Comments on: Ed Schools Take the FCAT

By: dcowart

dcowart — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:47:13 +0000

In Rhode Island our new commissioner is trying to find ways to make it more challenging to become a teacher and to stay a teacher. The standard in RI is amongst the lowest for the Praxis Teacher Exam. I think some healthy competition and rigor can make a big difference.

By: Greg Forster

Greg Forster — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:17:06 +0000

Excellent point, LGB. Although unfortunately they’re more likely simply to get a smaller share of the inevitable increases rather than actually losing money. That’s still a pretty strong motivator, though!

By: Littlegeniusblogger

Littlegeniusblogger — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:31:47 +0000

Don’t forget that the Florida legislature might eventually get fed up with a low-performing ed school and do kids a favor by cutting their funding. Florida already gets about half of their new teachers through alternative certification routes.

By: allen

allen — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:17:24 +0000

1) As long as schools are part of a district some portion of their autonomy, say in the area of personnel policy and hiring, will be subsumed by the district. That means that the people who influence if not control a policy, district personnel, aren’t directly at risk for the results of bad policy since it’s the schools that get penalized. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a move in the right direction but it’s a move in the right direction that’ll be slowed by people who have little to gain from improving education and little to lose from the penalties.

2) Har! And how would they compete on the output side? By letting it be known that their graduates are actively recruited by high-poverty or high-paying school districts? Who’d believe it?

By: Greg Forster

Greg Forster — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:42:40 +0000

Ah, but there are two other factors.

1) Schools in Florida are penalized for low test score performance, so districts have an incentive to hire teachers from ed schools with a track record of boosting said performance. The great thing about Florida is that they do it all, not just one piece. The only effective place to intervene in a vicious circle is – everywhere at once!

I think Matt may have blogged about this concept once or twice (search for “I’ll have what Florida is having”).

2) Colleges don’t compete on the output side, they compete on the input side. An ed school that can tell prospective students “that other school won’t make you a better teacher, and we will” is going to be able to attract more students on the margin. To think that the desire to be a better teacher exerts zero influence on teacher behavior would be more than cynical, it would be foolish. See my recent posts on “the destruction of a profession” – a good solid quarter of teachers are “idealists,” and that’s a heck of a big niche to support a business model on.

By: allen

allen — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:23:33 +0000

Phooey.

That the people who run the ed schools will be so embarrassed that they’ll stop pushing edu-crap and concentrate on teaching skill and content knowledge? Seems like a stretch to me.

By: allen

allen — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:21:12 +0000

As long as the job market, which is still dominated by school districts, ignores teaching skill there’s no incentive or need for ed schools to compete to produce the best-prepared teachers.

It’s nice that Florida’s turning a spotlight on the ed schools but what’s the expectation? The the people who run the ed schools will be so embarrassed that they’ll stop pushing edu-crap and concentrate on teaching skill and content knowledge.