Who benefited from the No Child Left Behind?

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by Kevin

This is all true. Anecdotally speaking, watching my wife attend education classes, it was truly befuddling how easy this profession was to enter. Really -- there were classes on how to do things like operate copy machines and overhead projectors.

If the teaching profession wants to survive as a viable profession rather than a simple vocation which anyone qualified in whatever subject matter can enter, it probably needs to reinvent itself, both in terms of training and maintaining good teachers and in terms of rewarding success in the classroom.

I know some universities are looking at reinventing their training processes into something more resembling apprenticeships. (I want to say I heard about NCSU doing this) I'm interested to see how that turns out.

Wouldn't student teaching be considered an apprenticeship?

I'm shocked by some of the people I went to high school with who are now teachers. But then again, they might be able to teach the material better than they were at doing the material 10 or so years ago.

I just remembered my junior year of high school we got a teacher in trouble for her teaching habits. No one understood her and when we'd ask questions she would get frustrated. Students who had the other teacher the first semester and then her were really confused. We had her students from 9-12 sign a petition and one by one got called down to our principals office. (our Vice Principal is the one who always dealt with problems, so you knew it was serious if you were going to the principal). We had to give our reasoning for signing the petition. It was kind of scary, but with the amount of students who signed, they actually took it seriously. I'm not sure if she's teaching somewhere else now, but possibly the same evaluations the students take in college classes could help in high school?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

Wouldn't student teaching be considered an apprenticeship?

Yes, but some of these new programs are focusing on getting these teacher candidates into the classroom much faster and for a much longer period of time before they're off on their own.

I just remembered my junior year of high school we got a teacher in trouble for her teaching habits.

That is awesome. And it is even more awesome that your administration paid attention. My experience has always been that those situations were unwinnable, thus were battles not worth fighting. Did you by any chance go to a school where teachers weren't tenured? I do think tenure is a blight on our education system (at least in the K-12 context) and needs to go. Before we can even talk about holding administrators accountable, we have to let them be able to hire and fire so that they can get the people they want so that they can implement their strategies for success. It's all about making education more focused on the students than on the employees and institutions which deliver it.

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by Kevin

That is awesome. And it is even more awesome that your administration paid attention. My experience has always been that those situations were unwinnable, thus were battles not worth fighting. Did you by any chance go to a school where teachers weren't tenured? I do think tenure is a blight on our education system (at least in the K-12 context) and needs to go. Before we can even talk about holding administrators accountable, we have to let them be able to hire and fire so that they can get the people they want so that they can implement their strategies for success. It's all about making education more focused on the students than on the employees and institutions which deliver it.

YEESSS! I was thinking the SAME thing.

Honestly back in the day in my school system, issues like this were addressed.

Now? Even if the students were diligent about how they approached poor teaching, they would still be "ignored." Allowing teachers to attain career (tenure) status in the public school system can be helpful, but when teachers are attaining career status in spite of their obviously poor performance in the classroom, then there will continue to be a problem.

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

Wouldn't student teaching be considered an apprenticeship?

Student teaching is an apprenticeship, but it really isn't always adequate. If the student teacher gets paired with a piss-poor teacher, the cycle will just continue.

And Kevin is right... many of these "training" programs? Yeah right.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by gamma

How about when the teacher gets paired with piss-poor students and piss-poor parents?

They're talking about training for student teachers - not regular teachers.

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by 33girl

They're talking about training for student teachers - not regular teachers.

Are you seriously responding to mm?

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by gamma

Get a job and take care of your kids!


The test results are in and you are the father.

Ok I'll bite. Any particular reason you think I am a father? you don't know anything about me at all.