Rating Uncertified Teachers
How do uncertified teachers rate when compared to certified?
Dec 1, 2006
New York City Reform
New York City has come under fire for hiring teachers trained in alternative certification programs. One-third of newly hired NYC teachers are not traditional 4-year college graduates majoring in education. They are the product of programs like Teach for America and Teaching Fellows.
Teaching Fellows
NYC invented the Teaching Fellows program in 2000. NYC was restructuring the educational system with the financial assistance of Bill and Melinda Gates. Qualified teachers were needed. NYC recruited qualified professionals that did not hold teaching degrees and gave them a crash course on teaching methods. 9000 individuals have been hired in NYC using this method. The "teachers" must hold a 4-year degree and take the methods classes during the first year of teaching.
The Results
What was discovered? Initially, after using standardized testing to rate success in the classroom, the non-certified teachers didn't rate as high as certified teachers. But, in just three years, they did just as well as traditionally trained teachers. They also found that teachers trained in non-traditional methods advanced faster than traditionally trained teachers. Uncertified teachers are also more likely to be minority.
Placement
Where are the uncertified teachers placed? They are hired to teach in the lowest performing schools. In spite of odds being against them and having no experience, these uncertified teachers compare favorably to certified teachers within a few years. Sarah Garland of The New York Sun interviewed Stanford University professor, Susanna Loeb, who states that certification status matters little in determining how a teacher will do in the classroom.
Department of Education
The Department of Education believes that teachers who perform better should be paid more. The department will be allocating funds to pay higher performing teachers a higher salary. Randi Weingarten, president of the city teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers, supports the union's stand that experienced teachers are better teachers.
Authors
The authors of the study are Jonah Rockoff from Columbia University Business School; Douglas Staiger, a professor of economics at Dartmouth and Thomas Kane of Harvard's graduate school of Education. The story on the Hoover Institution study by Sarah Garland confirms that the degree is not as important as performance in the classroom. Teachers not performing well could be replaced by uncertified staff, if necessary.
Read previous articles on Educational Issues.
Copyright article 2006 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.
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