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This weekend, I read an interesting opinion piece in the New York Times: Do Teachers Need Education Degrees? Nine education experts address the questions:
Should the public schools reduce the weight they give to education school credentials in pay and promotion decisions? Is this happening already, and, if so, what is replacing the traditional system for compensating teachers?The Obama administration officials support a shift away from using masters degrees for pay raises, and a shift toward compensating teachers based on student performance. In fact, "Race to the Top" funding favors states that have alternate routes for teacher certification and the ability to link teacher performance to student test scores.
In Connecticut, the legislature passed a bill in special session in June that will broaden some of the state's certification requirements.
According to an editorial in the Hartford Courant, this bill almost didn't make it to Gov. Rell's desk.
The bill will expand the Teach For America program in the state, allow teachers of math and science to take content tests rather than coursework in order to receive state certification, and streamline the process so that qualified teachers from other states can easily come to work in CT.
The nine experts in the Times' "Room for Debate" blog have a range of opinions on programs like Teach for America and the need for higher education for Education.
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Also see the Education Week article at
ReplyDeletehttp://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/07/21/37masters.h28.html
The practice of giving teachers pay raises for earning additional degrees (or, in Norwalk, even for completing so-called professional development credits) is flawed. Teachers who have doctorates earn very much more money than do others, and yet, some of the ones I have known over the years are awful teachers.
ReplyDeleteIt won't be popular but it's time to take into account student achievement. To those who say that they can't teach urban kids because they are unmotivated, etc., student achievement should still count. If they can't teach these kids, they should move to school districts where they can be effective.
In fairness to teachers, student achievement should be considered in terms of academic growth. That way, teachers of kids who start very far below grade level can still be rewarded by moving these kids to higher levels of achievement, even if the levels are not up to par with others.
Do you know that teachers who have doctorates, whether they are in a content area, education, law, or leadership, make about $13,000 more per year than other teachers?
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with the previous poster. This does not necessarily make them better teachers.