"The school’s creator and first principal, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, contends thatDoes this feed into the notion that "those who can't, teach."? I'm so tired of teachers being sub-par because of our chosen profession. Which is not to say that there aren't those in the field who are less than adequate, but isn't that true in any profession? It's not that I can't do anything else, it's that I chose to teach.
high salaries will lure the best teachers."
Here's the other kicker: Vanderhoek is 31-years-old. Now, he has taught middle school and I don't mean to undermine him because of his age, but how much time has he spent in the classroom? Three years with Teach for America. (I firmly believe it takes a few years to develop your repertoire and experience a variety of classes, students, faculty and administration.)
One final thought on the subject (for now, anyway): "only those scoring at the 90th percentile in the verbal section of the GRE, GMAT or similar tests need apply." So, you might be a great teacher who doesn't do well on standardized tests. Screw all that differentiated learning--they don't want you!
4 comments:
Wouldn't it be nice is teachers were actually valued! I think each parent should be required to shadow a teacher for 1 week. I think they would then appreciate ALL that we do and maybe see how our salaries do not come close to compensating us for the tremendous amount of work and counseling we do.
Not only should parents be required to shadow teachers, but others in the community as well. Those without children in schools don't want their taxes to go up to fund the schools.
Shadowing a teacher for a week would be interesting, but imagine if these people had to do the job for a month!
I found the part about the test score requirements interesting. I'm torn - one part of me says, yes, teachers should be able to pass tests with high scores, but then I think of the people who are great teachers who don't test well. We see kids all the time who are excellent students, but perform poorly on MCAS, SAT, etc. BUT, I have a problem with giving teachers who couldn't pass the MTELs after 3 attempts a chance to appeal!!! It's all too confusing.
My other feeling about the requirements for the testing scores is this: high scores doesn't necessary mean you'll be a good teacher.
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