!
|
Email link
Read comments (16)
Blog archive
![[Feed icon]](http://www.thebraziltimes.com/images/icons/feed-icon-14x14.png){kind=icon}
Both kphillips and Jenny Moore have hit on the problem of employee control that is lacking in our corporation; the lack of documentation or policy that defines what will be documented, by whom, and the disciplinary action that will be taken if it is not documented. This is one of the reasons that I see opening up education administration to "new blood" and "fresh eyes" from outside of the education system.
Jenny listed a few things that should be documented and would be in any other place of employment. I'm surprised that she didn't mention the teacher who ran between classrooms to cover for an absent teacher who failed to report for work, an incident that would have resulted in the immediate termination of BOTH employees in most workplaces. A person who shows a trend of losing work, not being on the job, or not doing the job should not remain employed, in education or anywhere else, but it must be documented before you have "just cause" for disciplinary action.
On the other hand, kphillips has a point that we must also give a teacher with an identified deficiency the opportunity to improve before termination. Second, from my own experience, judging the teacher through the perspective of the student can lead to wrong conclusions. Since the early 1990's, I've listened to young relatives complain about teachers within this corporation. Most of their complaints were and are, still today, trivial but a few have been worrisome. Upon talking with the teacher and hearing their side of the story, I have never found cause for complaint except once.
We do need a systematic and standardized method of identifying both our below average and outstanding teachers. If we have such a method in place, I've never heard any mention of it.
As I have said, I have been influenced by the military lifestyle. In the Marine Corps, reports are constantly being submitted on all sergeants and above to Headquarters, Marine Corps. These reports are written by the individual's commander at intervals of six months, upon re-assignment of duty station or duties of either the individual or the commander. They contain several evaluations of standardized criteria, a numeric comparison of all individuals in the same category that are reported on by the commander, a provision for explanative remarks by the commander, and a provision for a rebuttal of the report, if derogatory, by the individual being reported upon One thing that I can see in addition to what I've described would be a numeric comparison requirement of all teachers within a school by the principal to give an assessment of those teachers who would be the only individual reported on in their category by the principal. This eliminates a problem that was noted in the Marine Corps during my career; that of individuals in positions that were common to all units but were the only one within any unit such as Armory NCOIC, Dining Facility Manager, or Motor Transport Chief. These people generally got the highest marks possible and were always rated "number 1" in comparison of like billets because there never was anyone to compare them to. I can see value in something of this nature within our education system, both to identify deficient teachers and those that should be receiving merit pay.
Now, I can imagine some of the remarks from both principals and teachers. When it comes to reporting, personal relationships must be ignored and replaced with objectivity! It is a matter of doing the job.
Kphillips:
There are several teachers in my family. I know there are excellent ones and there are poor ones. Recognizing that there is a problem is the first step in fixing it. While demotion is not an option with our system, documenting deficiencies is. I would leave test scores out of this equation actually. I would document the teacher who didn't do their job. For example, the teacher who misplaces the students' homework week after week, year after year needs to be given an improvement plan and if/when the situation doesn't improve, she needs to be fired. The principal who doesn't document this sort of thing then needs to be documented themself and if they don't start doing their job, fired. The teacher who refuses to comply with syllibus standards and drags on a unit that is supposed to last one marking period through an entire semester needs to be documented and the principal who fails to do this needs the same. The teacher who is chronically absent each Monday and Friday needs to be documented and the principal who fails to do so needs same. We have course descriptions at high school level and when a teacher doesn't present 25% of that material to the class during the semester, they need to be documented.
When a teacher leaves the classroom day after day for as much as half of the class period, they need to be documented?
All of these instances have happenend with one or the other of my four children. Some in elementary level. Some in higher grades. Multiple times. Letting this continue not only cheats the students of learning opportunities..this I feel also is some of the abuse other good teachers have to endure when they are given the same monetary reward and then also have to play catch up for the deficient student when they get them in class. Already at the high school level we have 9th graders coming in who are not prepared for 9th grade level courses due to this happening in lower grades.
Now I am an advocate of teachers but only of GOOD teachers. We have plenty of them here in Clay County but also have those who have gone on un documented for years and THAT is a problem of the way our local administration is not administrating in a good many cases at several levels in our county. I realize that most teachers are in their position because they want to make a difference. Those I want to reward. we are just not doing that by not weeding out those who are substandard. You know who these people are. They're not many but they are here and they are dragging the quality of education down in this county. Our quality of academic achievement could be raised without a penny more spent if the administrators from top down would be more diligent in their jobs and both document deficiencies and provide support and back up for building administrators when they DO document as it takes time and careful steps to do it properly with improvement plan. It can't be done half way or it won't work as we saw this past year.
I was supervisor in a teaching hospital. I know it can be done but it takes a long time with repeated warnings and the situation cannot be expected to improve overnight. However if we never take that first step, it NEVER will improve.
My own kids have had 6 teachers who had these deficiencies and 5 principals who didn't document them. While that is a low percentage compared to the entire staff it's quite high when you consider that each time there were about 25 students in class along with my kids each time and in at least 3 of those teachers were well known to have done same over multiple years. think of all the students' opportunities that were lost during that time period. Just unacceptable.
To kphillips:
You go girl! I totally agree!
How do you demote a teacher? They don't get promoted, just abused and generally disrespected. Can you guarantee that merit pay will be fair and go to teachers that go above and beyond, or is it based solely on test scores? Read the books of Ron Clark and Rafe Esquith. These are two exceptional teachers that have won the Disney Teacher of the Year Award. Yet they both have been disliked and reprimanded by administrators despite their tremendous success in the classroom. Rafe Esquith addresses this nicely in his book There Are No Shortcuts. If the merit pay is based on test scores, would it punish teachers who work with low achieving students, in low income areas, or who try to make a difference in failing schools? We aren't producing a cookie cutter product. We don't teacher paper children.
As far as tenure...It takes hard work, documentation, and the opportunity for a teacher to improve before termination. At the beginning of teacher's career they can be released from the contract without being provided a reason. Tenure doesn't keep an inadequate teacher teaching.
Leo:
Your response pretty much sums it up. I learned that the sergent is the one who figures out how to accomplish what the generals want by figuring out the steps it will take and then assigning people to implement them. Without them all we would have is grand ideas and a bunch of privates doing nothing.
Maybe the schools should be run like the military with like discipline and rewards. But wait we don't give teachers merit pay and don't demote them for not doing their jobs...Two mistakes right there that rewards those who don't AND punishes those who do by doing NOTHING.
I always said that those who don't like tenure don't need it and those who do like it need it.
Tenure should only be applied in circumstances where ethics keeps one from doing what they are assigned to do. If you're doing your job otherwise the rest is a piece of cake.
Jenny, I think that what you are describing is a lack of a sense of duty or misplaced loyalty in your comment of Tue, Sep 8, 2009, at 7:06 AM.
I come from a different "world"; the United States Marine Corps thoroughly and permanently indoctrinated me with the idea that "a Marine on duty has no friends." From my point of view, if someone is not doing the job, he or she is a hazard to the organization contributing to the failure of the current mission. If the situation is not corrected by the person in charge, then the person in charge is failing to do their duty. Interpersonal relationships are not relevant to this, if a person cannot objectively evaluate the value of a person and their value to the organization without regard to relationship with the person, such as friend, relative, or spouse; then that person is not doing their duty to the organization and should not be in a position of leadership. You may have noticed that I carry the chevrons of a Marine Corps Sergeant with me. I do that as a reminder that it is at that rank that the most difficult decisions must be made. The Sergeant in the Corps, and the Staff Sergeant in the Army, is the squad leader. Above that position, the strategic, tactical, and operational plans have been made. It is at the position of the squad leader that the decision is usually made in combat of who walks point, which person enters the building first or who sticks his head up to see if someone shoots at him. After thinking of that, it isn't hard to discipline or fire someone who is not doing what they are capable of or whose absolute best is not contributing to the goals of an organization.
Even in the Marine Corps, sometimes people who do not do their duty get into leadership positions and corrective measures are required.
Kphillips - I think that your comments of Mon, Sep 7, 2009, at 8:22 PM is in accord with the last sentence of my blog article "A person who is stepping into the position from outside would be required to learn a large amount of pertinent and vital knowledge faster than their lack of that knowledge could get them into trouble or cause any degradation in the education of the students."
I think that it all depends on the person who is put into the position, even as it does now. Anyone stepping into education administration from another career is going to have to devote themselves to "getting up to speed" with the uniqueness of the demands of the job quickly or risk failure. Even with the familiarity that a teacher has, failure to transition into administration is still a possibility.
kphillips:
Agreed that administrator has to know about the product [education]but also has to have skills in management as if he doesn't know how to get optimum performance out of the teachers while instilling good teamwork and structure, we will have what we have today right here in Clay County; many self motivated teachers who do a wonderful job, but a few whose poor work habits and teaching abilities have been chronic problems for over a generation of students, thus causing many of the students to have been cheated out of many opportunities.
While this is not necessarily a problem at every school, it has been in each my children have attended. With 4 children I have found a teacher in each who has not been doing their job repeatedly uncorrected for a number of years. It leads me to think that many of the building administrators either don't know how to supervise effectively or aren't willing to. While ultimately the top administrator and school board need to set the tone that this type of administrating is not to be tolerated, there's a lot a building supervisor can choose to do at building level to make their building function more in favor optimizing student opportunities where teacher inadequacies are chronic.
I think the board and superintendent tried to do this when they did not renew and shortened certain principal's contracts this past year but something happened internally that caused this to backfire. Maybe they didn't do it correctly or maybe they caved in to political pressure as well? Either way, it didn't help the students as it sent the message that it was more important to keep the illusion alive that all was well with everything and what had been done for the past years at these buildings was still acceptable. Ignore the poor teachers in spite of how that has cheated students again and again. How can this practice go on and keep those self motivated teachers pressing on above and beyond the call of duty when they too see a fellow teacher not doing their share?
This is why I think there are positive leanings about a business type person in the building administrator's position in some schools. Not that how it is being done now won't work. What we really need to address, and no one seems to want to, is that the steps must be done correctly and over time to correct situations where teachers and administrators aren't doing their jobs. Lot of effort and time involved too. Not a fun part of being an administrator but necessary. Some teachers, just by their nature, just don't seem to be able to do this and this is a very important part of being an administrator that is many times over looked. Being nice just isn't enough and a person who has to be liked and a buddy to those who work under them just can't do this effectively without doing this very important part of their job. I feel that in the past many times the administration has hired incorrectly on basis of how nice a person was as a teacher and have not thought about how effective they could be as an administrator. This is why a principal should never be chosen from the pool of teachers at the school he teaches for it makes it even more difficult to address problems with his "buddies".
Leo,
My thoughts on transition to adminstrator is that I'm unsure. Education cannot be about a bottom line only. I think the most ideal situation, for a building-level administrator, especially is for them to have a strong background in education. How can a businessman that has no classroom or little education experience evaluate and MENTOR teachers in order to build a strong, competent staff. Remember, education isn't a factory. There are so many unique things such as working with students and parents, building a positive learning environment, mentoring and evaluating staff when dealing with schools. I think sometimes governement is only interested in the bottom line. Are you staying out of the red, are students scoring high enough on exams? -- of course all of these things are important but only one small piece of the overall puzzle. Let's remeber, we don't teach paper children. I think if the person in question had a strong business background as well as a deep understanding of researched based education practices, then maybe it could work. How do you assure that a person will have both these things? This definitely seems more suited to superintendents (if that) rather than building level administrators.
Thanks for the Info, Barry51, I'm going to have to try that program out.
FREE WRITING/THINKING PROGRAM
Special Services Education to BA and Business
www.TheEasyEssay.com is a free program that is being used from Special Services Education (including ADHD, dyslexia and mainstreaming) to college education, FCAT, SAT, ACT test preparation, home schooling, and educational rehabilitation, as well as in business for concise, organized and targeted memos, speeches, reports, and recommendations.
A noted side effect of the program is that users begin to communicate logically.
"I have used this technique with my corporate clients, my theology students, and soon with my students at Kaplan University."
Dr. Kathleen A. Bishop, M.B.A., PhD, ThD.
"I got feedback from the teachers. They love it and we are looking at using it with some of our AT devices."
Dr. Suzanne Pope Dobson - Calhoun High School (Special Education Department Head)
"The Easy Essay was very helpful... I [also] have twin 15 year old twins. They are in a college prep school... I am glad this tool is available."
Brain Injury Association of Minnesota
~ Janice Webster | Resource Facilitator / Peer Mentor Specialist
The President's prepared remarks for his School speech are on the web at http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources...
Kphillips -- Thank you for clearing up the requirements for teachers. I thought it was a little daft, in the article that quoted Dr. Bennett, to have a teacher in middle or high school who wasn't fully conversant in their subject. Almost anyone can teach out of a book, but I and I think most people do also, look to teachers to go beyond the textbook.
On your question, "is it better to evaluate how qualified a teacher is off of one standardized test or a professional portfolio which shows evidence of best practices?" It has long been my opinion that a period of objective observation is always a better indication of performance than any standardized test. I could cite many examples of people who failed in our education system due to standardized tests that went on to great success in life. If I recall correctly, Einstein was not an outstanding student in grammar school and Bill Gates dropped out of college. On a recent note, teen-aged drivers pass a standardized test to get their license but the General Assembly saw fit to change the law to protect them from themselves until they complete successfully a period where they prove that they are safe enough drivers to have the restrictions removed. I think that the mentoring of new teachers should be continued even if it is no longer a requirement above our district level.
I see your point and the problem in the Special Ed department. Obviously, the problem I foresaw with changing requirements has already happened on a smaller scale with NCLB.
Your discussion of "Transition to Teaching" was enlightening; however, the way I understood the article, the proposed changes would affect transitioning from other careers into education administration at both the building and district level. There is as many differences between running a successful company, bank, or non-profit organization as there is similarity. While I think this could be a good idea to bring in "new blood" with "fresh eyes" into education, I have to be concerned about how it will affect education. I would be interested in your thoughts on that subject.
Leo:
Yes there are loopholes in the education major system that allow a teacher to be certified in his/her area with a very weak base of knowledge in their field of study. Now I don't think that this is always the norm but it does happen.
For example my husband had a friend in college who was a math education major and could not get any higher than a "C" in any of his math courses. With all the education courses he took, his GPA was high enough for his graduation/certification. He later went on to get his PhD so in fact was never that good in math at all though he had a doctorate in math education. I think this new track gives more of an assurance that the teacher hired does in fact have a stronger base in their subject.
Now there are more people majoring in their desired field and then getting a master's in education afterwards. This also shows that what was sufficient in past generations is not always sufficient in today's market. Several centuries back a student who finished 8th grade could start teaching. Then there were "normal" schools to train teachers. Then a BA was enough and in many schools now it still is. The trend however as well as due to competition for positions in certain areas of teaching is to obtain a Master's degree in some locations just like the trend of college professors being all PhD's instead of so many who only have Master's degrees. It's a different world than it used to be and Superintendent Bennett is attempting to help Indiana catch up.
Another thing to note. The transition to teaching from a profession is not new. This has been going on long before Dr. Bennett. In fact, there has been great emphasis on it in the last 5-10 years, especially since NCLB. In fact, schools like Indiana Wesleyan offer a transition to teaching program for professionals.
One thing Dr. Bennett has done is eliminated the portfolio mandate for teachers to recieve their license. During the past 2-3 years (I think) a beginning teacher must work with a licensed mentor (another teacher on the staff) to complete a professional portfolio. At the end of two years the teacher's portfolio is evaluated. If the teacher is deemed competent in their subject area and teaching they are given their license. Many feel that cutting the mentor program and the portfolio program hurts the quality of beginning teachers. Not every new teacher is a super star coming out of college but can develop into a great teacher with the help of a mentor. Also, is it better to evaluate how qualified a teacher is off of one standardized test or a professional portfolio which shows evidence of best practices? You tell me.
Leo,
Education is a major, however, please note that if you are going to major in Education it is required that you are endorsed in subject areas under the Education major. For instance, a high school science teacher will major in education and then complete course work to gain the following endorsements; physics, physical science, general science, biology, chemistry, and/or earth science. A science teacher with a biology endorsement cannot teach physics. Not only do teachers have to have an endorsement to teach the subject area which require several college level classes but teachers must take an exam at the end of their education to show that they are qualified. This is the same for social studies, as well as other subject areas. This is part of the highly qualified teacher mandate by the No Child Left Behind act. Some problems schools have faced is shortages in teachers with licenses to teach physics because you can't be an Education major and then just decide what subject to teach. It's difficult to get certain endorsements and its difficult to get more than one or two endorsements because of the course work requred. Another problem NCLB has brought to high schools is in the special ed department. Special education teachers must be high qualified to teach math, science, english, or any other subject at the high school no matter what their class make-up is. This has resulted in many special education teachers having to test or even go back to school to qualify to teach subjects they have traditionally been able to teach.