My friend and colleague, Marcus Winters, has a new book out on how to improve the quality of the teaching workforce. Teachers Matter is an excellent summary of the literature on how best to recruit, train, and motivate teachers. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in merit pay, credentialing, and teacher evaluation. It’s a particularly good book to assign for classes that cover these subjects. Check it out.
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Michelle Rhee? Who targeted GOOD teachers in her quest to hammer the unions in D.C.?? Erich Martel was targeted offering a perfect example that even good teachers will be targeted by these reformers. Don’t be fooled.
Teachers in our state where the reformers began a couple of years ago are telling us that teachers will now be “generalists”, not specialists in core content. Teachers are being told to teach for 10 minutes per class and allow the students to inquire their way through the material.
MIchelle Rhee also missed the obvious problems in her tenure. The Curriculum. She did nothing to improve the quality of the curriculum in the D.C. schools. NOTE: she did nothing to remove Everyday Math, one of the worst math programs in this country.
The reformers want to impose Constructivism on public schools. We already see in in our state. Teachers are now facilitators, not instructors. WE are already seeing students frustrated that the teachers wont teach them. Sadly, the teachers are being forced to use this Pedagogy in the classroom.
THe top-down approach seeks to eliminate good teachers who would LIKE to teach. Those with a proven track record of content knowledge and teaching students academic content are no longer appreciated or wanted.
IF they resist the new reforms, they are targeted like Erich Martel was. Michelle Rhee, working with folks like Jeb Bush should tell you something.
Working to impose the Marc Tucker plan via the U.S. DOE brings us the failed Outcome Based Ed plan, Constructivism and teachers who are still graduating from the Schools of Ed with little content knowledge.
I agree with everything you say except the cheap shot at Jeb Bush. Am I wrong to say you hate all things Bush simply because that are Bush?
First NCLB came from Bush Jr. Bush Jr. also made the critical mistake of rejoining UNESCO. UNESCO is in partnership with the International Baccalaureate Org. which is now in many of our schools due to the grants offered. IB is nothing but a soft propaganda political agenda for the UN.
Now on to Jeb Bush who is now supporting the Obama agenda: Common Core (national take over in education) http://www.missourieducationwatchdog.com/2011/08/common-core-standards-alec-jeb-bush-and.html
Sadly with the Bush clan, it’s hard to note the difference between them and the Obama clan
If NCLB “came from” Bush Jr. then he must’ve been pretty darned persuasive because NCLB sailed through Congress with huge majorities on *both* sides of the isle. Such right wing ideologues as Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry voted for NCLB.
Also, Michelle Rhee had a lot more to contend with the a lousy curriculum. She had a large, entrenched education bureaucracy which was doing just fine without having to concern itself with all that tiresome “education” stuff which is where there was a meeting of the minds with the teacher’s union. Against a backdrop like that the curriculum pales to insignificance as an issue.
Oh, and I’d adore knowing which particular reforms are interested in foisting constructivism on public schools. As an example of edu-crap constructivism is right near the top of the list of stupid, failed ideas and not fondly viewed by anyone who’s willing to accept the mantle of “reformer” that I know of.
The cold fact of the matter is that teaching skill receives essentially no attention from the public education system. And really, why would anyone in a position to decide policy be concerned with teaching skill? It’s not like anyone’s going to lose their job or re-election bid if the kids graduate with a useless degree, illiterate or not at all. The real question ought to be why anyone connected with the public education should give a damn about teaching skill.
Are you suggesting Jeb Bush advocates constructivism and loose content standards?
You can’t tell your reformers without a scorecard!
[…] Meanwhile, the national debate on teacher quality presses forward. And that brings an important contribution compiling all the key research on the question in the new book Teachers Matter by Manhattan Institute senior fellow (and now one of Colorado’s own) Marcus Winters. This professionally-made 5-minute video, including a few key interview excerpts with the author, frames the issue well (H/T Jay Greene): […]
1) Does the book deal with the morale problem of the idiot, cash-sucking education bureaucracy? If that is not fixed the teaching profession cannot improve. Few teachers do a poor job. Fewer teachers do a mediocre job than in the private sector. (I’ve been in both.) 2) If the book doesn’t deal with holding accountable lazy students and the bad parents who make excuses for them, then it too will fail
You may be interested in this study on that topic.
This is great. Thanks for posting this study!!
[…] Meanwhile, the national debate on teacher quality presses forward. And that brings an important contribution compiling all the key research on the question in the new book Teachers Matter by Manhattan Institute senior fellow (and now one of Colorado’s own) Marcus Winters. This professionally-made 5-minute video, including a few key interview excerpts with the author, frames the issue well (H/T Jay Greene): […]