I have tried to distance myself from local education reporting. While on the one hand I am drawn to it, I also feel a strong reaction to those not clearly articulating the day to day interactions of teachers and students in the classroom. Everyone has a solution to a problem they feel a part of. Today I read the editorial Innovate Washington State's K-12. First off, a few things...
1) My wife is Nationally Board Certified, and I plan to go through the process. I believe it to be highly rigorous, and an intense process where you demonstrate your effectiveness as a teacher.
2) I fully believe I work in a relatively innovative district... it is a rigorous evaluation process, standards based, lots of technology, and high academic achievement.
3) I know I am not the best I can be... Gladwell's 10,000 hours rule applies. I'm getting better everyday, and am constantly improving. But I don't think I am great, and definitely not the greatest of those in my building... experience does matter (although not necessarily linearly).
I took a significant amount of umbrage with some of the editorial. I fired of the following email, largely because the editorial lacked the innovation I felt like it would have brought. That doesn't even mention some of the the lack of harmony in the message. Alas.
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Hi Robin,
I read your editorial in the Seattle Times today and was struck by a number of things. First, I should tell you that I am a third year teacher in the Lake Washington School District. I'm one of the "junior teachers" you mention in your editorial. I couldn't help but wonder about about my future pursuit of National Board Certification. On one hand you state that "there is no credible evidence that they help boost student achievement" when talking about Nationally Board Certified teachers. This is after arguing that students need to be around high-quality teachers because it "is the key ingredient to student success." Doesn't this seem incongruous? Is going through a rigorous process to reflect on teaching practice that is reviewed nationally not proof of being high-quality? If you are stating that the stipend doesn't help students then you point is unclear, and needs further support.
I was also struck by how short-sighted reducing teacher professional development days seems. You should know that teachers often feel unappreciated, underpaid, and isolated from their peers. Reducing two days where teachers can come together as a community to collaborate would further isolate teachers. As one of the junior teachers, I appreciate the opportunity to learn from my senior counterparts and feel like I am a part of a community. That doesn't even mention the opportunity to further my own practice (shouldn't a teacher be a learner also, just as a principal should be a teacher-leader?). Beyond that, please further illuminate what less costly ways we could use to further our practice. Simply offering a cut isn't innovative.
I am all for education reform. Our system has a myriad of flaws. I'm also aware of the economic situation of our state, and the lack of effective revenue streams to fund education (and other state services). But if you want to offer solutions, please offer those that have a sense of what it is like to be in the classroom. Offer solutions that have a sense of the people often best meeting the needs of our kids.
Respectfully,
Pete Hanson
5th Grade Teacher
Hooray to you Pete! Like you, I find that I cannot pay too much attention to the constant media surrounding education reform. I am currently in a K-8 certification program and very excited about becoming a teacher. I find it so discouraging to hear about all the cuts to education and the emphasis placed on “bad teachers.” Unfortunately, until we begin to reframe this issue and look at it from a more positive angle (such as how can we best support our students as well as our teachers?), we will continue to hear more of the same.
ReplyDeleteP.Turner, I'm with you on reframing the issue. I think the unfortunate reality is that the news media is a business, and not a non-profit. They aren't necessarily idea generating entities, and therefore focus on what is newsworthy: an announcement, failure, or success story.
ReplyDeleteThe more I have thought about the editorial, the more irritated I have become. First and foremost is because you can't say you want highly qualified teachers and then offer cutting a stipend rewarding those same teachers. Moreover, the title refers to innovation. In the article there wasn't anything innovative offered. Having teachers do PD online isn't really innovative. Nor were any of the other solutions. I'm not 100% sure what it is that I am hoping she'd have offered, but I have a good idea of what it isn't.