Report: Neediest children often get least-prepared teachers

[Judi Lynn]

Published Saturday, December 18, 2004

Report: Neediest children often get least-prepared teachers

The Associated Press
SARASOTA, Fla.
The least-qualified teachers are more likely to be in classrooms with the poorest children in Florida, a newspaper reported after reviewing the test scores of nearly 100,000 teachers.

Teachers have failed the test in every county, but a third of all teachers, teachers' aides and substitutes flunked the state's basic skills test for teachers at least once. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that left more than 500,000 students in classrooms with uncertified teachers.

"This has always been the central issue in terms of the kind of rigged casino in American education," said David Haselkorn, dean of national education programs and policies at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. "The kids that arguably need the best teachers get the least-prepared teachers."

Teachers at poor schools were 44 percent more likely to have failed than those at rich schools, the newspaper reported in a series published last week. The gap in teacher scores is even more pronounced in predominantly minority schools.
(snip/...)

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041218/APN/412180680

[Erika]

1. Sarasota Is saturated with millionaires

They have little concern with lower income children. It's not their thing.

[Yupster]

2. Teachers in the worst schools

ask for transfers to the better schools. That creates lots of openings in the worst schools which are filled by beginning teachers. That happens everywhere in the country.

Same thing with principals. Crappy principal comes in. Good teachers transfer away. Good principal comes in. Good teachers will transfer to him/her. Sometimes a principal will bring a stable of good teachers with him/her to the school.

Teachers aren't stupid. They go where thwey can be the most effective. Where there's good leadership and hgood discipline.

[Massacure]

3. Who cares if the fail the skills test once...

What they should do is give it to them the first week of june. Then they should get the results back my July, which would give them a month for the teachers who failed it to take classes. If they failed it, make them retake it in August. If they fail again, then they get suspended.

It would be a yearly thing.

Another idea in response to post #2 would be to bind teachers to a two or three year contract. That would keep them from being able to move very easily.

[booksenkatz]

4. Like Miss Jenna. nt

[priller]

6. Aw, beat me to it!

Just what I was thinking. Poor kids get saddled with party girl. Wonder how long she'll last?

[Spangle]

5. Many ways to uneven education

Many classes end up with subs most the year. Not a cool thing in my book. School year last about 9 months. Teachers planning on having a baby in December, taking off in November and not coming back until March or later, should take the year off or do subing. It's wrong to take the class then leave them with a sub for half the year that the teacher is gone. The only way I can see a teacher should do this, if they are only going to be out the last month or so of the school year. 6 weeks tops. If there is complications (which happens), the the slot should be filled with an actual teacher.

THIS happens a whole lot more then people realize.

Another issue is Homework. Most of the educational plans I'm hearing from fl schools, the kids are being shuffled from classroom to classroom. Educational time is lost going between classes and during the "get ready to move" and "just moved" time.

Teachers are required to have their students do so many "units" a week in each focus subject. Units can be done at school or as homework. Because of the lost time at school, more "units" have to be sent home. A "unit" can be a simple as a worksheet for 'aghm' review.

All good and well if the parents have the time and the ablity to work with their kids. But poor kids come from familys that are not able to do this. Not because parents are stupid. But because their time is devoted to just trying to survive. Single parents, more then one job, etc. That leaves limited "home" time. That time is also needed for regular family duties. Add in lack of education or language bearers, you got additional problems.

This equals unequal education. A portion of the education is being shifted to the home envirment because the teacher doesn't have the time in school to cover/do it. However, just because it's being shifted to the home envirment doesn't mean there is time avalible there. Or ablity.

This difference in education effects poor and "rich" schools. Teachers that can send this homework home and have it taught/completed at home, there students are going to be more advanced and ready for teaching the next day. They are going to do better on achievement tests and FCAT. The FCAT is actualy grading the TEACHER and the SCHOOL.

Teachers in schools were the parents are "bad" and "disintrested" in the childrens education. (Not my wording, but the schools aditude and assumption about parents that can't take on this job) End up with students not completing all the "units", not ready for the next lesson on the list and must move on to the next lesson so that they are "on schedule". Even if all their students are not ready. Their solution to this problem is not to handle the problem. But to focus on the kids who are doing well. It increase THEIR scores high enough to carry the rest of the students.

Less focus should be on homework and more on utilizing time wisely at school. Not ALL students can have an equal home life that will ensure EQUAL education. Focus on homework as a way to cover more subjects or training during "basic education in k-4" puts students behind for the rest of the educational experience. Which lowers test scores, FCAT, etc. It's a failing system. Why wouldn't a teacher want to go to a school were the system is more likely to achieve sucess. This effects them as well.

[kineneb]

9. Johnny can't read because Johnny's parents can't read!

I live in rural California (yes, Virginia, there is rural CA), and the schools are required to give out a lot of homework. Most of it seems like busywork to me; if I had to attend today's schools I may never have graduated.
There are children here who live in homes lacking heat and even good running water! And their parents work at minimum wage jobs. How can these students compete with others who have well-off educated parents or even tutors??

[NickB79]

7. And where are these poor schools located?

Predominantly in inner-city areas with large black and Hispanic populations. We're short-changing minorities in the country from the day they're born, yet expect them to compete against well-educated white kids in college and for jobs? Just another cog in the machine that is institutional racism here in the US.

[kath]

8. It's important to note that you need to be pretty stupid to flunk the test

for teachers. They are at a 9th-10th grade level at MOST. Here are some sample questions from the test that Illinois teachers used to take:

http://www.suntimes.com/special_sections/failing_teacher/part3/educ6.html#

(scroll down, click on the "Test Yourself" link on the right side, near the bottom of the page)
example - first question is:
Both storms were bad, but Friday's was _____ than Sunday.
A. worse
B. worser
C. worst
D. worsest

YIKES!

[Baconfoot]

10. Apparently even the people who write the test questions don't know grammar

"Both storms were bad, but Friday's was _____ than Sunday."

It SHOULD read:
"Both storms were bad, but Friday's was _____ than Sunday's."

(I checked the website this item came from and the typo appears there too.)