WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2006
Report: Teachers Distributed Unfairly
Most States Don’t Ensure Enough Qualified Teachers Go To Minority Students
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Fourth graders listen to their teacher, Mianca Delatte, at Fischer Elementary charter school, Monday, Aug. 7, 2006. (AP)
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The No Child Left Behind law says underprivileged and minority kids should not have a larger share of teachers who are unqualified, inexperienced or teaching unfamiliar topics.
It puts the responsibility on states to figure out how to do that.
States are falling far short on the promise, according to a study released Thursday by The Education Trust, a group that advocates for poor and minority kids. It is based on a review of new plans from every state and the District of Columbia.
“What we found gives cause for grave concern,” said Heather Peske, one of the authors.
The report contends that states handed in vastly incomplete data, weak strategies for fixing inequities across schools, and goals so vague they can't even be measured.
All of it undermines the national effort to improve achievement, the report suggests.
The Education Department took heat, too. The report blames the agency for giving poor guidance to the states and for essentially ignoring the teacher-equity issue for four years.
“We cannot close achievement gaps if we don't close gaps in teacher quality,” said Ross Wiener, policy director of The Education Trust.
A representative for state school leaders said the report misses some key points.
“This is something that states care deeply about and have been working on,” said Scott Palmer, a consultant for the Council of Chief State School Officers. As examples, he said states are improving data collection and paying incentives to teachers in needy schools.
More broadly, he said, the report does not “acknowledge what an unbelievable challenge this is.” Distributing teachers fairly among all students, he said, is a long-term mission.
The Education Department will release its own review of the state plans next week. Spokeswoman Katherine McLane said the agency shares the view that “much more needs to be done to ensure every child, regardless of income, is taught by a highly qualified teacher.”
The promise of a fair distribution of teachers has been overshadowed by a related goal of the law. By the end of the 2005-06 school year, states were supposed to make sure that every core academic class was taught by a highly qualified teacher.
No state made the deadline. So Education Secretary Margaret Spellings ordered states to submit new plans on how they will comply. They were made public in late July.
Education Trust researchers reviewed those plans and found:
The report recommends that the Education Department reject the majority of the state plans, issue clearer guidance and order the states to start over.
No Child Left Behind, approved by Congress in 2001, is at the heart of President Bush's domestic agenda.
BEN FELLER ©MMVI, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- As a parent of 2 children (girls) I saw many things in the thre schools they attended Aldine (Houston,) Spring ISD and LTISD (NW Travis County Austin, TX. Here we have a large number of mexican and illegal aliens, they could not speak english and wanted the school district to teach them english at the tax payers expense and we had to my children told me more than once the teqachers could not complete the class due to non-english speaking children required to have the teacher to explain what she was saying in their nstive tounge of spanish or mexican which ever you prefer. If American as a whole required all students were redquired to speak english prior to being admitted to school we could do the right thiong for all the children and that is give them the 45 or 50 minutes of instruction that the teacher was hired to do. Now they spend halof of the calss explaing the subject in a foreign language due to the fact the family has not taught the children english. I think until it is required all students speak english prior to coming to class or kindergarden and that be the final word. Frank Bowers, Austin, TX. 512 266 2233 should you wish to talk to me about this or arnoldbowers1@aol.com leave your number and i will call at my expense.
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- I've taught in an urban setting and despite my experience teaching and holding a master's degree, the majority of my time was spent in classroom management. I agree with the comment that unless students are prepared to learn and understand that there will be consequences at home if they don't, then our job as teachers will never be what some think it should be. Moreover, I now teach in the fifth largest school district in the nation and despite my success in the classroom, despite all the years of my education, I wasn't considered "highly qualified" until I took yet another stupid standardized test. These tests prove nothing and in my opinion, are there for those who are looking to make a buck~~period! Those who are critical of teachers and schools should spend one day in a classroom, preferably an urban classroom and then decide if all the blame for all of education's problems can be laid on teachers, who afterall, don't work all year anyway. No Child Left Behind, what a joke! What about leaving teachers behind?
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- reply to three-o-six:
I agree with what you say for the most part and that is quite obvious even in the middle and upper class sectors (of which we have had experience in both) if the parenting is not consistent then there isn't much hope - however school and education had been nothing short of the "most important" thing in our family and household from day 1. we have been involved in both the private and public school sectors and found the same basic issues in each, teachers find it easier to teach to the smarter more educationally minded students because it is "easier" for them, as well alot of teachers have "A" style of teaching that reaches only portions of students and not a broad base and are reluctant to adjust "their" styles to "reach" the other not so motivated kids - the sad thing is that just about anyone could teach "smart kids" it's the kids who haven't yet grasped a personal reason to go to school or get an education that need to be reached and that's where the teacher is supposed to come in and our educational process is flawed........ - Reply to this comment
- My wife is a teacher (15yrs experience and masters degree). She teaches at a lower income elementary. She sees the problem daily. It is not the quality of either the teacher or the school that is the problem. If a student is not instilled with a value for education then the student sees no reason to try for one. If a student is taught (by parents) that an education is a worthy pursuit then the student will perform well. Most the schools that are having problems come from low-income families where the children are not well disciplined and are not instilled with the sense that an education is something to strive for. They are harder to control and harder to teach. Until we approach the problem as a lower income mentality (a family problem) we will never solve the problem. Make all the rules and laws you want they will not work.
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- you know having raised a child through high school I have to say - the future of our educational system is doomed...... of my childs 12 years of schooling we have had "maybe" 2 teachers who actually gave a *** and tried to teach them, the others either didn't care one bit
or "catered" to the "advanced" kids because it was easier..... sad but true... - Reply to this comment
- As a teacher of teachers, I know the issue is the tax base for public schools. No one wants to work in the decay of most urban schools - and no child wants to go there. Make educational reporters spend a day inside before they write of what they do not know. Teachers are not martyrs - and children are not pawns to be dressed in rhetoric. Care starts with putting your money where your mouth is.....
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- Right is most often not easy, but anything worth doing is worth all of the effort.
Also, this is evidence that President Bush Does believe in Affirmative Action; a different, more effective type of Affirmative Action, which I (a black man) agree with. - Reply to this comment
- This article would be more useful if it didn't rely on "The Education Trust, a group that advocates for poor and minority kids." Of course they will see a failure in teacher distribution. This article is the equivalent of a press release.
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- Proves education cares more about homosexual goals, teachers that are education dept. majors rather than math, science, or english majors. It also proves that good-ole-boy education depts will put their cronies in place, qualified or not.
If you are not part of the "network" qualifications do not count, because you do not have a chance. - Reply to this comment
