[Vision2020] RE: Half of teachers quit

[Jerry Weitz]

Joe, you are right on and the idea that our national/state leaders seem to 
be more punitive than constructive has caused the "public " to lose 
confidence in one of our best institutions- public ed.  I am not worried as 
much about higher ed, since our graduate schools are the best in the 
world.  However, it seems to me (with the present trend) public higher ed 
may go down the same path.  Another issue: number of  school days for 
k-12.  When one examines the TIMSS in the context of number of teaching 
days, the industrialized nations that beat us in math and science simply 
have more teaching days.  Their collective average is 211 days.  We started 
the 20th century with the longest school year in the world 180 days. The 
180 day school year was based on an agricultural model.  Jerry



At 12:41 PM 5/12/06, joekc at adelphia.net wrote:
>Jerry,
>
>This is an interesting idea and I would encourage the board to look into 
>it further. But ultimately the real problem is that -- as others have 
>noted -- (a) teaching is difficult and (b) teachers are not paid very well 
>for their troubles.
>
>As an undergraduate, I double-majored in math and philosophy. My initial 
>hope was to become a grade school math teacher. In college, several folks 
>pointed out that if you graduate with a math degree you could more easily 
>work as, say, an actuary, which pays much better. Eventually, I got more 
>interested in philosophy and there is no corresponding job in that field, 
>so I went on to teach at the college level.
>
>In a technologically advanced society like ours it is difficult to teach 
>in a formal area like math and science -- areas that are in need of good 
>teachers -- when there are another of jobs available that pay far more for 
>your expertise. Plus these other jobs pay over a 12 month period, not a 
>9-10 month period. And they don't bring with them the kinds of troubles 
>that Keely and Ed have noted.
>
>We have the best military in the world. Why? Because each year we pour 
>billions of dollars into the military budget without questioning whether 
>or not we could do as well with half the resources. If we want to have the 
>best education system in the world, the solution is easy: Offer 
>competitive wages that encourage the most talented among us to consider 
>becoming teachers.
>
>Of course, that Utopian vision is unlikely to happen soon. In the mean 
>time, interesting ideas like yours should be pursued!
>
>--
>Joe Campbell
>
>---- Jerry Weitz <gweitz at moscow.com> wrote:
>
>=============
>Here's a maybe a part of the solution to help teacher retention.   Dr.Linda
>Darling Hammond of Stanford University worked on helping retention rates
>for some time.   What worked was modeling educational practices that
>professions or even the trades (apprenticeships) have done.  That is having
>the  students of education become involved with students very early during
>their training under careful supervision by an experienced
>professional.  Think of it this way. When say a  surgeon is trained two
>things occur:  The didactic followed by practice (patient contact). If an
>ed. student is not inclined/interested/talented in the pursuit, then the
>student can simply change directions or pursue something else--- all very
>early, rather than find out during the first part of their careers.
>
>MSD-UI College of Education talked about this concept when I was on the
>Board.  I thought that if this were to occur, the "magic"of a medical
>school format would benefit the recipients --the k-12 students and the
>education students. The master teachers would then become the chiefs or
>attending. Grand rounds for challenging students (treatment dilemmas),
>etc.  Of course, pay and working environment (where the professional is in
>control) would have to change.   jerry
>
>
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