by David Safier
The NY Times has an interesting op ed about creating a better crop of teachers. It's a suggestion for a new model of teacher preparation.
First, have our top colleges and universities "take education seriously" and offer top flight education programs. (Teach for America has demonstrated that the top universities are potential breeding grounds for teachers.)
Make the programs for the top students by requiring at least a 3.5 GPA to get in.
The program will have free tuition, and when the students begin teaching, they'll get a stipend for the first three years.
Include lots of real life teaching experience in the ed program, modeled loosely after medical schools where potential doctors spend lots of time with patients under the careful supervision of experienced physicians.
Give schools financial incentives to hire the new teachers in groups of 7 or more, to create "a robust community of promising professionals." (In the real world, hiring 7 new teachers at one school might not be realistic.)
This has a somewhat elitist ring to it — the writer directs the teaching program at Williams College — but it's a promising model. Unfortunately, right now our teaching pool draws from the middle of college students, or lower. I like the idea of encouraging our best and brightest who are interested in teaching to get involved by using a combination of financial and intellectual incentives, then see if they can make good things happen. If the program is successful, the model can expand elsewhere.
And now is a great time to try this out. Arne Duncan has serious money to spend on reform. This is an inexpensive program compared to lots of things being proposed.
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You mean pay more taxes? That would be fine with me. Good luck convincing the rest of the population.
The average teacher salary in TUSD is roughly $40,000. A 50% increase would boost that to $60,000. Why is that unrealistic? It certainly is not an unrealistic salary for people, who on average have a Master’s degree and who have 10+ years of experience.
You get what you pay for. It’s time for the whiners and complainers to put up or shut up.
davewave64, as much as I’d like to see an increase in teachers’ salary, 50% is not realistic
While I fully agree with the free tuition part and raising the standards for admission, I have to agree with davewave64 about more financial incentives. Instead, I’d like to see a commitment for the long run. Teaching summer school for 3-5 years maybe? The government money can pay them for so the schools don’t have to and it becomes free for students. Also, one week/summer back to Alma mater to share their experiences and become a think tank for the program. Another idea: mandatory one semester as an exchange student. They can be sent away all in the same time and I bet they’ll come back with plenty of innovative ideas and a new attitude.
There is another -unrelated- problem: textbooks, especially math and science. They are absolutely terrible.
Another blowhard “education expert” heard from. So, raise the standards for teacher training and throw three years of “extra money” in the form of a stipend at them. Then they head for the exits when they realize the rest of their career with be filled with financial disappointment. Why not increase teacher salaries by 50% and start evaluating out the bad teachers?
You know what they say about opinions and @$$holes. Everyone has one.