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FeedDo Teachers Make the Grade?
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They are the third rail of school reform: teachers. One touches on this subject at great peril. Teachers are protected by powerful unions, beloved by the public, adored by students. To bring up the issue of teacher quality in the context of education reform is to risk sounding like an insensitive jerk, someone who surely must hate America, public service and probably your mom.
However. For eight years, we have covered a state public school system that consistently ranks among the worst in the nation. When we first hit this subject in 2001, this poor ranking had already been the norm for years. The student body changes every year. But the adults who work in the system are the same. It can’t be avoided. We have to ask. Does Hawaii’s poor educational performance, just maybe, have anything to do with the teachers?
First of all, we love teachers. We love good teachers. We want them to be able to succeed, and enjoy their work as they do. A lot of the time, it’s not the teachers themselves that are the problem, as much as the system that employs them: good teachers held back, poor teachers coddled. So, before you light your torches and sharpen your pitchforks, please know, we only criticize because we love.
This month, we look at Hawaii’s standing in teacher quality, and explore the roadblocks to improvement—getting, keeping and supporting good teachers.
Teachers are the Key
Teachers have the most direct and consistent contact with students, the greatest opportunity to inspire and pass on knowledge. In a March education speech, President Barack Obama himself emphasized the vital role teachers play: “From the moment students enter a school, the most important factor in their success is not the color of their skin or the income of their parents, it’s the person standing at the front of the classroom.”
We know this intuitively. Every one of us can name at least one teacher who lit a fire under us, who inspired us to study, who made a difference. Conversely, we can all recall a teacher who made us count the minutes until the bell, who let us slide through the school year without learning much of anything.
It makes sense to hold teachers accountable for their performance. And yet we’re stuck with a system that can’t quantify teacher effectiveness, that rewards seniority over achievement and that is inflexible to the point that Department of Education superintendent Patricia Hamamoto has been forced to seek legislation which would allow her to cut through the restrictive collective bargaining agreement in order to fire teachers at failing schools.
Also, see "Editor's Page: What's the Difference?" Hawaii public schools face challenges, we're told. None of them turn out to be unique.
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Reader Comments:
As a Teach for America Hawai'i Corps Member, I would like to put an aside in about the Pep-T: It's useless. My principal came in, watched me ONCE for (maybe) twenty minutes. S/he never gave any feedback because, apparently, that wasn't the purpose of the Pep-T. And if I was a first-year teacher without the support of my organization, I don't know how I would make it through the first two quarters. There an unspoken rule in K-12 education that prohibits anyone from questioning what s/he does in her/his classroom; how can we expect to improve if we can't learn from each others' constructive critiques?
I've never been able to figure out why school districts don't model themselves after successful business a little bit more. Are strategic plans created and implemented? Is everyone's (teachers, and administrators) role in success of said plan clearly defined and available for review by the "investors" (tax payers). Why can't incentives be offered for teachers who do the heavy lifting - if a particular school is having a hard time recruiting teachers, offer a substantial signing bonus to teach in that school, that must be returned if a teacher doesn't stay a minimum number of years. While tenure has a role within the system, it shouldn't be the only tool. For too many school systems, tenure is the equivalent of the "golden parachute" for CEO's who do not share in the risk with investors.
I work with Teach for America teachers. It's great that much is expected of them. Most don't even have basic classroom management skills. Some classrooms are out of control.
I am currently on my way to Hawaii because my spouse relocated. I have my master's degree am a highly qualified teacher. When I contacted the recruitment office to just talk about what it was like to teach in Hawaii, they refused to talk to me. They said that don't just talk to people about teaching and told me just to set up an interview and fill out an application. They were rude and not very friendly. I have had to push my way into the process in order to find out more and try to get a job. I say that one of the main changes that needs to occur is the friendliness from the recruitment office. They didn't even seem excited to have a highly qualified out of state teacher moving to the area. This experience has made me more interested in looking at the private schools.
The reference to the highly trained teacher in the preceding comment is still accurate. Bless her/him for letting us know. I know of a person who was very highly qualified with a PhD who came here many years ago who was a specialist in children's textbooks with a renowned thesis who could not be seen here as he didn't have a local teacher's permit and was from the east coast. The UH was thrilled to have him. He taught there many years. The private schools wisely scoop these people up and the public school children lose. I cannot believe I am hearing these stories again when I first heard them 40 years ago. Sadly, I would not put a child in these schools for many reasons, especially the ones mentioned here. Punahou and Iolani are among the best schools of the world and will continue to be so. Great for them and for bright, well connected children. Sad for the others.
As a current public school teacher, I have five thoughts about all this:
1) Resources at the classroom level: I've spent much of the year without enough text books for even all the students in a single class. The purchasing system is so slow and tedious that I've had to spend hundreds of dollars of my own money to pay for classroom needs. How about an Office Max debit card and I'll turn in all my receipts for someone to verify my purchases?
2) Reasonable expectations for new teachers. I've been teaching two years and I've had taught multiple courses each year. The courses I've taught has changed each year. How I am I supposed to get good at teaching ANY of these courses if I never have enough time to prepare and I basically have to start all over each year?
3) Discipline. Every school struggles with this, but one of the best ways to support teachers and students is having a strict discipline plan and sticking to it! Use in-school suspension instead of the traditional at-home kind. Too often parents take advantage of those days and take their kid shopping or to the beach.
4) Class size. Thirty-seven 7th-graders is too many. How are we supposed to have any meaningful connection with students when there are SO MANY?!?? The teacher cutbacks around the state are embarrassing. One of the worst-performing states in the country shouldn't be cutting teachers.
5) School facilities. Students can tell a lot about how much we care about them by the buildings we ask them to spend their days in. In my school this is the message we send: portable classrooms, crumbling buildings, no real theater (cafetorium), and a mud-covered track.
I am a National Board Ceritified teacher hoping to relocate to Hawaii. I was disappointed that the National Board Certification process was not mentioned in the article.
I feel the problem with our public schools is that it is run by narrow minded individuals. A few years back I was interviewed by one of the Principals of this school system. His first question was whether I knew anything about technology. Here I was applying for a job in the English department and I am being asked if I knew anything about technology. Of course my reply was that I did not know much about technology. That ended my interview. As long as the system continues to operate in this fashion, the public schools will never move forward. I'd also like to add that the majority of the principals were orientals. What do you expect when you have to deal with individuals who were brought up in a conservative way? This leaves very little room for improvement. I am Chinese.
Yes, we're at the bottom of the list and a lot of this has to do with a lack of vision and foresight. I don't believe that our teachers are lacking in skills, I've met a lot of good teachers in the public schools who are competent and capable of teaching. The reason why the schools are lacking has a lot to do with the administrators who sit in their ivory towers and refuse to descend to see what is happening in the classrooms. When I taught no one came to check on me. I could have used the mentoring practice but no one was available. In this day and age presence counts!
As a parent, I am disappointed in the response of the HSTA president who does not want to see the problem of underperforming teachers, and instead has issues about problem students. Teachers are the most important factor in the education of their students. They are the ones that interact on a daily basis, they have chosen to teach, and they are getting paid.
HSTA has been the crying board and bully backer for the teachers (remember the 3 week strike?) and the victims are the students. I am sorry, but I can name more crappy teachers than great ones. HSTA protects the crappy ones and does nothing to reward the good ones. It throws a blanket of "fairness" on teachers, and by doing so, throws out the responsibility of teachers - to teach our students, and to teach them well.
If you are one of the better teachers, please accept my gratitude and respect. If you are one of those teachers that aren't reaching your students, then you should look to improve or get out. Your role as a teacher in a student's life is one of the most influential - you can light up the spark in their minds, or put it out. Teaching is one of the most noble professions for it is about giving.
If you are a teacher, and you truly want to make a difference, get out of the union, grow and learn from criticism, make your mark on the world with your students as your legacy. Being in a union of teachers is self serving, and in this day and age, unneccessary. We do love our teachers, but now, more than ever, we need quality teachers. We do not need a union that has become too powerful and uncaring about student education.
In years past, being critical of teachers was verboten; kind of like the uncle in the family that nobody talked about at the Christmas party. It was refreshing this year to see the title, "Where are the Good Teachers?" Until we address the root of the problem, we settle for being 47th in the nation.
We do have good teachers. We need more. We need those that are ineffective to step aside, changing to a career where they could add value to society. No shame in that; the average person changes careers seven times.
It's time for change. Maybe next Christmas we all go to visit uncle.