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TEACHER QUALIFICATION STANDARDS.
Term Paper ID:30588
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Essay Subject:
Examines whether or not States should change or eliminate standards.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
7 sources, 13 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Examines whether or not States should change or eliminate standards. Problems of shortage of certified teachers, and shrinking pool of teachers who received conventional education. Issue of substituting expertise in place of formal training in teaching methodology. Reasons for shortage of qualified teachers. Purpose of certification; its relation to effectiveness in the classroom.
Paper Introduction:
This paper examines the question of whether or not states should be allowed to revise or even eliminate teacher qualification standards in order to enlarge the pool of available talent as a solution to the shortage of certified teachers. Increasingly, schools throughout America are confronted with a shrinking pool of teachers who have received the conventional education that allows them to meet each state=s standards for teaching certificates. Low pay, heightened demands beyond skills at imparting knowledge, reduced public respect for the profession, and a host of other challenges make attracting and keeping trained teachers an increasingly daunting challenge. One of the more intriguing but controversial ideas has been to draw on the expertise and enthusiasm of individuals with a wealth of content knowledge but limited formal training in teaching metho
Text of the Paper:
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Lewis (2 , January) reports,AThe 1998 Higher Education Act requires states to report on the quality oftheir teacher education institutions. Sixteen California school districts, for instance, have aspecial program for uncertified instructors. And now, a teacher shortage: Sunbeltschool systems are caught with their rosters short. Certification needs tomeasure a teacher=s ability to inspire and instruct, not the ability torecite educational theory. Yet one of the most promising proposals has met with the greatestresistance within the educational community. 6 ). Adults with degrees in subjects withteacher shortages take reduced teaching loads for one year undersupervision. Bowen (1985, July 22) describesprograms in California, Florida, and Texas, in which individuals withbackgrounds in specialized subjects are given a year or two of pedagogicaltraining and paired with a mentor before receiving certification to teachthose subjects in the public school classroom (p. LuciaSolorzano (1987, July 27) writes, AA . Solutions must be creative and inclusive, and theyshould provide for inventive ways to enlist the help of people whose basicknowledge and willingness to teach have the potential to breathe new lifeinto an important but beleaguered profession. 42). However, measuring the quality of teaching remains a dauntingchallenge. When states publish the passing ratesof graduates of certain programs, for example, the public will have yetanother piece of data to add to its perception of the quality of teaching@(p. . 32. 75). The American Federation of Teachers has started asimilar pilot program in six cities. Solorzano, L. National Review, 49(23), 4 -42. .there is entrenched resistance to the idea. For two years, guided bymentors, they study pedagogy while teaching subjects for which no certifiedteachers are available. (1998, December). Anne C. poll by the National ExecutiveService Corps found that one third of the adults at seven majorcorporations were interested in becoming teachers after retirement@ (p.58). 339). 58). 288). (Dec 8, 1997). Wulf, S. Geologists and teachers needn=tapply. Phi Delta Kappan, 81(5), 339. Still, aveteran certified history instructor can often more easily get a jobteaching science than a highly trained but uncertified geologist (p. . One superintendent [said] that he didn't want >any IBMexecutives= in his school@ (p. Other experts believe that inexperienced, untrained, uncertifiedteachers require too much work to supervise and come to the job without areal understanding of the complicated art that is classroom teaching. U.S. Atleast one other factor may sometimes be present, Solorzano (1987, July 27)notes: AIn some districts, there is also considerable professionaljealousy at play. This paper examines the question of whether or not states should beallowed to revise or even eliminate teacher qualification standards inorder to enlarge the pool of available talent as a solution to the shortageof certified teachers. The shortage of qualified teachers has been a real and present problemin public education since the late 2 th century and shows no signs ofslowing. Judith M. Teacher Jonathan Leaf (Dec 8, 1997) contends: When attempts have been made to eliminate education-school requirements in favor of more basic tests of intelligence and academic proficiency, these attempts have almost always been thwarted by political pressure from teachers unions anxious to maintain an artificial teacher shortage. (1998, September 21). Those who stay feel overworked, underpaid,underappreciated--and poorly prepared@ (p. News & World Report, pp. 32). C. Time, pp. However, the shortage remains real, and a number of districts andother educational institutions are experimenting with ways to revise thecertification process to turn individuals who have not attended schools ofeducation into real, qualified teachers. Forbes, S. (1997, May 26). 63).More recent statistics show the trend continuing. Many have taught employees and colleagues as part oftheir job, often formulating lesson plans, designing courses, and carryingout other activities that clearly require teaching skills. Newman, J. One of the more intriguing butcontroversial ideas has been to draw on the expertise and enthusiasm ofindividuals with a wealth of content knowledge but limited formal trainingin teaching methodology to fill the gap. (1987, July 27). M. 58-6 . Nevertheless, resistance continues. Yet, as public schools have increasingly come underattack for their perceived failure to solve a host of societal problems andto do so with impossibly limited budgets and few supplemental resources,teaching has turned into a fairly unappealing career choice. It is in their best interests to try to preserve thesystem as it stands. 63) But the system, which licenses teachers based on the education coursesthey have taken, is stacked against them. Wulf (1997, May 26) quotes John Goodlad, director of the Centerfor Educational Renewal at the University of Washington, Seattle, whocontends, "The low status and general neglect of teacher education over theyears have contributed to a kind of hardening of the arteries" (p. 63. In such a system, teaching should be considered to be one of thenoblest professions. Leaf, J. In spite of 5 years of research insightsinto instructional contexts that support student learning, I visitclassrooms today and witness instruction very little different from that ofthe 197 s, when I began collaborating with teachers@ (p. What these specialists lack is formal training in education theory andteaching methodology. Some also argue that established teachers and teaching colleges oftenblock outsiders from being certified and hired as teachers out of fear ofthe competition. 75).Most teacher training relies on theories and methodology that has changedvery little in many decades. While many oppose this as Ade-professionalizing@ the profession, this paper argues that the idea hasconsiderable merit and should be pursued. The freshmen teachers must also complete summer workshops inpedagogy--and then they are qualified for certification (p. Steve Forbes (1998, September 21) argues, AState licensing lawsmindlessly emphasize time spent - usually years - taking teacher-educationcourses, yet there is little correlation between certification requirementsand effectiveness in the classroom@ (p. Phi Delta Kappan, 8 (4), 288-298. In contemporary America, a basic, quality education is considered theright of every individual. We can=t get there from here:Critical issues in school reform. Yet, becausethey have not studied education in any formal kind of way, they cannot becertified through conventional, existing channels, and, therefore, theycannot be hired by school districts desperate for qualified teachers. References Bowen, E. Solorzano (1987, July 27) observes, AWithin the teaching guild . High-quality teachers for allAmericans. Newman (1998, December) observes,AI think I can safely say that much of my work as a teacher educator haslargely been a waste of time. 75-77. According to thefederal Department of Education, 3 % of new teachers leave the classroomwithin the first three years. Rules in most states forbid localschool officials to hire scientists to teach science, for instance, unlessthey can show that no fully certified science teachers exist. He writes, AAs recently as 1968, nearly 25%of college freshmen favored teaching as a profession, but last year only5.5% showed any interest. Low pay, heightened demands beyond skills atimparting knowledge, reduced public respect for the profession, and a hostof other challenges make attracting and keeping trained teachers anincreasingly daunting challenge. A new lesson plan. Forbes, p. Some comes from the institutionsthat train traditional teachers, and a number of educators point out thepolitics behind the opposition to teacher reforms by established teachingcolleges. 339). The proposal involves drawingon an enormous pool of individuals with specific and useful knowledge and agenuine willingness to impart that knowledge to young people. Increasingly, schools throughout America areconfronted with a shrinking pool of teachers who have received theconventional education that allows them to meet each state=s standards forteaching certificates. CITE(Cincinnatti Initiative for Teacher Education) offers a two-year programfor those who choose teaching as a second career, offering teaching coursesand in-class experience to those making the transition. Time, p. A number of districts, states and organizations are trying to work outcompromises. The exhaustive scrutiny which has besieged the profession has alsobrought some reforms which may enable proponents of new approaches to shakeloose some of the established approaches. Steve Wulf (1997, May26) writes, AOne survey found that 4 % of public school teachers would notgo into teaching if they had to choose a career again. Education provides literacy and a body ofshared abilities and knowledge that are essential to building the skilledworkforce and involved citizenry needed to run a capitalist democracy. To hire people withoutadequate training >makes a mockery out of the whole profession and isgrossly unfair to the children,=insists National Education Association President Mary Hatwood Futrell@ (p.58). Lewis (2 , January) lists some of the solutions thathave been proposed by experts: Increasing the supply of good teachers through aggressive recruiting and a focus on high-need areas; improving the quality of teachers through tough hiring standards, intensive and ongoing professional development, and assistance for the unqualified to leave the profession; providing incentives to encourage the best teachers to transfer to low-performing schools; and adopting "zero tolerance" policies, such as "no emergency teachers" in low-performing schools (p. The alarming news. (2 , January). On the few occasions such requirements have been reduced, education-school graduates in administrative positions have generally refused to hire people without education-school backgrounds anyway (p. For many different reasons, finding qualified individuals to take onthe huge and vital challenge of classroom teaching has reached a crisispoint in America. (1985, July 22). Writing in1985, Ezra Bowen cites the average starting salary of $17, and the lowprestige of the job as two factors preventing college students fromdeciding to become teachers. Lewis, A. Rotten apples: when it comes to teachingteachers how to teach, America's schools of education are failingmiserably. These individuals include scientists in a wide variety of specialties,finance experts, experienced business executives, and others whosebackgrounds include not only a depth of content knowledge but also a deepunderstanding of the practical applications of such learning. Among the remaining young people who do decideto teach, reportedly up to half quit within five to seven years@ (p. 58). .
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