Save Our Schools

Save Our Schools

Though it was neither well attended nor televised, the Save our Schools rally and march in Washington DC (and nation wide) took place last weekend with thousands of teachers turning up to protest education 'reform,' namely the attack on teacher unions and collective bargaining, high stakes testing, teacher evaluation tied to those high stakes testing, privatization of public education, billionaires (namely, Bill Gates) trying to dismantle public ed and replace it with charters . . . and on and on and on.

I like what John Merrow has to say in this blog entry.  He refers to himself as a middle of the road guy in this whole battle.  He is all for teachers, but after reporting on education for his entire career, he knows much of the education system - especially in large urban areas - is in dire need of fixing.

I agree, though I've absolutely no first hand knowledge of urban education of any kind. 

Here is what I see as needed reforms as it pertains to a small rural school.

First, make it difficult to become a teacher.  I've blogged on this a million times, but it's true.  Anyone can get in to an education program.  In fact, if you get accepted to a college, you are pretty much guaranteed to get in to an education program.  Sure, as I did when at BSU, I had some hurdles to jump through . . . state why I want to be part of the program, what is my education philosophy, get so many letters of recommendation, survive intro to education with Dr. Henry. 

But that's it.  How many students get in to colleges but then don't make it in to nursing, business, and law programs.  Many!  Not so with education.

Second, teacher evaluation is a must.  Hold teachers accountable.  Really accountable.  How this should be done, I'm not sure.  But it must be done.  Did I love being observed once every couple of years once I earned tenure?  Did I love knowing that pretty much what I did in my room was totally up to me?  Did I love not having to turn in lesson plans every week?  Not really.

Total autonomy was nice.  Don't get me wrong.  If I wanted to venture out and teach a new story or show a video from iTunes that related to something we were studying, it was no problem.  I didn't have a curriculum nazi hanging over me.

That freedom was great.  But it had a price.  I didn't get feedback on how to make my craft better.  The onus of that all fell on me.  And that's great.  I'm a professional and I love what I do.  You'd be hard pressed to find other teachers, even professors, with a collection of books on teaching and writing like mine.  But does that make me any good?  Not necessarily.

Observations help.  Feedback from my students helps.  Input from parents helps.  Observation and feedback from my peers helps (and it doesn't have to be negative.  It can be as simple as, did you know that you tend to ignore the left side of your room because your board is on the right side of the room?  or, man you had to work hard to get any kind of discussion going today, how about telling students you won't ask them to raise their hands.  Instead you will ask a question, wait ten seconds for them to formulate a response and then - at random - ask a student to answer).

Certainly, I think test scores can be used to evaluate teachers and students, but it's a slippery slope to head down.  First, do they really reflect what teachers do and students learn?  Second, what kind of skills are being reinforced with all this emphasis on testing? Third, what about parents and peers and socio-economic situations that influence teachers and students?

I know many teachers get upset when we mention evaluation.  But really, teachers are evaluated all the time.  As parents, you know who are the effective and ineffective teachers in your kids' schools.  Don't lie.  You know you've looked at their schedules and saw that one name - and maybe it's a name you had when you were in school too - and you roll your eyes and think, "here we go . . ."

We know effective and ineffective teaching.  And we tolerate the latter.  That's what's horrible about public education.  We'd never tolerate an ineffective dentist or mechanic or lawyer.  We'd go to another one.  But for many kids that option doesn't exist in public education.

And that's why we need teacher accountability.

Third, professional development.  As it happens now, this is a sham.  Pulling in teachers from various districts twice a year to hear a motivational speaker and then to attend three break out sessions (and I've even presented for one of these break out sessions) is NOT professional development.  It's a hoop that all teachers must jump through in order to earn their credits toward their renewal of their licenses.  Imagine if doctors or I.T. professionals were developed this way.  We'd be back in the stone ages in a hurry.

Earning your MA is NOT professional development either.  Sure, it can help, but how many MA programs are bogus?  Even if you earn an MA in your content area, how many courses really made you a better teacher?  Be honest.

Luckily, I think we have a great chance at Lincoln for professional development through our common prep program and our PLCs.  Now that there is a specific focus to them, I think this can really help me become a more effective teacher.

Finally, stay with one of these reform movements!  I don't care if it's outcome based education, tracking, the graduate standards/Profiles of Learning, NCLB, or RTTT, stick with something so it will be around long enough to get the kinks out and make it effective.  I know the high stakes testing craze that was a result of NCLB is (in my opinion) ludicrous.  But maybe, just maybe, there will be better tests devised to really gauge student learning and not just rudimentary skills.  Then maybe it will be around long enough so teachers can be trained to actually use the data in their classes to guide their instruction (I freely admit, I have not done this at all).  Just please stick with something so we can stop that damn pendulum from always swinging in education.  That, at least, will stop those of us who see a new program coming in and just shrug, roll our eyes, and whisper, "this too shall pass."