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This shouldn't be an issue (in theory). I believe that only teachers that are trained or are willing to be trained in instructional methods and social-emotional issues of gifted/high-ability students should be teaching those classes. It really shouldn't be an ego thing or some sort of a reward for whatever criteria school leaders choose to set.
Ohio has finally put into law language requiring regular education teachers who teach gifted students to take a not insignificant amount of professional development. Otherwise schools cannot count their gifted students as being "served."
Another good point. The teachers that I had in high school for AP classes mostly knew their subject matter very well. But it was very clear that they connected better with the average students, and that their loyalty was toward the average student, and not the high achieving students that the AP classes were really intended for. For example, if I asked a question, I'd often get a nasty response like "We have students who are struggling, and I do not have the time to answer your questions". AP classes should be a challenge, not a struggle. A student who is truly struggling in an AP class does not belong in such a class.
This is another one of those subjects that tend to make me want to climb on a soap box. If 2 out of 5 classes are "gifted" they aren't really gifted classes, they are bright, hard working student classes. Honestly, teaching bright, hard working students has to be the dream job in teaching, of course everyone wants it. Teaching the truly gifted, including the ones that have a aversion to following societal norms, is a lot of work for the teacher IF it is done correctly.
I agree that "gifted" is not always "gifted". But it was what it was. I think that's why (in my time) FCPS differentiated between Gifted Center and Gifted Base.
This shouldn't be an issue (in theory). I believe that only teachers that are trained or are willing to be trained in instructional methods and social-emotional issues of gifted/high-ability students should be teaching those classes. It really shouldn't be an ego thing or some sort of a reward for whatever criteria school leaders choose to set.
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It's funny that you mention that you think teachers for gifted student should be trained to teach those specific kids. In my school, and our sister academies who only teach gifted student, the vast majority of teachers in the themes are alternate route certified without any teaching classes at all.
We still challenge the kids everyday. For gifted kids subject mastery is even more important.
It's funny that you mention that you think teachers for gifted student should be trained to teach those specific kids. In my school, and our sister academies who only teach gifted student, the vast majority of teachers in the themes are alternate route certified without any teaching classes at all.
We still challenge the kids everyday. For gifted kids subject mastery is even more important.
You know this could be an interesting stand alone discussion. It could be that those who come from the alternate route have both more subject matter expertise and more appreciation for which parts of the subject matter and which don't outside the classroom. Which in turn might let them work better with the gifted students who may well intimidate teachers with less subject knowledge.
My own experience in school is teachers didn't respond kindly to questions that pushed outside the fairly limited textbook explanation.
It's funny that you mention that you think teachers for gifted student should be trained to teach those specific kids. In my school, and our sister academies who only teach gifted student, the vast majority of teachers in the themes are alternate route certified without any teaching classes at all.
We still challenge the kids everyday. For gifted kids subject mastery is even more important.
Subject matter expertise is extremely important, and as the post above mentions, teachers of gifted students need to be able to "hold their own" with bright students who are likely to have divergent ideas and questions. However, a significant problem with most teacher education programs and in-school professional development is a lack of emphasis on the the nature of gifted students and the strategies needed to teach them. Some might argue that it's nothing more than an issue of pacing, and with a class full of gifted and/or highly-capable students, pacing may seem like an easy fix, but there's often much more to meeting the needs of these types of students.
My own experience in school is teachers didn't respond kindly to questions that pushed outside the fairly limited textbook explanation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clevelander17
Subject matter expertise is extremely important, and as the post above mentions, teachers of gifted students need to be able to "hold their own" with bright students who are likely to have divergent ideas and questions. However, a significant problem with most teacher education programs and in-school professional development is a lack of emphasis on the the nature of gifted students and the strategies needed to teach them. Some might argue that it's nothing more than an issue of pacing, and with a class full of gifted and/or highly-capable students, pacing may seem like an easy fix, but there's often much more to meeting the needs of these types of students.
Both of those posts describe the type of experience that I, unfortunately, had to deal with when I was in school.
And, please, can we get rid of the notion that every kid should go to college?
Not when the government is in the student loan business.
A teacher's time is a finite resource. We spend far too much time and energy trying to get below average students to perform at an average level. Society benefits far more when we educate the other end as the top students are the ones who open companies, invent new technology, and create jobs.
We absolutely need effective teachers to instruct lower level students but when pay is tied to qualifications and not performance, there's no incentive for effective teachers to teach anyone other than the students that make their day the easiest.
This creates the system we have today where administration makes an effort to retain their best teachers by giving them their accelerated students, while the newest/worst teachers are given the most challenging students. This is the biggest factor to the low attrition rate of new teachers.
Not when the government is in the student loan business.
A teacher's time is a finite resource. We spend far too much time and energy trying to get below average students to perform at an average level. Society benefits far more when we educate the other end as the top students are the ones who open companies, invent new technology, and create jobs.
We absolutely need effective teachers to instruct lower level students but when pay is tied to qualifications and not performance, there's no incentive for effective teachers to teach anyone other than the students that make their day the easiest.
This creates the system we have today where administration makes an effort to retain their best teachers by giving them their accelerated students, while the newest/worst teachers are given the most challenging students. This is the biggest factor to the low attrition rate of new teachers.
Easiest is a subjective term. It's more like effective teachers want to teach what they find to be the most professionally rewarding students. I've known incredible teachers through the years that thrive on feeling that they have "saved" children. Problem with doing that anymore is that those kids get crappy test scores and if the teacher is successful those kids will get less crappy test scores, so if teacher evaluations are tied to student test scores they will get crappy evaluations no matter how many of their kids make almost miraculous gains. We are currently in the business of disincentiving experienced, effective teachers from taking on the students who need them most. For their own professional survival, effective teachers want students that can score well enough on a test that their job is safe guarded.
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Easiest is a subjective term. It's more like effective teachers want to teach what they find to be the most professionally rewarding students. I've known incredible teachers through the years that thrive on feeling that they have "saved" children. Problem with doing that anymore is that those kids get crappy test scores and if the teacher is successful those kids will get less crappy test scores, so if teacher evaluations are tied to student test scores they will get crappy evaluations no matter how many of their kids make almost miraculous gains. We are currently in the business of disincentiving experienced, effective teachers from taking on the students who need them most. For their own professional survival, effective teachers want students that can score well enough on a test that their job is safe guarded.
Yes, tracking works when each broad group of students are provided quality instruction with effective teachers, who are evaluated not on some arbitrary baseline test score applied to all ability groups, but on the percentage of improvement in the student's performance in test scores. This is a better measure of the effectiveness of both teacher and curriculum.
And in order to provide a school wth more higher quality teachers such that all groups can have access to effective teachers, we need to attract even more folks of high caliber into the teaching profession by:
- increasing salaries
- providing ongoing professional development training
- change they way they are evaulated to more accurately reflect their ability to teach effectively by measuring the change in improvement of the student's test scores
Eta: Tracking starting from elementary onwards may also aid in retaining families who may be forced to abandon the local public school in favor of a charter, in order to seek the quality education that meets the needs of their particular child.
Yes, tracking works when each broad group of students are provided quality instruction with effective teachers, who are evaluated not on some arbitrary baseline test score applied to all ability groups, but on the percentage of improvement in the student's performance in test scores. This is a better measure of the effectiveness of both teacher and curriculum.
And in order to provide a school wth more higher quality teachers such that all groups can have access to effective teachers, we need to attract even more folks of high caliber into the teaching profession by:
- increasing salaries
- providing ongoing professional development training
- change they way they are evaulated to more accurately reflect their ability to teach effectively by measuring the change in improvement of the student's test scores
Eta: Tracking starting from elementary onwards may also aid in retaining families who may be forced to abandon the local public school in favor of a charter, in order to seek the quality education that meets the needs of their particular child.
Until society quits using teachers as whipping boys high caliber young people will not be attracted to the profession. The caliber of the teaching profession when I first entered was bolstered by the limited career options available to women and community respect for its local teachers. Once other career fields started opening up for women there was a time when poor pay was the stumbling block to attracting quality candidates, for the most part that has been addressed. That was a much simpler fix than what will be needed now because it is a lot easier to throw money at a problem than to fix society's attitudes. I loved teaching and, by both subjective and objective criteria, was considered an excellent teacher, I even won national recognition, but if I were starting out today knowing what I now know about the current working environment teachers face there is no way I would become a teacher.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Moderator - Diabetes and Kentucky (including Lexington & Louisville)
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