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Based on observation, it's likely due to that fact that more and more students don't care about school. Today there are schools with metal detectors and security guards, but in the past that was very unusual, so obviously the attitudes of people have changed. If kids went and wanted to learn, then things would be better.
But it makes a person better prepared. And if they can't pass their exams, they won't become a teacher. Just like the way a lawyer, doctor, or nurse can't practice until they pass their respective exams.
Honestly, the only things that make a person a good teacher are having an innate knack for it (something you don't magically grow just because you picked an ed major, and not everyone chooses the field that best suits them, as we all know), and learning through experience. Very few people come out of teacher training as awesome teachers. Most have to become awesome as they go, and some never will.
Coursework and practicum experience are definitely good groundwork and important preparation, of course (or, they can be, if used correctly), but if you don't have it, you don't have it. You can learn and improve somewhat, of course, but a lot of it's either there, or it's not.
Trust me, I'm DEFINITELY not saying that "you don't need a degree in education," I'm just saying that obtaining a degree in education does not necessarily guarantee that a given teacher is, or will ever be, a good one.
And in all honesty, the Praxis exams have to be hands down the simplest exams I've ever taken. If testing is going to be used as the measure and/or weedout tool for prospective teacher competence, it needs to be a MUCH more difficult test, not the current cakewalk.
Based on observation, it's likely due to that fact that more and more students don't care about school. Today there are schools with metal detectors and security guards, but in the past that was very unusual, so obviously the attitudes of people have changed. If kids went and wanted to learn, then things would be better.
When these students are surrounded by students who are working hard or they spend at least two years in the military-style schools I propose, they might have a change of heart.
Honestly, the only things that make a person a good teacher are having an innate knack for it (something you don't magically grow just because you picked an ed major, and not everyone chooses the field that best suits them, as we all know), and learning through experience. Very few people come out of teacher training as awesome teachers. Most have to become awesome as they go, and some never will.
Coursework and practicum experience are definitely good groundwork and important preparation, of course (or, they can be, if used correctly), but if you don't have it, you don't have it. You can learn and improve somewhat, of course, but a lot of it's either there, or it's not.
Trust me, I'm DEFINITELY not saying that "you don't need a degree in education," I'm just saying that obtaining a degree in education does not necessarily guarantee that a given teacher is, or will ever be, a good one.
And in all honesty, the Praxis exams have to be hands down the simplest exams I've ever taken. If testing is going to be used as the measure and/or weedout tool for prospective teacher competence, it needs to be a MUCH more difficult test, not the current cakewalk.
I mentioned this before. They WILL become harder. With my plan, a teachers job will not be just any occupation, but a profession. This will give teachers the prestige that their profession deserves.
You mentioned that some teachers don't have a knack for it. I agree. Hopefully the number of these will decrease when the requirements are made harder. Those that get through will have to prove themselves if they want to remain teachers. If enough students/parents complain, they will get released for that 1-year probation status I mentioned before.
I agree with a probation status, and I'll go one further...tenure should absolutely be abolished. The jobs of poor educators should not be protected by a political safety net. Perform or you're out. Too much dead wood out there doing a disservice to students and messing things up for devoted, conscientious, hardworking educators. People who are doing their jobs don't need the protection of tenure. Reform evaluation processes and get rid of the crutch of tenure, and you'll get and retain quality teachers.
I agree with a probation status, and I'll go one further...tenure should absolutely be abolished. The jobs of poor educators should not be protected by a political safety net. Perform or you're out. Too much dead wood out there doing a disservice to students and messing things up for devoted, conscientious, hardworking educators. People who are doing their jobs don't need the protection of tenure. Reform evaluation processes and get rid of the crutch of tenure, and you'll get and retain quality teachers.
I agree!! But many people don't see it that way, especially the kids. I've seen kids curse their teachers out!
Go back 100 years, to McGuffy Readers, one room schools, teachers with absolute authority including woodshed time, cut the buddy-system bureaucracy by 98% because most of it is a waste and an employment agency for people who don't want to do real work.
Attend the schools in your neighborhood, no judge to have any authority to order bussing or to pretend he knows how to run a school district.
Kids learned more, faster in such an environment. There was less whining, less excuse-making, less general pathology. Kids were taught to think, to use reason. They were not taught a bunch of Politically Correct lies.
And that's my way to improve public schools.
I'm not sure kids learned more, etc. Few went beyond 8th grade, and a lot didn't even go that far. It was an agricultural economy back then. There was no need for computer programmers, etc. Medicine was pretty primitive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maf763
So by a conservative estimate (40 students per school), that would mean over 4500 schools in Philadelphia alone, each staffed by a single teacher who could teach everything from beginning reading to chemistry and physics.
And all of these teachers would rightly expect a professional salary, something else that wasn't the case 100 years ago.
Here is my opinion on how we can make our public schools better.
Treat them exactly the way our universities are run. Have you ever wondered why our public schools are lacking, yet we have one of the best (if not THE best) university system in the World? The answer is simple, MONEY! The student has the money/funding and chooses where to spend it. The same should be done with public schools using vouchers.
Each parent gets a voucher for each child and chooses where to use it, regardless of where they live. The state holds on to the money and when the parent decides on a school, the money is simply sent there. Schools will have to attract students in order to stay open, or they will shut down. To keep the atmosphere even more competitive, let private schools stay open.
Schools can have the option of expelling any child who doesn't perform at the standards they have set. Certain schools will be run in military fashion for children who are disruptive/don't care about school. Their parents will loose the option of "choosing" schools and they will be forced to send them to one of these schools. If they show improvement in a span of two years, they can be allowed to choose a school again.
Instead of having state exams yearly, schools will administer one national entrance exam (like SATS) for each grade. Schools will set their bar on how high the score has to be in order to admit students. These exams will only be used when a parent wants to switch their child to another school for whatever reason.
Anyone who wants to become a teacher must major in education in college and pass a series of vigorous exams. Teacher salaries will have an increase of $15,000-$20,000. This will make the teaching field more competitive. Superindentents and anything else beyond the school principle will be eliminated in order to pay for these increases in salary. Teachers will have the right to design/choose their lesson plans and books. If they don't want to, they can use the books/lessons plans made by the school. Teacher's unions will be eliminated. Any teacher who underperforms for whatever reason will be dismissed. Depending on the severity of the cause of their dismissal, they can teach again after going through a 1 year probation status.
This is my plan!
MN has this system already. The parents don't get a voucher per se but they have the option to send their child to any school in the state they want. They have had this for over 15 years and who uses it, kids that want to participate in sports or activities at another school. I know of a couple families that have their children in 3 different high schools. The inner city schools are still bad, it hasn't done a thing to help them, why, the parents don't want to bother with moving their children. Minneapolis even offers free busing to some of the suburban schools, it doesn't really get used (usually parents have to provide transportation). The state has done pretty much everything that can to make it easy on families attending the bad schools but it still hasn't changed the quality of the schools because of the families that attend the schools.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Busch Boy
Not really. You can major in anything and just take teacher's certification courses in some places and become a teacher. My plan states that anyone who wants to be a teacher MUST major in education. The exams at the end will be made harder, similiar to the exams professionals take in order to become board-certified.
Most states require elementary teachers to major in elementary education. For middle and high school you major in your subject area, math for example, then get a minor or equivalent in secondary education. It makes NO SENSE for a middle or high school teacher to major in education. In MN you can't teach outside of your degree area so you can't just 'major in anything' and then teach.
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