Teachers Matter: Editorial and Letters

It appears that teachers do matter after all, in sharp contrast to the
bogus slogan: "A teacher should be a guide at your side not a sage on
the stage."

This editorial is one more example of how leading pundits operate in a
complete vacuum. I wonder when the NYTimes editorial writers will
address "curriculum quality"! In my opinion, competent teachers have
been leaving in droves when forced to teach the junk curricula that is
so prevalent, especially in inner-city public schools; and when forced
to operate under hacks known as "curriculum specialists" and "directors
of instruction."

By the way, in the 1990s Frances R. Curcio was a top honcho in the
NCTM, in the vanguard of math reform.

Dom Rosa
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The following documents have been sent via ProQuest.

Teachers Matter:[Editorial]

New York Times 4 Jul 2006 Page A14

Document URL:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1071106141&Fmt=3&clientId=16778&RQT=309&VName=PQD

The No Child Left Behind education act, passed by Congress four years
ago, was intended to correct the corrosive inequality that has plagued
public education from the start. It was with that goal in mind that
Congress specified for the first time that in return for federal
education dollars, states would have to end the destructive practice of
staffing schools serving poor and minority children with
disproportionate numbers of inexperienced and unqualified teachers.

The U.S. Department of Education soft-pedaled the teacher quality
requirement in the early years, probably because of pressure from the
states. But as of this month, states and districts that wish to keep
receiving federal school aid must file plans with the Department of
Education explaining how they intend to reach the teacher quality goal.
Meanwhile, the importance of that goal was just underscored by a
nonpartisan Washington think tank, the Education Trust, in a study on
the effects of teacher training and experience on student performance.

Skeptics have often expressed doubt that good teachers would make any
difference in the lives of the country's poorest students, who
typically show up in first grade not at all prepared to learn. The
Education Trust study, which draws on a treasure-trove of data from
several states, clearly refutes this notion. The most important data
set comes from Illinois, where researchers scrutinized the work and
qualifications of 140,000 teachers, all of whom were assigned quality
ratings based on several indicators, including where they attended
college and how much experience they had.

The Illinois study found teacher quality mattered a great deal in
high-poverty high schools, where students with highly rated teachers
were about twice as likely to meet state standards as similarly
situated students elsewhere. Teacher quality even trumped course
content, and it did not take paragons of achievement to make the
difference. For example, students who took Algebra II at schools with
average teacher quality ratings turned out to be better prepared for
college than students who had completed calculus at schools with low
teacher ratings.

Taken together, the multistate data cited in the study show that
teacher experience makes a profound difference in student performance,
as do teacher literacy levels. The facts are especially clear when it
comes to the crucial areas of math and science, where teachers who have
majored in the subject areas generate better student performance than
those who majored in outside areas.

To improve student performance, the states need to play a much stronger
role in teacher training and certification -- and in making sure that
qualified teachers are evenly spread across their school districts.
Breaking with the bad old status quo won't be easy. But it's the only
way for the country to improve the educational picture for the poor and
minority students who will make up such a large part of the work force
of the future.