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The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

iamjwal.com

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Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#31

I thought all of the points were naive, except for fair compensation. What we need is extremely high compensation (the level of doctors) for teachers who can inspire their students to teach themselves.

What's so naive about 4.? I think an environment that encourages learning would have way, way, way more influence over educational outcome than the instructors involved.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#32
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BS, link bait / blogspam are any one of the numerous nautil.us or medium.com articles that seem to consistently make it onto the front page of hackernews. Whereas, this article reflects the same sentiments I have been hearing from close friends over the past years who are public school teachers. And it boils down to two facts that I have taken particular note of after listening to their grievances: 1. Government inte…

>>You cannot get quality teachers in the education system without adequate compensation, period. In Chicago we tried paying them more and didn't see much improvement.

Tried paying the current teachers more, or undergoing a concentrated effort to evaluate current teachers against a baseline and aggressively court and hire at competitive wages teachers who have a track record of being better than the teachers that you have at that baseline?

I ask 'cause while I know nothing about Chicago, I've found that what you said always comes up with regard to the former.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#33
post #28

Maybe do some job research before getting an education degree in the US. I think most teachers would have told you it's pretty shitty in general. In Canada, teachers make more than most software developers, ~90k/yr. Still, much of the same bureaucracy exists here as well.

I believe he pursued that profession because of the mission which he thought would be the main focus of the system. Compensation was only 1 (and the last mentioned) of the 5 key areas that need to be re-evaluated.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#34

No raises in six years as inflation marches steadily on is a 10% paycut. Criminal. It's a disgrace that our college-educated professional teachers are so under-valued they have to take on multiple side-jobs just to maintain their economic status quo.

>Criminal.

Not really.

>It's a disgrace that our college-educated professional teachers are so under-valued they have to take on multiple side-jobs just to maintain their economic status quo.

It's become very apparent that the majority of our college-educated citizens are not paid very much. Just being "college-educated" is not enough anymore.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#35
post #27

> SOL tests are inherently unfair, I regularly see claims that tests are at odds with learning. What I don't understand is how anyone can tell what kids have learned without some sort of test.

But really, with the way standardized tests are done now, can you even tell what kids have learned with a test? By which I mean, when kids can't memorize all the stuff that they have learned by heart, and then when they can't produce an exact replica of a procedure or something without some kind of reference, we equate it to their not having learned it in the first place. Programmers create docs for the purpose of re…

These standards are especially not fair if you consider the special needs kids (at least in Virginia) that are forced to take standardized tests, even if they are barely able read or write.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#36
post #11
post #5

I REALLY wish teaching was as prestigious as say, being a doctor, or investment banker. I read a very interesting [1] book on this and it really just opened my eyes regarding the mediocrity of teaching (not quality per say, but as a profession, which eventually leads to poor education). [1] http://www.amazon.com/Smartest-Kids-World-They-That/dp/14516...

It is (in a free market). China/HK has millionaire private teachers.

Yeah, and many of them tout their modeling credentials (discovered this when I was trying to learn Cantonese).

Uh, they're teaching something, it's just not what you think it is.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#37
post #28

Maybe do some job research before getting an education degree in the US. I think most teachers would have told you it's pretty shitty in general. In Canada, teachers make more than most software developers, ~90k/yr. Still, much of the same bureaucracy exists here as well.

I don't know where you get the number, teachers in Canada make ~90k / yr.

Let's say that number is correct, and this is why Canada doesn't have a thriving technology industry, companies like RIM fails. They can't pay enough to retain good engineers in the country.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#38
post #12

Great points. This, I think is one of the fundamental problems: --- If parents and local decision-makers really value education (and there is a small portion of the community that does), student and teacher morale would be much different. --- The overall environment matters more than the teacher. We've mentioned it here not too long ago as well. Doesn't matter how fancy the workbooks and new materials or how hard we…

If the problem is community, why not take the students/families who really do care (from all the schools in a metropolitan area) and put them all in the same school? That would at least be a start.

Because that penalizes the kids whose parents are less engaged, for whatever reason. And the less engaged parents are more likely to be the poorer parents, so you're reducing the kids' chances to escape poverty.

It is effectively what happens in urban areas where richer parents send their kids to private schools and disengage from the public school system.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#39
post #12

Great points. This, I think is one of the fundamental problems: --- If parents and local decision-makers really value education (and there is a small portion of the community that does), student and teacher morale would be much different. --- The overall environment matters more than the teacher. We've mentioned it here not too long ago as well. Doesn't matter how fancy the workbooks and new materials or how hard we…

If the problem is community, why not take the students/families who really do care (from all the schools in a metropolitan area) and put them all in the same school? That would at least be a start.

Now you're talking about school choice and maybe admission exams, both of which are anathema in US educational politics. As a Euro living in the US I can see why the busing policy implemented following Brown v. Board of Education seemed like such an urgent necessity, but it seems to have ended up as an unworkable mess, with those who can afford it (most of whom are white) sending their kids off to private schools and leaving the public school system circling the drain.

Re: The Tough Decision to Leave the Classroom

#40

No raises in six years as inflation marches steadily on is a 10% paycut. Criminal. It's a disgrace that our college-educated professional teachers are so under-valued they have to take on multiple side-jobs just to maintain their economic status quo.

College-educated means nothing unless you are talking about Africa. With all due respect, people got into education is not really the brightest bunch...
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