Hiring the Best Teachers

It is really a cliche to say that the single most important thing we can do for the education of students is to hire great teachers (or developing teachers with great potential). I recently read "Attracting and Retaining Top Talent in US Teaching" which was in the McKinsey Quarterly. According to the article, we should be focusing on attracting teacher candidates from the top tier of college graduates. "In the US, only 23 percent of new teachers come from the top third (of their academic cohort), and just 14 percent of new teachers who come from the top third work in high-poverty schools..." The false argument, often promulgated by those with an anti-intellectual bent, is that college students with a 4.0 average are not necessarily guaranteed to be good teachers. Suggesting that schools work hard to recruit college students in the top third of their graduating class is not akin to suggesting only 4.0 students need apply. Those who want to teach must have depth and breadth of knowledge...when mediocrity is placed in front of the class, what a terrible disservice we do to thousands of students.

Great Book

Doug Lemov's book, Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College, should be required reading for those in the field of education. The practical tips for teachers included in this book are based on the best practices of highly effective teachers. A CD accompanies the book so teachers and education school students can see techniques employed by gifted teachers.

Educational Reform

If you haven't done so already, the NY Times article, "Building a Better Teacher" by Elizabeth Green is a must read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?em

Green wrote, "William Sanders, a statistician studying Tennessee teachers a colleague, found that a student with a weak teacher for three straight years would score, on average, 50 percentile points behind a similar student with a strong teacher for those years." A Stanford economist named Eric Hanushek "found that while the top 5 percent of teachers were able to impart a year and a half's worth of learning to students in on school year, as judged by standardized tests, the weakest 5 percent advanced their students only half a year of material each year."

Doug Lemov (once a teacher, principal, charter-school founder, and now an educational consultant) is often cited in the article. He believes that better training is needed for teachers. Michelle Rhee (schools chancellor in DC) a strong proponent of school reform is also discussed.

Finally, the mention of Diane Ravitch caught my attention because I will be hearing her speak at the NYSSBA Conference in NYS in October. She was a former assistant secretary of education under the first President Bush and has written, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education.

Great article for anyone interested in improving education.

Education Week Article on ACT's

There is a good article in Education Week about the ACT. www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/08/18/01act.h30.html?tkn

The article contains one chart showing five year trends on "Students Meeting College-Readiness Standards." The other chart shows 5-year trends on ACT "Scores Nationwide."

Approximately, 1.5 million student were tested in 2010 and in each of the areas assessed by the ACT (English, math, reading, science) the average scores were 20.5, 21, 21.3, 20.0 respectively. The composite average score was 21. Over 5 years, there has been little change in this composite score.

What is troubling is that only 24% of students met the benchmarks in all four subjects for college-preparedness. In English, 66% met the benchmark; in math, 43%; in reading, 52%; and in science, 29%.

Don Mesibov and St. Lawrence University

How fortunate I was, at Potsdam's Summer Festival, to have come across Don Mesibov (adjunct professor at St. Lawrence University and the founder of the Institute for Learning-Centered Education). He graciously invited me to see portions of the Constructivist Conference held annually at St. Lawrence University. Teachers from many school districts generally attend this conference. This year, Potsdam Central BOE member Mary Ashley Carroll and I went over to SLU on two different days and were lucky enough to be in attendance at a discussion with Regent James Dawson. He took many questions from those in attendance - the most significant of which came from a superintendent who had many questions about the new requirements surrounding teacher and principal evaluations. All in all, it was a very worthwhile experience. AAK Middle School principal, Jamie Cruikshank, had also mentioned to me that I was welcomed to drop by and see the work being done by the Middle School team.

State Board Conference

Three members of the PCS Board of Education (Mary Ashley Carroll, Mark Frascatore, and I), along with Supt. of Schools Pat Brady, will be attending the New York State Schools Boards Association (NYSSBA) Annual Convention in October. Jeb Bush and Diane Ravitch will be speakers at the event and there will be over 100 sessions to choose from. This convention is attended primarily by Board members, superintendents of schools, and attorneys (who specialize in education law).

This year, for the first time, Supt. Brady will be a presenter. It is an honor to be selected and Mr. Brady deserves credit for being willing to pass on his knowledge to other school districts. Despite the fact that preparing for this task will be time-consuming, Mr. Brady was more than willing to embrace the increased work load. I look forward to attending his seminar and writing about it in late October.

For Mary Ashley Carroll, this is her 6th consecutive year attending the convention. She and I have always found the convention to be extremely useful in providing us with important professional development experiences needed to be a well-informed Board member.

More on 3-8 Testing

"The Testing Mess" by Sol Stern is worth reading. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/243605/testing-mess-sol-stern

One thing I learned is that a member of the NYS Board of Regents told Stern that David Abrams, the Assistant Commissioner: Office of Standards, Assessment, and Testing at State Ed., "has no qualifications for the job, and he's responsible for many of our blunders on the tests." Apparently, in 2008, Abrams was warned about the validity of the NYS Tests by Daniel Loretz and Howard Everson (testing experts and members of the State's Technical Advisory Group who are working with Commissioner Steiner). They asked Abrams to move ahead and deal with problems of suspected score inflation and other related problems with the 3-8 tests. Nothing was done until the new Commissioner and Chancellor decided to address the validity of the tests. What is shocking is that a man considered unqualified for this important job still has the job. Doesn't NYS deserve a highly-qualified assessment expert at the helm? If we expect our teachers to be "highly qualified" shouldn't the same be expected of bureaucrats who impact the instructional lives of teachers and students?