In a past posting, Mr.
Chips Ain’t So Bad (July 10, 2015), I reviewed some commonly voiced
complaints against teachers in general.
The attacks, it is understood, are mostly leveled against public school
teachers. In general, my message in that
posting is that teachers, as a group of professionals, are not “so bad.” I want to pick up on that theme in this
posting. If you are interested in this
topic, may I suggest you click on that site to review the points my previous
posting makes. As for this posting, I
want to revisit the reporting that Dana Goldstein[1] provides. She tells us that despite the general beliefs
many hold as to the unwarranted advantages enjoyed by teachers regarding job
security, the facts point to surprising realities.
One, around 50% of new teachers leave teaching within five
years. That is a heck of a
turnover. Goldstein informs us that
studies indicate that those who leave teaching in those initial years are not the
more successful teachers, but, by and large, are among those who don’t perform as
well as those who stay in the profession.
Two, the evidence concerning whether teachers are anymore
protected – characterized by low termination rates among teachers exhibiting
poor performance – is difficult to find and interpret. Goldstein cites numbers: in 2007, teachers being terminated for poor
performance amounted to about 2.1 percent among American public school
teachers; among workers in companies of over one thousand workers (comparable to
the typical school district), the termination rate in 2012 was 2 percent (this
includes firings, resignations, and layoffs); and for federal government
workers, firings for poor performance account for .02 percent of that
workforce. Therefore, the teacher, as
compared with these other two employee populations, are the most apt to be fired for cause.
Three, much of our conversation about teachers and teaching
is a bit unrealistic. The tacit message
is often that since what teachers do is so important, they should be as
talented as the average doctor or lawyer, yet the resume of most teachers does
not compare with that of these other two professions. They, the teachers, often don’t have the
academic credentials that characterize these other professions as measured by
college admittance exams – such as SAT scores.
The lack of realism stems from a very important fact – one I have stated
several times in this blog: we need to
hire many more teachers than doctors or lawyers. How many more? The number is roughly five times greater as
compared with each profession. There are
3.3 million teachers in the US; there are 691,000 doctors, and there are
728,000 attorneys. Overall, four percent
of all civilian workers are teachers. This
math dictates certain rates of availability in terms of talent. Add to this the perceived inequitable levels
of compensation one can expect among teachers, much lower than that for doctors
and lawyers. Teachers do not fare well
in those comparisons. Therefore, the
costs to equalize the level of talent among teachers and other professions
would be significantly greater than what is currently being spent and success
is not guaranteed.
And four, there is little evidence that better resumes result
in better teachers. Yes, nations like
Finland have instituted a teacher corps made up of “star” students; that is,
they have put in place very high academic standards by which teacher hiring is
conducted. In addition, Finland does
have one of the most successful systems among advanced nations. Yet, in other parts of the world, there are
instances where school systems have found ways to develop high teacher
performance rates among average talented people. Cited is the Shanghai system. Shanghai has dedicated more time toward
preparation and training best practices.
This has proven to be effective in producing quality instruction and
impressive results in terms of student performance. As for Finland, there are probably other
factors affecting how effective its schools are, not the least a relatively
unified approach to education among and within its schools. So, given the potential costs, lack of any
assured results, lack of agreed upon educational strategy, and the numbers of
hires needed, we in the US should not hold our breath for significant upgrading
in our hiring standards when it comes to recruiting new teachers. Goldstein
observes that teaching for the foreseeable future will be made up of average
folk. She cites John Dewey back in
1895: “Education is, and forever will
be, in the hands of ordinary men and women.”[2]
While in this blog I am seriously critical of our efforts
concerning civics education, I do not blame teachers, as a group, for these
shortcomings. As with any profession,
there are those who should be doing something else for a living. This, quite honestly, is going to be an
unavoidable factor of life. Yes, we can
improve and we should dedicate reasonable resources to do so. But teachers, in common parlance, have been overly
blamed for our educational problems. I
would point out, with pride, that the reporting of the unfortunate and
recurring accounts of tragic shootings and other tragedies from school sites
seems to consistently describe the actions of those affected teachers in heroic
terms. The Sandy Hook Elementary School
case is prominent in this regard. When I
hear of such cases, a sense of pride overtakes me when I know I was a teacher
for most of my professional career.
Believe me, I do not count myself as being capable of such heroism, but
to think that those who have behaved in such ways are of my calling provides me
with warm feelings that include gratitude.
It is, therefore, with a certain amount of pain that I hear commentary
that belittles our teacher corps.
Overall, I believe we should admire these professionals much more than
we do and be more supportive of their efforts.
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