Some elementary teachers may need to take test to prove qualifications

[The Straight Story]

Some elementary teachers may need to take test to prove qualifications
Sunday, December 12, 2004

BISMARCK (AP)

Thousands of North Dakota elementary school teachers could have to take a test to prove they meet new federal qualification guidelines, state officials said.

The U.S. Department of Education has determined that the state’s minimum requirements for elementary instructors do not meet the criteria for guaranteeing ‘‘highly qualified’’ teachers under the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

Members of the North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board said they want to challenge the government’s ruling, which will be confirmed in a letter that also establishes a timeline for correcting the problem.

Some 3,800 North Dakota elementary school teachers could be affected.

http://www.jamestownsun.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&ArticleID=22592&SubSectionID=91

[donco6]

1. Been doing it for years and years here in Colorado.

I'm surprised they don't already have it - being a more RW state than even we are. Or perhaps I'm mistaken?

[The Straight Story]

2. No idea

Just thought it was interesting. The feds get bigger and bigger and * and crew push their agendas down more and more - maybe not a bad idea in an overall sense (though I am sure that is debatable) I just don't trust * is all :)

[Sparkly]

3. Could we test the preznit?

I wish... :(

I have mixed feelings about the issue of testing teachers. On the one hand, yeah teachers should be good at the subject matter and at teaching, and in some areas the certification process is loaded with requirements that don't move them toward that.

On the other hand, it is WAY too easy to blame teachers for much larger problems within communities and families. Teachers can't be expected to deal with overcrowded classrooms, sparse resources, and solve every psycho-social and economic problem affecting their schools.

I think the further removed the focus gets from the classroom itself, the worse it is -- administrators saying what's needed, school boards saying what's needed, state governments saying what's needed, and finally federal politicians saying what's needed. The teachers know what's needed!!

Yes, it happens that teachers are unqualified. But given all the hoops they already have to jump through (all for the privelege of a difficult, underpaid position), I think more attention should be given to broader issues affecting kids and thus schools.

(And often it goes to funding. You'll notice schools aren't "funded" anymore -- it's always called "throwing money at" schools now.)

[veracity]

4. You won't believe what new NYC teachers don't know....

I ran a workshop last summer for incoming Social Studies teachers, already certified for Junior High School positions in NYC. In a group of 40, only TWO knew what post Condoleezza Rice held in the Bush administration. There is something very lacking in the education programs of our colleges. Always has been.....

[Albert Einstein]

5. Good idea. Most students know more than their teachers

I understand that teachers used to be educated. If the current ones are, then education must have been bad for a long time.