“A qualified teacher
in every classroom” is
the latest educational
mantra, from political
candidates to legislators to the
education lobby. Who could
argue with this? Parents natu-
rally want to be assured that
their child’s teachers are highly
qualified. But before we chant
this slogan ourselves, we need
to make sure “qualified” means
“quality.”
States maintain quality
control over teachers by regu-
lating entry into the field.
Although requirements vary
by state, teachers must
obtain certification to teach
in a public school. The
assumption is that teachers
who have met the states’
licensure requirements—
which include completing a
state approved teacher
preparation program and
passing a test of basic skills
and, less frequently, a test of
subject mastery—are “quali-
fied” to teach. Sadly, the
current certification regime
in most states provides no
grounds for this assumption.
Teacher preparation
programs tend to be
focused
on trendy educational
methods that have little
bearing on the success of the
teachers they are training.
Rather than coursework being
based on a scientifically
proven knowledge base, as in
medical schools, the reality is
that education coursework is
notoriously faddish and is not
linked to student success. In
the teaching of primary
reading, for example, the
National Reading Panel found
that despite a scientifically
proven research base in favor
of certain ways to teach
reading, education schools
ignore these methods when
preparing teachers of reading.
Also, teacher education
courses frequently crowd out
academic subjects related to
teachers’ fields of specializa-
tion. In
a recent survey by
Public
Agenda, new teachers
reported that their preparation
programs did not focus enough
on content mastery and prac-
tical concerns like classroom
management. We do know
that student learning depends
on teachers’ mastery of their
subject matter. So policies that
do not stress excellence among
prospective teachers in their
academic subjects seem not
only counterintuitive, but
counterproductive.
Not only do education
schools fail to ensure teachers
are qualified, but apparently
the tests that teachers-in-
training take to “graduate” are
suspect as well.
The Education
Trust found that most teacher
tests are pitched between an
eighth and tenth grade level.
On top of that, many states set
their cut-off scores so low as
to make the tests’ value
almost meaningless. In
Kentucky, for example, a
teacher can miss 50 percent of
the questions on a math certi-
fication exam and still earn
certification. Alarmed by the
quality of their teachers, some
states, such as Virginia and
Pennsylvania, have raised cut-
off scores. Massachusetts
bravely adopted rigorous basic
skills and subject matter tests
(which half the candidates
failed in the first year). Some
states are so frustrated with
the poor quality of teachers
who are “certified,” they have
begun to require that their
education schools “guarantee”
their product. In Georgia, for
instance, teachers whose
students are failing can be
sent back to their education
schools to be retrained.
Recertification of teachers
— normally every five years
— is also a faulty mecha-
nism for quality control.
Most states only require
teachers to spend time in
professional development
workshops, rather than
looking at teachers’ impact
on student learning.
Finally, the certification
process itself is a barrier to
many outstanding applicants
who want to teach. This is
especially true for people who
want to change careers or did
not specialize in education in
college. They are often turned
off by the burdensome require-
ments certification entails—
especially the prospect of
taking expensive ed school
classes of dubious educational
value. In an age when threats
of teacher shortages are as
ominous as threats of teacher
quality, lawmakers are now
considering opening the field
to qualified candidates through
alternate routes to certification.
Troops to Teachers and
Teach
for America, for example, have
proven track records of
attracting capable, smart indi-
viduals into the teaching field.
Back-to
Parent Power!
Helping You Make Sense
of Schooling Today
Contributing Editors
Danielle Wilcox
Carol Innerst
1001 Connecticut Ave., NW
Suite 204
Washington, DC 20036
202-822-9000
800-521-2118
Fax: 202-822-5077
parentpower@edreform.com
www.edreform.com
Published monthly
by The Center for
Education Reform
Jeanne Allen, President
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Sizing up the quality of our teachers:
Does certified mean qualified?
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
Policies that do not
stress excellence
among prospective
teachers in their
academic subjects
seem not only
counterintuitive, but
counterproductive.
