Is teacher certification useful for schools?

[Xahm]

This morning I was listening to a report on Arizona schools, and one of the issues is that a large percentage of classroom teachers are uncertified. It sparked my old "who cares” feelings based on how completely pointless the education classes I took were, and my observations of what was involved in those education classes I chose not to take. For the record, I dropped my education major, then dropped the minor, because I couldn't stand it. 

To me it seems like having teachers who have passed content area tests (tougher than the Praxis, preferably) and completed an apprenticeship program or other methods of gaining classroom experience would be much stronger teachers than graduates of education courses, but clearly most people disagree with me. 

Tell me why I'm wrong, please.

[Chris in VA]

My daughter's program requires the Praxis tests (she tested out of one already but will need the  Praxis 2--whatever the "education" one is...) and other tests, as well as a course of education and content area classes, and a semester of student teaching, in order to get certified. So that certification includes all those things you say you want, right? 

[Xahm]

Just now, Chris in VA said:

My daughter's program requires the Praxis tests (she tested out of one already but will need the  Praxis 2--whatever the "education" one is...) and other tests, as well as a course of education and content area classes, and a semester of student teaching, in order to get certified. So that certification includes all those things you say you want, right? 

Sorry, I'm not saying all teachers should be uncertified. I'm saying that an alternate method may produce teachers with stronger content area knowledge and equal classroom management skills. When discussing teachers who get into classrooms that way, reporters tend to use "uncertified" as a synonym for ”inept" and I wonder about that. 

[SamanthaCarter]

I don't think it's just in teaching, but I think our culture as a whole is far too obsessed with certification, degrees and testing in order to prove that you can do a job. Sure, it has it's place, but it's also used as a barrier to entry in a lot of professions where the entrenched don't want to be upstaged. So they perpetuate the myth that you have to jump all of the hoops to be competent in their field.

I'm going to go find an article that I read a while back about airplane pilots v. MDs. It was a fascinating perspective! 

 

ETA: Here it is, it's somewhat political, so I hope it's allowable. https://fee.org/articles/why-doctors-should-be-certified-like-airline-pilots/

Edited February 5, 2020 by SamanthaCarter

[Chris in VA]

I see what you are saying now. I just mean that teachers hoing through college programs do have to show competency and do have the experiences you say you want as an alternative. I think, at a minimum, teachers of content areas should get a degree in their area, and then be required to take child development and history of education, as well as methods classes. Then they should either have many experiences in the classroom culminating in a full 18 weeks of student teaching, or do a one year student teaching. And I think teachers need mentors, since much of teaching is learning to work with the class you have, not some mythical group of "typical 5th graders" or whatever. 

FWIW, I find it appalling that preschool teachers are often undereducated about child development, schematic play, and brain development. That is the area of teacher education I hope to enter when we leave here and I can get back to doing what I feel I am called to do. 

[regentrude]

I consider subject expertise to be far more important than a teaching certificate. You can learn to teach on the job; you absolutely cannot teach without subject mastery.

I'd rather have uncertified native speakers teaching foreign languages than certified persons who are not fluent in the language they are supposed to teach, or have physics taught by a non certified physicist rather than a certified biology teacher who has to skip chapters because she does not understand the material (true story my students told me)

Our department offers an education specialization where students complete the full coursework for a physics degree and take the education courses in addition. Those graduates know their subject AND how to teach.

Edited February 5, 2020 by regentrude

[LinRTX]

9 minutes ago, regentrude said:

I consider subject expertise to be far more important than a teaching certificate. You can learn to teach on the job; you cannot teach without subject mastery.

I'd rather have uncertified native speakers teaching foreign languages than certified persons who are not fluent in the language they are supposed to teach, or have physics taught by a non certified physicist rather than a certified biology teacher who has to skip chapters because she does not understand the material (true story my students told me)

Our department offers an education specialization where students complete the full coursework for a physics degree and take the education courses in addition. Those graduates know their subject AND how to teach.

And I do think expertise is important, but I will tell you the worst teacher I ever had was my French teacher. She was French, grew up in France, but just could not teach. The class was a nightmare and I learned nothing. So while expertise is very important, you also need to know how to convey the information, actually teach.

[regentrude]

1 minute ago, Linda in TX said:

And I do think expertise is important, but I will tell you the worst teacher I ever had was my French teacher. She was French, grew up in France, but just could not teach. The class was a nightmare and I learned nothing. So while expertise is very important, you also need to know how to convey the information, actually teach.

Sure - but if she had just spoken to you and had the class listen to her, you would have learned more than from a teacher who doesn't actually know any French.

[LucyStoner]

I have had the opportunity to observe the effectiveness of certified vs. uncertified and less credentialed teachers in the area of special education and in general, I am more comfortable with and impressed by those with certification.  

In my area though, there are very few uncertified teachers outside of hard to fill positions like sped and ESL.  The pay-scale is not ideal here but it’s high enough that they don’t have trouble limiting most of their hiring to those with Master’s degrees and certification.  Secondary teachers generally have degrees in what they teach as well.  I personally am bothered that they often fill sped roles with less qualified people and it’s adversely impacted kids I know personally including my own.  We are presently suing our local school district in part because they wanted to place our son in a class with an uncredentialed teacher with a bad reputation among sped parents.  After meeting her twice, there was no way that I would have had my kid in her class.  
 

Occasionally provisional license teachers are hired outside of sped or ESL but that’s usually something done for accomplished artists or language teachers and not for core academic subjects.  

Edited February 5, 2020 by LucyStoner

[LinRTX]

2 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Sure - but if she had just spoken to you and had the class listen to her, you would have learned more than from a teacher who doesn't actually know any French.

I wish she had. She spent the whole time just giving answers to the tests she wrote. I am she would actually tell the whole class the answer when anyone said they did not understand. And on non test days she could not control the unruly class. It was really bad.

[Crimson Wife]

1 hour ago, Chris in VA said:

FWIW, I find it appalling that preschool teachers are often undereducated about child development, schematic play, and brain development. That is the area of teacher education I hope to enter when we leave here and I can get back to doing what I feel I am called to do. 

I'm actually taking an Early Childhood Education course right now that's required for me to get an ECE teacher permit in my state. It is the absolute BIGGEST waste of time so far. This week's assignment was reading a chapter on setting up the preschool environment and it's total common sense. Seriously, does anyone NOT know that a preschool/daycare should have activity centers, a library corner, handwashing stations near both the eating and toileting areas, a playground, etc. ? 🙄

The title of the course is "Curriculum Development" so I thought it might have some useful ideas about what to do if I do wind up working as a preschool teacher. Maybe we will later on but as of now it's making want to poke my eyes out.

[Guest]

My experience (and I've taught prospective teachers and done the observations and evaluations for new teachers getting certified via alternative means) is that after about 5 years, it doesn't matter. You've either developed the skills needed, or you quit and find an easier job. But teachers who went through a formal certification program that included observation, internships and practicums start out MILES ahead of uncertified teachers who do not have such experience in a classroom. Uncertified teachers who DO have such experience, like those who came from teaching in private schools, or were 4H leaders for years, often transition much more cleanly. I kind of feel like teaching should be about like driver's ed. First, pass An exam on the basics of education and the body of subject area knowledge. For early childhood and elementary, that means knowing a lot about how kids learn and how to break down and teach reading and math-many college students did not learn phonics as kids, and therefore need to learn it somewhere before teaching. Teaching early math skills is similarly not intuitive for many people-and some of the worst I've seen have been people who are very, very good at math. For higher grade levels, at least a Bachelor's or equivalent in work experience and knowledge in the field taught. Then, after you have that learners permit, hands on experience with a trained professional in actually teaching, and lots of experience with a mentor where you teach on your own, but have someone else providing support, before actual licensure.

 

 

Edited February 5, 2020 by dmmetler

[Meriwether]

My education classes, with two exceptions, were a joke. I took and passed the praxis before taking my education classes. I had one good class pertaining to foreign language instruction. The student teaching was also valuable. I think a good mentoring program would be better than the classes + student teaching we have now.

I may teach at a local Christian school some day. I probably wouldn't be certified, because I wouldn't jump through the hoops if I didn't have to. I would be qualified.

[Meriwether]

My dad couldn't substitute teach at my high school, because he didn't have anything past a high school diploma. He is a smart guy. He was able to draw up building plans for a garage that tied into a house on the second story so that the connecting room made a nice art studio- plans that were functional and attractive. Then he built the addition. We know some people who substitute teach in that town. One of them didn't know how to make change from $25 for 8 guineas at $3 a piece. My dad would obviously have made a better substitute math teacher. I think it is situations like this that make people question the system.

[beaners]

My point of view is that there is a difference between staffing uncertified teachers by hiring subject experts who don't happen to have a background in education specifically, compared to hiring uncertified teachers because the district needs warm bodies in the classroom. 

When we lived in Memphis more than a decade ago, the city schools would put up signs at the beginning of the year saying they would hire you if you had a bachelor's in any field. They weren't doing that because they thought the potential applicants would be the best of the best to teach those classrooms. It was desperation.

None of that is to say that any individual teacher is better or worse. There are both horrid and excellent teachers from any background.

[Ottakee]

I have a degree in special ed and psychology.  Most of my teacher certificate classes were pretty worthless.  A few helpful but not overly so 

My teaching reading classes didn't cover how to teach phonics....so don't assume that new teachers are learning to teach phonics....many aren't.  The how to teach math class was more of a joke 

I honestly learned more on teaching special needs through homeschooling and pouring over various curriculums, etc 

I do think that we need people who know how to teach but also are great in their subject/level areas.  The best chemistry teacher might make the worst K teacher....even if they are both excellent teachers.

Increasing the pay would certainly help.  20 years ago my ex husband was a paraprofessional for the ISD making MORE than I am now....not even adjusted for inflation.  His hourly rate 20 years ago was more than mine now....and he had full family medical coverage and I get $ towards a single plan and can buy extra .   With the rising costs of college just to get certified and the low pay comparatively we aren't going to attract the best there are 

[Xahm]

2 hours ago, beaners said:

My point of view is that there is a difference between staffing uncertified teachers by hiring subject experts who don't happen to have a background in education specifically, compared to hiring uncertified teachers because the district needs warm bodies in the classroom. 

When we lived in Memphis more than a decade ago, the city schools would put up signs at the beginning of the year saying they would hire you if you had a bachelor's in any field. They weren't doing that because they thought the potential applicants would be the best of the best to teach those classrooms. It was desperation.

None of that is to say that any individual teacher is better or worse. There are both horrid and excellent teachers from any background.

I was wondering if that is what they have found. If the majority of uncertified teachers are people who majored in something like business then got fired from their sales job and decided "well, teaching seems like an easy job,” then they probably aren't going to be, for the most part, very good. That's not the experience I had with uncertified teachers, who tended to be subject experts with phds, but I know my school was an outlier.

I actually got certified in Teaching English as a Foreign Language through an apprenticeship program. We had to self study and test on subject matter before the start, then we had an intense few weeks of talking classes in the morning and student teaching in the afternoon and evening, with lots of observation and critique. We then had a strong mentoring program for several more months with monthly classes on various topics. Those first couple weeks would have been better spread out over a couple of months, but it was a great way to get much better fast. 

[Chris in VA]

10 hours ago, Crimson Wife said:

I'm actually taking an Early Childhood Education course right now that's required for me to get an ECE teacher permit in my state. It is the absolute BIGGEST waste of time so far. This week's assignment was reading a chapter on setting up the preschool environment and it's total common sense. Seriously, does anyone NOT know that a preschool/daycare should have activity centers, a library corner, handwashing stations near both the eating and toileting areas, a playground, etc. ? 🙄

The title of the course is "Curriculum Development" so I thought it might have some useful ideas about what to do if I do wind up working as a preschool teacher. Maybe we will later on but as of now it's making want to poke my eyes out.

But it is not common sense. There are definitely preschool teachers who don't know that the majority of "curriculum" is contained in centers, and that direct teaching should play a very small part in the preschool day. There are still many, many preschools that teach using worksheets and teacher lectures, and offer only crafts (vs process-oriented art). The research is clear on the need for play, but it is still seen as "recess" and relief fronm the real work of preschool. This is not only sad, but detrimental. 

[moonflower]

Formal certification, I dunno.  But I can definitely tell you that teaching in a classroom is A. nothing like homeschooling or tutoring and B. very hard.

I am very intelligent and very well educated; I am an excellent tutor.  I went through 3/4 of a teacher's ed program for high school English and history and I was so bad at it that I literally walked out one day and never came back.  

For me, classroom management is the barrier to entry, not subject expertise.  Maybe both are required to be a great teacher, but I think that without classroom management skills you can't be any kind of teacher at all, regardless of how well you know the subject.  

Some people probably have an innate knack for classroom management and so don't need a formal certification program, but I think there's probably a fair amount of training necessary for it.

 

I was excellent at the school part of teacher's ed - the part where you make lesson plans and discuss curricula and teaching techniques and the subject matter itself and etc.  I would have aced the Praxis.  But none of that ever translated at all, except in small groups or individual tutoring, because I couldn't maintain control of a classroom for 3 minutes. 90% of teacher school was stuff I was great at and that I would never in a million years have used, even if I had made it through the program.  It was very theoretical and not veyr practical.

[DawnM]

14 hours ago, Linda in TX said:

And I do think expertise is important, but I will tell you the worst teacher I ever had was my French teacher. She was French, grew up in France, but just could not teach. The class was a nightmare and I learned nothing. So while expertise is very important, you also need to know how to convey the information, actually teach.

 

I also will add that even if you have content AND can teach, if you have no management skills, none of it matters.  

[DawnM]

I don't have a lot of time to formulate a response like I would like, but I will add that education is a completely different field than I went into 25 years ago.  It used to be actual content knowledge, classroom management skills, and some amount of teaching aptitude.

Now it is 100 added responsibilities.  Our teachers have to teach kids social-emotional lessons during the 20 min. flex time lessons, deal with kids having major meltdowns and issues (largely due to social media crap), make sure their students pass the standardized tests with high scores (or face consequences by admin and district heads), provide free tutoring times, handle far more parent issues than I have ever seen in the past, join at least one committee at school (and there are 1000 more of them than there were even 10 years ago), keep up their online syllabus and planning page for parents and students, give up their planning time for grade level meetings, parent meetings, 504s, IEPs, curriculum meetings, team meetings, admin meetings, testing meetings, and on and on.

It simply is NOT the same job it used to be.  So many of my friends are getting out of education because of it.

I don't know what the answer is, but it does seem that education programs haven't changed all that much, but the job has changed a whole lot.  Education programs in college would do well to take note and revamp some things.

As far as alternative preparations, we do have what we call a lateral entry plan, designed for people who wish to come into teaching from a different line of work.  

With 44% of teachers leaving within the first five years:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2018/10/today_teaching_force_richard_ingersoll.html

and a 50% drop in those finishing education programs in the first place:

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2019-12-03/sharp-nationwide-enrollment-drop-in-teacher-prep-programs-cause-for-alarm

We are in for a rude awakening in this country.  Or at least I hope so.  The band-aid seem to be, "Oh, just get those lateral entry folks in here and those new teachers, who cares if they leave in 5 years, we will just get new ones again."  

And I see that I have rambled.  Going to get more coffee now.

Edited February 6, 2020 by DawnM

[Terabith]

I think teacher certification classes as currently taught are fairly worthless.  I'd really prefer something where teachers major in an academic discipline and then do something like a minor or concentration that is heavy on working in classrooms and classes on classroom management.  I'd like to see really good child development classes, especially for early childhood and elementary.  I had a class, but it wasn't a really GOOD class.  I'd like more classroom observations.  I'd like elementary classes to have teaching reading coursework that actually taught Orton Gillingham or Spalding or some kind of rigorous phonics program.  I would also like to see more coursework on special needs and working with traumatized kids.  I would also like to see more second career people and people with strong math and science backgrounds working in elementary schools.  It was really depressing to me how few elementary teachers know, like, or are at all comfortable with math or science.  

[Mbelle]

Several of my kids most awesome teachers at hybrid school are uncertified, however the high school level teachers generally have a degree or masters in content areas.  This is pretty typical at a lot of private schools around too. I do think a certification can help, but it doesn't have to be a litmus test and their are many excellent teachers who do not have certifications.

At dd uni the high school ed majors do get a degree in content area and the teacher certification is added on.  It is extra hours than most majors.  She recently switched to middle grades.  There are 40 hours spent in local schools starting in the 2nd year. with observations which includes tutoring students.  Then in 3rd year they are actually taking some of their classes in the local school and doing observations in classrooms between classes.  The student teaching is done in the 4th year.  

[AngieW in Texas]

On 2/6/2020 at 5:15 AM, DawnM said:

I don't have a lot of time to formulate a response like I would like, but I will add that education is a completely different field than I went into 25 years ago.  It used to be actual content knowledge, classroom management skills, and some amount of teaching aptitude.

Now it is 100 added responsibilities.  Our teachers have to teach kids social-emotional lessons during the 20 min. flex time lessons, deal with kids having major meltdowns and issues (largely due to social media crap), make sure their students pass the standardized tests with high scores (or face consequences by admin and district heads), provide free tutoring times, handle far more parent issues than I have ever seen in the past, join at least one committee at school (and there are 1000 more of them than there were even 10 years ago), keep up their online syllabus and planning page for parents and students, give up their planning time for grade level meetings, parent meetings, 504s, IEPs, curriculum meetings, team meetings, admin meetings, testing meetings, and on and on.

It simply is NOT the same job it used to be.  So many of my friends are getting out of education because of it.

I don't know what the answer is, but it does seem that education programs haven't changed all that much, but the job has changed a whole lot.  Education programs in college would do well to take note and revamp some things.

As far as alternative preparations, we do have what we call a lateral entry plan, designed for people who wish to come into teaching from a different line of work.  

With 44% of teachers leaving within the first five years:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2018/10/today_teaching_force_richard_ingersoll.html

and a 50% drop in those finishing education programs in the first place:

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2019-12-03/sharp-nationwide-enrollment-drop-in-teacher-prep-programs-cause-for-alarm

We are in for a rude awakening in this country.  Or at least I hope so.  The band-aid seem to be, "Oh, just get those lateral entry folks in here and those new teachers, who cares if they leave in 5 years, we will just get new ones again."  

And I see that I have rambled.  Going to get more coffee now.

 

Absolutely all of this. I am desperate to get out of teaching and into another career field. This is not what I signed up for.

If I could actually just teach,  I would love to continue to do that. But that isn't what the job is. 

I got my alternative teacher certification when my youngest started dual credit. I should have done some other type of program for re-entering the workforce. 

I would love to teach at the community college, but full-time positions rarely open up. Classes at cc don't have the behavior problems that you see in high schools. 

[math teacher]

I think certification is good, but the education classes are a big waste of time. Very little of my college education, which cost an arm and leg, is useful.

I let a principal talk me into taking a Sped position, which I am probably now unable to move out of. Sped teachers are pure gold, but this was never my intention.

I am now teaching at a school where I teach 3 grade levels of math and reading. I have 18 students, but have the sped paperwork for 30. The amount of time I spend at school is insane. I have all 3 grade levels of math at one time, as well as 2 grades of reading, so two paras help during that time. However, for the problem solving portion of our math curriculum, I have to work the problems out ahead of time for the para. My fifth graders took a 6 weeks test not long ago, and between the four of them missed all but one of the 30 problems. I was planning to have the para work with them on corrections, but she needs the problems worked out, not just an answer key. 

I have behavior problems out the roof. I call parents, and nothing changes. I send behavior problems to the office and the principal gives them a talking to. Well, let me tell you, talking doesn't help. I really need to keep working, but I'm just about fed up.

[Farrar]

Like others here, I have a master's in education and at one point had certification (it is now lapsed and I doubt I'll renew it at any point). I have moved through a lot of thoughts on this. On the one hand, I'm in total agreement that most of my education courses were a joke, even at the master's level. But also... the longer I'm in education, the more I appreciate the framework they gave me. I have conversations with folks not in education, who think they know all about education... and who are missing some history, psychology, and theory that are actually helpful in thinking about how to approach education. Now, did those things help me in my first couple of years in the classroom? No. Hands down, no.

I think the primary thing that helps is not certification per se (so much of the process is hoop jumping) but rather the intentionality of becoming a teacher. People who mean to do it have more commitment than those who simply stumble in. Those who have thought about it are better than those who didn't have a chance to be reflective.

I often compare medical training to teacher training in terms of a model. Teacher training should be taken way more seriously. And then, once really complete, teachers should be treated more like real professionals, more like doctors, who are trusted to make decisions. I do wonder if the order of things is a bit off there though. Medical doctors can't help patients until they've studied a heck of a lot about medicine first. I do think with teachers, you have to know your subject (or have a broad base college education if you're going into elementary ed) first and foremost. After that, I do wonder if the big teaching of educational theory and so forth should come during a process a couple of years or more into your training. As in, maybe teachers should go in with their subjects, with some practical training, with a ton of supervision, like an apprentice. And then slowly work up to independence. And then, before finishing certification, spend a year off studying again to get more of a theoretical framework in psychology and so forth. Or maybe a couple of half years or something.

Not that this could happen. Like Dawn said, the landscape is so absurd now, and all about paperwork.

[LucyStoner]

4 hours ago, Farrar said:

Like others here, I have a master's in education and at one point had certification (it is now lapsed and I doubt I'll renew it at any point). I have moved through a lot of thoughts on this. On the one hand, I'm in total agreement that most of my education courses were a joke, even at the master's level. But also... the longer I'm in education, the more I appreciate the framework they gave me. I have conversations with folks not in education, who think they know all about education... and who are missing some history, psychology, and theory that are actually helpful in thinking about how to approach education. Now, did those things help me in my first couple of years in the classroom? No. Hands down, no.

I think the primary thing that helps is not certification per se (so much of the process is hoop jumping) but rather the intentionality of becoming a teacher. People who mean to do it have more commitment than those who simply stumble in. Those who have thought about it are better than those who didn't have a chance to be reflective.

I often compare medical training to teacher training in terms of a model. Teacher training should be taken way more seriously. And then, once really complete, teachers should be treated more like real professionals, more like doctors, who are trusted to make decisions. I do wonder if the order of things is a bit off there though. Medical doctors can't help patients until they've studied a heck of a lot about medicine first. I do think with teachers, you have to know your subject (or have a broad base college education if you're going into elementary ed) first and foremost. After that, I do wonder if the big teaching of educational theory and so forth should come during a process a couple of years or more into your training. As in, maybe teachers should go in with their subjects, with some practical training, with a ton of supervision, like an apprentice. And then slowly work up to independence. And then, before finishing certification, spend a year off studying again to get more of a theoretical framework in psychology and so forth. Or maybe a couple of half years or something.

Not that this could happen. Like Dawn said, the landscape is so absurd now, and all about paperwork.

I’ve long said that teachers need some sort of residency program with the understanding that not everyone is cut out for teaching and the ones that can’t hack it in a multiple year structured residency should be shown the door or transition to other roles that are more suited to them.  With a higher salary level and more professional discretion than teachers currently enjoy many places.   
 

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by LucyStoner

[maize]

2 minutes ago, LucyStoner said:

I’ve long said that teacher need some sort of residency program with the understanding that not everyone is cut out for teaching and the ones that can’t hack it in a multiple year structured residency should be shown the door or transition to other roles that are more suited to them.  
 

 

If we are going to require this level of professional training we will have to provide professional level salaries.

No one wants to fund that.

I'm in favor of a much more professional teaching corp and matching compensation, I just don't see it happening.

 

 

[Farrar]

I don't see it happening either, but I also think it's the only thing worth demanding at this point. I mean, there are other reforms that might make a positive difference, but in the end, professionalism and pay to match it are the only way the other reforms can do anything.

Today someone on my Facebook feed posted one of these "Finnish education is amazing!" videos. First, they talked about the buildings and the cool features like ping pong tables and so forth that they have. Okay. Then they talked about the respect for the kids and the equality of the test. Okay. Then they talked about how competitive it is to become a teacher there. Um, okay. And that was it. The framing was such bs. Like, they put the facilities first, just like all the American crap thinking about this stuff. Ooh, a fancy building and some technology can fix it! And the testing. Because that's the focus. Then they act like somehow the people in Finland becoming teachers are somehow just better for no reason. Like, if we make it harder then it will magically be better. Zero mention of teacher pay. And the whole teacher element is mentioned last, as if it's like, oh yeah, and maybe this makes a difference if you have those pretty buildings, of course. Gag. Seriously, I can't even with that.

[LucyStoner]

1 minute ago, maize said:

If we are going to require this level of professional training we will have to provide professional level salaries.

No one wants to fund that.

I'm in favor of a much more professional teaching corp and matching compensation, I just don't see it happening.

While you were posting this, I was editing that in.  

I think that people definitely need to be willing to pay for better teaching preparation.  Teaching shouldn’t be this low salary option where the perception and sometimes reality is that it’s a degree and career path open to all comers. It should be competitive.  Not everyone can teach well in a classroom setting.  
 

also, the highest need kids tend to get on average the less highly qualified teachers which is absolutely bonkers.  

[LucyStoner]

Because not every working teacher can teach capably, and I happen to have children that can’t just get along in a mediocre or worse classroom environment, I had to homeschool for a long time.  Many people here share this experience.  That cost me and my family a lot of money because the opportunity cost was largely my career.  

We have now taken the approach that the district will be forced to do their job so we filed a lawsuit and they are shouldering the cost instead of us, so long as you don’t count the eye popping amount of money we have paid our lawyers.  

families shouldn’t have to sue to get basic accommodations, nor is it remotely fair that because we have the money to sue, our son is getting his educational needs met.  And honestly, if the teachers were better supported and paid, he likely wouldn’t need the level of support he does need.  It’s such a mess.  

Still, I remain unconvinced by ample experience that teaching certifications aren’t valuable, especially in special education.  

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by LucyStoner