In the state of Pennsylvania, it
takes 3-6 years to become permanently (fully) certified to teach. This entails
jumping through several hoops in order to become qualified. The first thing necessary after graduation
from a teaching program is passing all subtests of the PRAXIS that are
required for your certificate. PRAXIS is a nationally recognized teachers’
version of the Board exams given to lawyers, nurses, and doctors. They assess
your knowledge of child development, teaching strategies, and content knowledge
in your chosen field of education. Depending on your desired certification, you
may need to take and pass 4-6 of these exams before getting your temporary
teaching certificate. In addition to passing the Praxis, you must continue to
take a certain number of courses by your sixth year of teaching. Most teachers take courses in education or
in their field of expertise, with the idea they can use them in their current
teaching situation. Some teachers go on to get their Master’s in Education.
None of this is paid for by the school district here, although you can
currently get a raise for adding an advanced degree or two, at least until the
school district takes that away.
All of us were happy when they
put a Highly-Qualified requirement for the teaching positions because the
districts and principals often placed newly qualified teachers in positions for
which they were not certified. Teachers who had a social science degree may
have been called upon to teach English or Algebra if a suitable person could
not be found for this position. My own sister-in-law had an English teacher
assigned to a beginning Algebra class in high school. Needless to say, she
didn’t learn much that year. In my own experience, our school assigned a
classroom teacher to a Special Ed position for a year. Even though that
particular teacher was studying to get her degree in Special Ed, she was not
qualified that first year. Indeed, we sometimes had a difficult time filling
positions because the school was in a high-poverty area. Teachers with
experience were valued highly here, since they would not be undaunted by the
challenges found in the school.
But the “highly qualified” tag
actually now means nothing because the US Congress has changed the rules. The
blogger, Geaux Teacher, explains in a recent blog entry.
In language that does not give a hint about its real
meaning, the deal extends by two years legislation that allows the phrase
“highly qualified teachers” to include students still in teacher training
programs — and Teach For America’s (TFA) recruits who get five weeks of summer
training shortly after they have graduated from college, and are then placed in
some of America’s neediest schools.
You can read the whole article here: http://www.geauxteacher.net/2014/02/tfa-makes-hoax-of-highly-qualified.html
Teach For America’s 5 weeks of
training doesn’t even come close to the months of observation and months of
practice teaching under close supervision of a certified teacher that the
college students in teacher prep classes put in. Those 5 weeks don’t come close
to the 4-6 semester’s worth of child development and educational methods courses
taken by teacher prep students, nor the additional 36 credits required to
become permanently certified. Not to mention that it takes three years before
they will even THINK about giving you permanent certification.
Why? Because it takes that long
to get good at what you do. It takes that long to have a grasp of the
developmental and emotional states of the age group you are teaching. It takes
that long to know your content for that grade, And it takes that long to find
your teacher legs, the ones that will help you stand up to challenging
students, or support emotionally needy ones, the ones that will hold you
up on days that never seem to end.
TFA teachers only promise 2
years of service. Most are gone after that second year, on to Graduate School or
a job where educational experience will give them a leg up in their career.
Don’t get me wrong, there are TFA teachers who eventually stay and learn to
become good teachers, but the point is, they are being labeled as ‘highly
qualified” from the get-go, when they are clearly not. To throw someone with 5
weeks experience into an inner-city classroom and expect them to be highly
qualified is a joke.
A teacher’s first year is
usually a washout as they learn how to teach by themselves, paying attention to
all the things no one explains in teacher prep classes, like collecting data,
analyzing, diagnosing and prescribing while planning 5-7 step lessons in each
subject and keeping the lid on 30 wriggling bodies and wandering minds. And
don’t forget answering phone calls from the office and from parents, making
sure you are following the IEPs and 504 plans for each noted child, all the
while teaching towards the visual, auditory and kinesthetic needs of each
child. While you are assessing whether they understood the lesson and need
re-teaching. Oh, and keeping track of the schedules of the Special Ed kids and the
gifted kids who may be removed from the class each day for specialized
instruction, but making sure they get the instruction they miss when they are
out of the classroom, all the while exposing them to grade level tasks,
concepts and vocabulary that they are expected to know for the standardized
test. You think that a non-educator or one trained for 5 weeks could come in
and handle that? Think again. All TFA does is take away jobs from real
highly qualified teachers
Not to mention all the educational policies foisted upon
us by people who have never been a teacher or have only been a teacher for 3-4
years. Remember, you really don’t get good at what you do until the third year.
From the top of the chain on down we are forced to follow the policies of these
unprepared, clueless administrators and legislators making educational policy
that doesn’t make sense.
Let’s start at the top.
Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education
for the United States – zero years as a teacher, majored in Sociology,
no teacher training
Michelle Rhee, former Superintendent of Schools in
Washington DC – only 3 years teaching in a charter school, degrees in
Government and Public Policy, TFA training of only 5 weeks
David Coleman, developer of Common Core Standards - zero
years teaching experience, English and
Philosophy degrees, worked for McGraw Hill, was on the Board of Students First,
Michelle Rhee’s organization
Because he’s been so high-profile these days, I will include
John King, NY State Education Commissioner - 3 years teaching in a charter,
law degree and degree in Educational Leadership, no teacher training at all.
William Hite, Philadelphia’s Superintendent, looks like a
long-timer with – 4 years teaching experience, BS Secondary Education Marketing
Education, regular teacher training.
So that’s 5 high-profile educational big whigs, making
policies that affect tens of millions of children, and among them they have 10
years teaching experience and only ONE of them has had more than 5 weeks
training. Is it any wonder why the United States is floundering where education
is concerned? The three most influential figures, Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee and David Coleman had a total
of 5 weeks training and 3 years teaching – total! Yet they are in charge of writing policy for all those who are in
the trenches, have the education and training, and could tell them a thing or
two about teaching. Please, if you do nothing else this weekend, investigate your state
education policy makers and see how many years experience they have. And with
the primaries coming up, make sure you look at the education experience and
records of your already elected politicians and the wannabees.
Vote for people who know what they are talking about. Get
rid of the ones who have no clue. Write letters of no confidence for those in
power who have no business being there.
And opt out of the Common Core testing. It was NOT written
by teachers and is only going to make billions for Pearson, the educational
testing company. It will not be of any value for your children. Get involved
with your local school board. Get rid of the Common Core and get them replaced
with standards that are written by people who know and understand your children
– teachers.
Take back education from the corporations.
No Teacher Left Behind
What do teachers want from school reformers?
http://theeducatorsroom.com/2013/07/education-reformers-without-classroom-experience-lack-credibility/
Almost in the TFA's clutches, Gary Rubenstein opens your eyes.
http://theeducatorsroom.com/2013/07/education-reformers-without-classroom-experience-lack-credibility/
Almost in the TFA's clutches, Gary Rubenstein opens your eyes.
http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2014/02/22/guest-post-series-part-one-how-interning-for-tfa-convinced-me-of-its-injustice/
Mark Naison, professor at Fordham University explains why he won't let TFA recruit in his classes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/18/professor-why-teach-for-america-cant-recruit-in-my-classroom/
Mark Naison, professor at Fordham University explains why he won't let TFA recruit in his classes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/18/professor-why-teach-for-america-cant-recruit-in-my-classroom/
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