My children have had great teachers, and they’ve also had one really not-so-great teacher. We saw right away the impact each kind had on our kids’ performance in the moment.
Thanks to some researchers at Harvard and Columbia, now we know the good ones are going to help our children earn more money and have a better chance at professional success when they’re all grown up. Recent research and hard data backs up the hope for our children’s future — when they have great teachers.
So why are we arguing about what we pay good teachers? Somewhere along the way, we’ve diverted the argument away from what it should be: how do we recruit and keep good teachers, and what can make it easier to winnow out and eliminate the bad ones?
My son’s current teacher is a gem, and I don’t say that because I want to curry favor; everyone thinks so. Our school did an amazing, nontraditional thing — they decided to allow her to loop up with the class from third to fourth grade, and they gave the parents of the students in the class the option to continue with her for a second year. Unilaterally, 100 percent of the families chose to stay with this teacher.
She has challenged each child to surpass his or her own expectations after focusing long and hard at assessing individual abilities. She’s put in tireless overtime hours to give her curriculum depth and innovative perspective. She’s come up with unique ways to unite the children in the class as a unit to be compassionate and caring members of her small community, and they’re thriving.
In complete contrast, my son still talks — and shudders — at the recollection of another teacher he had earlier in his school career. She had a reputation for favoring girls over boys, and parents often whispered that she was known for being a yeller. She didn’t think my child was capable of learning the way I told her he could, because “he is never one of the first to raise his hand.” She was the kind of teacher who took recess away as a punishment for fidgety kids —counterintuitive for a room of 20-plus restless 7-year-olds, no?
My son’s take on this teacher: he told me she made him afraid to go to school.
We even talked to administrators about ways we could find in school to add in challenges for my son, for all the educators to recognize who he was as an individual learner, and to build onto the basic curriculum he was getting. When we asked, “What can we do while he’s in your care from 9 am to 3 pm?” they ping-ponged back their one suggestion: “You should enroll him into private music instrument lessons.” Really?
Understandably, schools are pushed to budgetary limits these days, and I live in a community that is fortunate to have a school system rich with resources and opportunity. I’ve seen teachers who are equipped and willing to weave in differentiated learning, and others who say, “I just don’t have the time.”
You can see who has the spark, and you can also see when it’s not there.
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof just wrote about exactly this issue, and one of the main issues he points to is how teacher unions often deflect attention from quality teachers to the role parents play in the school-home equation. “One of the paradoxes of the school reform debate is that teachers’ unions have resisted a focus on teacher quality; instead, they emphasize that the home is the foremost influence and that teachers can only do so much.”
Philosophically, I support unions; but I think in this complex argument too many bad apples have spoiled the good of union theory — whether it’s emphasis on “No Child Left Behind” and teaching to the test, or misguided tenure support; whether it’s unfunded mandates at the state levels, or partisan, political rhetoric.
Where we’re getting a grade of ‘F’ is in failing to find better ways to spotlight great, committed teachers — and reward those that merit it. We shouldn’t be demonizing teachers as a whole, but ferreting out the bad ones and celebrating those that put in the effort. We should make the profession more attractive with benefits that don’t get begrudged and withheld for those who commit — and the profession is full of teachers like that.
Understandably too, let’s recognize that there are good parents and bad. The partnership between home and school is crucial. The kinds of helicopter parents in our Fairfield county communities can be a difficult and ugly reality as well. It’s not cut and dry from a teacher’s perspective either.
But it starts with a basic, larger recognition that we’re failing in the long run: if we don’t invest in new curriculum, in teaching methods and educator development, we’re failing our future. We’re already losing ground internationally, scoring lower against other industrialized nations—not just on tests, but also when it comes to economic and business successes, and on the scientific, medical, technological and artistic playing fields as well.
Teachers deserve more respect — the good ones especially. We just have to reach for the A in learning how to better figure out just who is good, and who isn’t.
LMP
4:12 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
It is ironic that teachers grade students affecting their lives but teachers' unions resist the notion of evaluating and acting on teachers' performance.
Bubba
4:31 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Are you kidding me....She had a reputation for favoring girls over boys, and parents often whispered that she was known for being a yeller. OMG she took away Recess.. and your sons afraid to go to school....Get him some serious mental help. Try teaching a class of 20 or so 7 year olds and asking them to sit down for the 10th time in the hour. So the teacher asks...and asks. and asks...And then they are told to sit down, So if your son is shuddering because he got told to do something or got his recess taken away you got a way bigger problem then the teacher...
newrochellesouth
4:51 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Do away with TENURE and watch teacher performance and the performance of the students soar.
My son's pre-school teacher makes over $115,000 a year and can't be fired if she is a lousy teacher (she isn't), if she hits a kid we'll be paying her salary for the next 10 years while we wait for "Due Process" to decide what to do.
The Teacher's Unions took over education in the 1960's and it has been down hill ever since.
Here is everything you need to know about what teacher's unions think are important: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-piPkgAUo0w
Most teachers care about the kids, their Union works against the parents, children, and those who want to educate.
Bubba
5:25 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
If you think getting rid of TENURE is the answer to bad teachers. You are sadly wrong. You must be related to that Gov in NJ...You could at least come close to getting it rite. If you kid is not smarter then the little plastic thingy that holds your six pack together then Einstein couldn’t help him..
BG7
9:24 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The word is right, not "rite". Do you perform sacred rites before class in the hope that the kids might learn something this time?
Susan Troop
1:50 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Oh Bubba, is your comment some sort of joke? There are so many errors. Are you actually against tenure, but want it to look like you're for tenure, so that those who are for tenure seem to be poorly educated?
DeeplyConcernedabout T-town
4:52 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
And to think of it, in the "old" days, a catholic nun took care of sometimes over 40 students. We learned & had recess. Get over it!
Susan Troop
1:59 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
I taught in a Catholic school (All Saints Elementary on Throop St. in Brooklyn) in the "old" days and I can tell you it was impossible to reach every student because of the large class size. Also, students who had severe learning and behavior problems, more often than not, found themselves being transferred to public schools before the school year ended. I, too, have fond memories of my grammar school days (St. Margarets, Queens,) but for those with learning difficulties, I'm sure those day's were not pleasant.
Jill Gertz
5:51 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Good article.
I subbed in ALL Peekskill schools a couple decades ago. It was clear some teachers were shinning lights, and others were moody clock watchers. Being a clock watcher is not unique to teaching, but you could see a lot of teachers really disliked the kids. Sitting in teacher's rooms while they smoked, cussed kids, talked about their summer vacations and investments was depressing. I've sat in dentist offices more uplifting. There were also teachers who liked kids but were just out of gas and waiting for retirement.
I admit it wasn't hard to resent the kids and admin either because very often teacher's hands were tied, and unruly kids used the leverage against them. When I say "unruly" kids I don't mean just the troubled kids either because a lot of the special ed kids were the nicest and the honors kids were the most obnoxious.
All in all, most people in schools really don't want to be there. Not the kids and not the teachers - everyone wants out. Its like an ordeal everyone pretends is good for them. Schools now are places were kids not only don't learn about character but learn how to loathe themselves, America etc. while being encouraged to see perversion as normal and normal as disordered.
Rob Bernstein
9:22 am on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Good comment
Bob Zahm
6:01 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Until teacher evaluations cover relevant aspects of performance, do not result in a Prairie Home Companion world in which everyone is above average, and teacher's can be dismissed for poor performance (as opposed to having committed a major criminal offence on school grounds), it doesn't really matter how much more the "good teachers" are paid 'cause the poor ones will still [unaffordably] hang on.
Steve Korn
7:24 pm on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Great teachers are truly priceless in the development of a young person
The reverse is also true
As school board member, I continue to look for ways to get it right
Bubba
8:19 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
If you want to get it right...I got your solution...Better training makes for better teachers,,
Ryan Teves
12:32 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The crisis is not in keeping good teachers, but in eliminating terrible ones. Principals and fellow staff know the "lemons" and can do nothing about it. Most schools have that one teacher that everyone tries (unsuccessfully) to avoid.
I'm going to say it... wait for it... tenure has backfired. I am a teacher and can candidly confess that tenure was created with the right intentions... but has gone terribly wrong. Step one... eliminate tenure so we can prune bad teachers and make way for great ones!
Ryan Teves
author of "In Defense of the American Teen"
Bubba
7:58 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Are you not ashamed of your self for making such a grossly wrong statement! First off it takes 5 to 7 years to get Tenure depending on your district. Are you trying to tell me that the administration can't figure out in 5 years or so if a teacher is good or not? Tenure was initiated as a law to protect teachers from changes in administration and dismissal for things other than bad teaching. It gave teachers job security so that if administration changed, and a teacher whom had been there awhile didn’t see eye to eye, the teacher wouldn’t just get fired. It gave teachers the ability that if they wanted to voice their opinions in opposition of the district leaders they could without worrying whether or not they would be fired on the spot. “Tenure does not mean a teacher simply cannot be fired” but “it does require districts to go through due process before terminating a teacher” You’re a teacher so I suggest you concentrate on your OWN class and not worry about what’s happening down the hall. If your doing a good job you have nothing to worry about.
Bob Zahm
8:11 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Bubba - NYS law says 3 years to get a tenure decision if there is no prior experience. That 3 years can be extended 1 year at a time by mutual agreement of the candidate (teacher or administrator) and the district. What is the basis for your assertion of 5 to 7 years?
LC
7:16 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The one party that seems to be left out of the discussion about teacher evaluations are the children.When your child comes home and says to you that they have a bad teacher. Listen to them . The children know what they are talking about.
The teacher may be a good teacher, but your child is not learning . That is the bottom line. Maybe it is not a good fit between the teacher and your child. Maybe the teacher is not providing differentiated instruction.
On the university level, students are asked to fill out faculty evaluations of thier instructors. We need to do the same in our public school district.
Ask your children. They are very perceptive.
Beebee
9:07 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
LC, I agree that children and their parents have a valuable perspective on teacher competence and effectiveness. But what if you have concerns about the teacher? Even if many other parents agree with you, I have found that, in my community, parents are afraid to give negative feedback to their school administrators or school boards because they will be viewed as naysayers, not supportive of the program, "kooks", helicopter parents, etc., etc. I see many problems that go unchallenged and unquestioned because parents are just afraid to make waves. Yes, I know, we're all chickens, but that is a sad reality I have seen. Cluck, cluck...
bernie stringer
9:02 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
More and more we ask our teachers to have a larger and larger role in our children’s lives. Teachers are always masters of their subject and experts of learning theory, but then they must also have a thorough understanding of learning styles and motivational techniques. Of course, they need a sense of humor and by divine inspiration they need to know when a dose of discipline is in order.
Ours is a culture that has more and more material things, but somehow seems bereft of spiritual fulfillment. I think in some small way we have unknowingly asked the teachers to step into that void. Maybe it’s because our teachers spend more quality time with our children than we do. Yes, there are a very small number of bad teachers and there is a larger number of teachers that are burned out by a system that asks them to be a magical combination of Julie Andrews and Bill Cosby.
HenHud Supporter
9:09 am on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Unlike when tenure was established for public school teachers, we now have laws that protect people from unlawful firing. In the private sector, within the context of an otherwise healthy business, businesses simply can't fire professionals without a string of well-documented negative performance reviews, or a truly serious single infraction, without drawing litigation. In the private sector, too, generous pensions and benefits are gone, in favor of plans with less long-term financial consequences for businesses and investors, which, coincidentally, empower employees to take responsibility for their own future and current and future medical expenses. With teacher salaries on par with, and, some studies suggest, in excess of private sector salaries even before benefits are calculated into the equation (see http://seethroughny.net/payrolls/schools/) can we fault communities for pounding the desk for reform? Excellent teachers should be rewarded and deserve handsome compensation, as well as our respect, for preparing our kids for success. In turn, we, their employers, should have the same authority to choose whom to compensate handsomely in combined salary and benefits as any private sector employer. When this equation is balanced, the winners will include teachers, students, parents, and our great country.
Howard Deixler
12:41 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Recognize that evaluating any teacher is not a straightforward process. A teacher may be just right for one student but a nightmare for another. It's kind of like the real world where people, coworkers, playmates, bosses, employees, etc. come in all shapes and sizes and must be lived with (or occasionally avoided) in order to live and , hopefully, thrive.
Also, it's hard to evaluate teachers by the numbers and risky to do it on a personal basis.
Parents often ask a teacher, in one way or another, to be fair to their children and the teacher usually assures them that they will. The rub is that parents mean to recognize each child and to treat that child in a special way but teachers mean to be scrupulously evenhanded.
Sometimes it's best to be careful what you wish for.
grassroots
1:36 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Great forum going on here!Very informative.I would like to suggest watching a documentary thats available thru Netflix called "The Cartel" It uses the state of NJ as an example,but mentions that this is happening all over the country.It's about the AWSUME power of the UFT and what becomes of any superentent or politician that trys to take them on.Worth watching for anyone with kids in public schools.It also shows how fiercly the UFT resist the creation of charter and magnet schools who in general have better results than their counterparts.
bernie stringer
3:55 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The future of teacher evaluations will be longitudinal test score studies like the one done by Chitty, Friedman and Rockoff. We can now identify who are our most and least valuable teachers. The teachers who build student confidence and maturity will flourish. Those who do not will seek other employment.
Howard Deixler
10:35 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Well, as I've implied above, it's really more of an art than a science. Good luck.
Dan Thaler
5:46 am on Thursday, January 19, 2012
As with any profession you have a bell curve of skill. Some are really excellent, most are pretty darn good, and some are really terrible. A way to weed out the bad ones would be a good thing.
Steve Wilder
7:32 am on Thursday, January 26, 2012
I see no problem with YOU paying a lot of money to a teacher that YOU think is good at a private school or as a tutor. But let’s not forget that public school teachers do not get their money from their consumers. They get their money at the barrel of a gun (euphemism= taxes) from those who consume their services or not. You seem to believe that you have the moral high road in promoting more guns to people’s heads demanding more money (i.e. higher taxes) for causes which YOU believe are worthy. I fail to see the morality in that. In fact, it is the opposite of morality. Who granted you this authority? Even if a majority of people agreed with you, would that make it moral? What if the majority voted to steal all money from people named George to pay for it – would that be moral? You also seem to understand little about economics. Even if the premise were true that good teachers generate higher incomes, doesn’t that beg one to ask: “How much higher?” and “Is the additional pay to teachers worth it?” “Are they already getting more money in lieu of this? (A teacher in this area gets about twice the salary of the average teacher nationally.)”
(Of course, the “study” is meaningless. There is no way to statistically determine who a good or bad teacher is. I thought one of my 8th grade teachers was one of the best until I learned about the proposition he made to one of my friends.)
Tony T
6:15 pm on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Read this head line from the LA Times (January 17th) you will see what is wrong with teachers and they system.
........ LA teacher accused of feeding own semen to kids is jailed on $23 million bail
He is also accused of binding, blindfolding and even putting cockroaches on the faces of the kids he photographed.......