Garnering Knowledge for Teaching

Again my Sunday ponderings begin with the New York Times article examining class size philosophy in these troubled economic times.  Essentially, small class sizes are getting districts/states into economic trouble.  Due to some state laws governing class size, districts find themselves needing to hire more teachers and find more classroom space to meet student enrollment needs.  The Times article cites and links to information about the STAR study done in Tennessee in the 1980’s, that provided evidence small classes were beneficial for students, especially younger ones.

However, when put into action as state law, class size reduction had the potential to become a state-wide nightmare as noted in a 2002 study by the Public Polcy Institute of California (also linked in the NYT article.) California found itself with a need to create hundreds of classrooms and hire as many new teachers, some of whom were inexperienced and not certified.  There was even an indication that a class size reduction in the third grade resulted in lower achievement in the fifth grade in predominately low income schools.  WHAT??!  So how is that helpful?

I try to wrap my head around that last stat.  I’m reporting this after reading the information pdf linked from the Times article, so I haven’t had a chance to peruse the actual study report.  But HOW can an intervention result in negative effects in later grades? That’s not an ineffective intervention, it’s a negative gain intervention!  What happens between 3rd and 5th grade to make such a thing possible? The study report mentions a flood of experienced teachers into suburban openings the law created.  This left urban and poor schools with multiple openings that were filled with new teachers, those with alternate certifications, and I’m sure, plenty of TFA folks as well (they’ve had six weeks of training!)   So the gains  that are measured in the earlier grades in mostly economically poor schools eventually become moot because students in later grades have teachers who are inexperienced in connecting pedagogy and curriculum in a meaningful way for learners who are just delving into concepts becoming more and more abstract.

This is not an easy task, especially if you haven’t had the luxury of  spending a few semesters talking about Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge.  If you haven’t had the opportunity to write a few lesson plans and try them out with a chance to revise after feedback from your cooperating teacher and university instructor.  Sure any Joe can walk in off the street, pick up a teachers edition of a textbook and go to town.  I’m sure with enthusiasm, they could actually inspire students and learning will occur.  But what will be learned and how will that inexperienced teacher measure that learning?  What are the skills that build up to the concepts in the lesson and how does one know if the students are ready to learn it?  How does one scaffold a lesson so that all of the learners have some access point to the concepts presented?  This is not something the teacher’s edition always addresses, nor can the TE magically read individual students and understand where they are in their concept development.

These ponderings are what should be going through every teacher’s head for every lesson every day.  It’s eventually something that is automatic as one plans and prepares for each day.  It is something that can only be honed on the job, but the mental habits that lead to this skill development are honed in teacher education.  A person CAN be a teacher with six weeks training, but if a person wants to be a QUALITY teacher, then some time should be invested in that enterprise.  We cannot believe that our education system is in such disarray that a version of the Peace Corps is the only way to save it.  I have to believe that path leads only to a weakening of our system as a whole.

We need quality teachers who can tease out the nuances of a classroom.  We need quality teacher education programs that show our teacher candidates HOW to see those nuances.  Finally, we need a system that rewards quality with professionalism and respect.  Teachers are highly educated and mostly well-trained professionals who are often treated or viewed as child-care providers.  They are so much more!  They NEED so much more!  What if, instead of a small class, a teacher had training and PD, enough desks and books for all of her/his students, and supplies that last through the year and provide experiential learning opportunities?  What if we funded learning?  Really funded learning?

I wonder what effect that would have?