Sandra Stotsky on Ed Schools

http://blog.coreknowledge.org/


The blog by Sandra Stotsky talks about the problems in Education schools. As the nation is in a state of panic because of the "failing" schools, the public is looking for a solution. Firing "bad" teachers, or making higher stakes for teachers when test scores come out are two of the current ways that the government is dealing with the problem. Stotsky brings up the question of why we look to fix the aftermath, but not the system that produced the problems. Stotsky suggests having teachers become more educated in the area that they will be teaching. As of now, elementary education teachers get a broad degree, which she suggests is not sufficient. Stotsky suggests that for grades k-4 the teachers should attend a 3-year intensive institute, where the students are only picked from the top 25%. Grades 5-12, she suggests, should have a MA or MS in the area that he or she will be teaching. If the requirements are tightened up, then teachers will be more knowledgeable and therefore more successful. What I thought was interesting was that she suggests that there should be no federal funding for schools, rather use that money to do teacher evaluations, research and further teacher education. The overall point of the article was that if we are producing failing schools, and the government blames that on the teachers, we may want to look at the institutions that are producing the failing teachers.


The article relates to many things that have been discussed in class. First of all, the constant question of : what should we do about the failing schools?" is being answered once again. However, this time, the article talks of helping the teachers become better educated, rather than just blame the teachers, and do nothing to help them. The article also addresses the topic of teacher requirements. In class we have discussed the ways in which teacher education has grown and changed throughout the decades. In this article, Stotsky is throwing a new idea out on the table. Rather than tighten testing, as we have been doing in the past, the U.S. should fix the teacher education schools. The idea could be a monumental change in the United States teacher education system.


I agree and disagree with this article. I agree with the fact that teacher education programs do need to do a better job of preparing students for the future. As said in the article, many teachers graduate, join the workforce, and say to his or herself "I am not prepared for this". Although I do not feel that I will not be prepared, I do believe that teacher education programs could have higher standards, and higher course content, that would better prepare the teachers. Each teacher education school is different, however I believe that making the entrance requirements and graduation requirements more difficult would be a good idea. I agree that teachers could be better educated, however I do not believe that better education would solve the problem. I believe that there are many other issues such as SES, school funding, and many other things that contribute to failing schools. Saying that the key answer is to better educate teachers, once again places the blame on the teachers, which is not fair. I also disagree that funding should be taken away from the schools. Although it would still be invested in the school through the teachers, I do not think that any school, especially the failing ones, can afford to lose any of their funding. I believe that if the government would like better educated teachers, they should find a way to produce more money for the education system. Taking money away from schools should never be a part of the solution.