Inside-the-Beltway Policy Wonks Spin the 'Highly Qualified' Teacher Lawsuit

On August 21st, a group of California parents filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education to close a major loophole in its NCLB highly qualified teacher provisions. In the lawsuit the San Francisco-based Public Advocates have requested that all teachers be fully certified before they are considered highly qualified. And now the inside-the-beltway bloggers, like Rick Hess and Andy Rotherham, are out in force decrying the legal action, whining that if the parents achieve their goal, alternative certification programs like Teach for America would be “shut down.”  Granted, I agree with these two think tankers that teacher certification standards are insufficient for the task at hand and there is a need for high-quality alternative approaches to recruiting and preparing teachers for high needs schools – like Chicago’s Academy for Urban School Leadership.

But the answer is not to do away with teacher education and certification standards, but to make them more rigorous as demanded by parents themselves. They know better than any ivory tower blogger that teachers need more preparation, not just severely truncated training of most alternative certification programs, including TFA’s 5-week training “institute.”

TFA recruits begin teaching without deep knowledge of how to teach reading and other subjects, create relevant lessons, use high-quality assessments, and manage classrooms. New recruits receive scant training on working with students with learning disabilities or with English language learners.  This is why parents are becoming outraged over the USDOE rules. Their children need more skilled teachers. If you really want to know the negative impact of sending (even bright, deeply committed) underprepared teachers into high needs schools read Dan Brown’s fascinating account of his experiences in New York City. His book, The Great Expectations School, splashes some ice-cold reality on usual policy pabulum that comes from inside-the-Beltway.

The policy wonks are also a little loose with the research evidence. Studies actually have found that the students of new TFA recruits do significantly less well in reading than students of fully-prepared teachers, losing as much as a half a year’s progress in comparison to their peers who have trained and experienced teachers. Although TFA teachers eventually perform as well as other teachers (when they become trained and certified) at least 80 percent have left by their third year — the point at which research shows that most teachers become more effective. In the long run, these well-meaning TFA recruits contribute to the revolving door of under-prepared teachers that hamper the learning of poor and minority students and undermine stability in urban schools.

I agree with Mr. Rotherham that “it's high time for a serious state or federal class action suit on behalf of poor and minority kids over the issue of teacher quality.” But the answers are not with quick fixes like Teach for America, but a more sustained approach that recruits and prepares teachers who will teach long enough to be become effective and stay long enough to know and learn to work well with children and their families.

Comments

[Tony]

Another way it's being spun--which borders on the bizarre--is Rotherman's contention that the lawsuit "is an obvious cat's paw of the ed schools" and that it "basically comes from the ed school cartel." Public Advocates, who filed the suit, have, to my knowledge no connection to ed schools nor do they have any history of working with or for ed schools. Here's their web site: http://www.publicadvocates.org/index.html

[Barnett Berry]

You are right, Tony. The lawsuit has nothing to do with the so-called ed school cartel. They pundits claim to advocate for poor children and those of color - but it makes you wonder when they fight AGAINST more rigorous teaching standards.

[parker]

please i love to be a teacher am a graduate of geography in university of calabar nigeria.

[parker]

please i love to be a teacher am a graduate of geography in university of calabar nigeria.