The Reflection Of The Classroom Needs And Roles In The US Department Of Education

Back in the 1950s, teaching was considered a noble profession. The men and women that chose the field of education as a career were well respected by parents, students, and the community as a whole. I sat down with a retired teacher, a current teacher and a student working on their education degree, all three from the same family. Mr. Charles Faren is a retired high school teacher, head football coach and assistant principal, Ms. Cheryl Faren is currently a middle school reading teacher for the Clark County School District, and Mr. Matthew Barth is a student at College of Southern Nevada working on his degree in secondary education who is currently working as a gear up tutor at one of the county’s middle schools. The role of a teacher hasn’t necessarily changed over the years, the requirements and expectations have however. Today the educators of America are required to teach what is called common core, they have to prepare students to take standardize exams, with the technology of the internet and social media comes new forms of bullying and harassment that shows up in schools, low wages and now a lack of support and respect that today’s teachers now have to work through.

The differences were connected with a teacher’s original preparation for the teaching profession, licensing in the particular subject area to be taught, strength of the educational experience, and the degree of experience in teaching along with the demonstration of abilities through the National Board Certification, in which all of these facets can be addressed through policy (Darling-Hammond, 2010).America has not produced a national method containing supports and reasons to guarantee that teachers’ are adequately prepared and equipped to teach all children effectively when they first enter into the career of teaching. America also does not have a vast collection of methods available that will maintain the evaluation and continuing development of a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, or support decisions about entry into the field of teaching and the continuance in the profession of teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2010). n order to reach the belief that all students will be taught and learn to high standards calls for a makeover in the methods our system of education in order to be a magnet for, train, support or uphold, and cultivate effective teachers in more efficient ways. A makeover that is contingent in a certain degree of how the abilities or skills are comprehended (Darling-Hammond, 2010).In the last few years there has been increasing

Teaching is an extremely important profession as we are responsible for training up the future generations of our community, country and in effect, the world. In order to be a successful and effective teacher there are some basic skills and competencies that one must possess. The experiences that students have inside (and outside) our classrooms, schools and various other institutes will shape and mould their approach to our subjects and to life in general. Therefore, it requires a certain level of skill and training to be deemed professionally fit to enter into this career path and even then, continuous

Fifty percent of new teachers quit with in the first five years of teaching (NEA, 2015), with this number being so alarmingly high it begs the questions: Why do so many teachers leave after going through years of college for this profession? Were teachers not prepared for the job, through college training, what should colleges teach in order to better prepare teachers?

In the last two decades, the United States has seen drastic reforms to in education. Teachers now face rigorous performance rate testing and underfunded schools (Klien). In Colorado, teacher pay has “declined by 7% over the past decade” (Whaley). For years, teaching primary or secondary education was considered a respectable and stable job. However, Colorado is now facing problems regarding the teacher workforce. Colorado is experiencing a labor shortage in educational school teacher positions in due the declining perception of teaching impacting the quality of the education in Colorado. The severity of this shortage will continue to increase in the next 5 years and will affect the other Colorado Industries.

Teachers today face a number of challenges that contribute to a lack of job satisfaction, leaving schools for other professions that are more lucrative, low comparative compensation, and poor working conditions:

“To hell with your career, what is your calling?” It was this quote that led me to the classroom just five years ago. I was convinced that teaching was indeed my calling. I was compelled to make a difference in the world, and felt that there was no better way to do it than by educating young children, that in many ways, whether through life experiences or appearance, resembled me. I knew that this was no easy feat. In fact, it’s no secret that teachers do not make significant amounts of money, and the profession of teaching does not always receive the respect and dignity it is due. But it was that day, in the spring of 2009, after hearing Dr. Joseph E Lowery speak these words, I promised myself to never chase a career, but instead, to always

The issue of teacher shortage today is continuing to grow. The effects of the achievement gap are reaching the teachers, not just the students: “...good administrators and teachers, who are doing their best under difficult circumstances, will be driven out of the profession…,” (Boyd-Zaharias 41). The achievement gap is part of the reason teachers feel they are underpaid, which happens to be one of the leading cause in teacher shortage considering, “Teachers were paid two percent less [than comparable workers] in 1994, but by 2015 the wage penalty rose to 17 percent,” (Long). Being a teacher requires passion in order to stay in the field, especially if the money in teaching is decreasing. Money is an important aspect for people when it comes to their careers, therefore, fewer people want to become teachers. This lack of teachers and the lack of college students studying to become a teacher leads to unqualified teachers and larger classroom sizes (Ostroff). Both of these causes are eventually affecting students’ learning environments. I chose this issue in education for my project because I have personally felt these effects, and I know others who have as well. As a future educator, I want to see better wages and better benefits, but this can only happen with qualified, passionate teachers. I plan on being one of them, and I plan on sparking a change. I am a future educator fighting to end teacher shortage.

The risk of losing beginning teachers has been an issue in the United States for a long time. An immense amount of research has been conducted exploring why beginning teachers are leaving the profession. Fantilli and McDougall’s (2009) pointed out that beginning teachers have the same responsibilities and requirements as veteran teachers, but in addition to these factors, feel the additional pressure that most people feel starting a new vocation. As a result, beginning teachers spend “a disproportionate amount of time and effort simply to keep their heads above water” (p. 814). In the article Hello, Goodbye: Exploring the Phenomenon of Leaving Teaching Early, a qualitative study was conducted to explore why beginning teachers are leaving the profession. Through an interview process, former beginning teachers identified negative factors that influenced their decision to leave the profession. These factors included working with unmotivated colleagues, feeling isolated, feeling that they did not receive support or recognition from administration, dealing with administrative problems, and not having flexibility and freedom to decide how they teach in their classrooms.

As a student in the Education Department at Saint Mary’s College, I have been assigned a set of eight standards to fulfill before graduation. Having these standards guides all students in becoming the necessary well-rounded teacher candidates needed to go into the field of education and ultimately becoming a successful teacher in the future. Each standard relates to a different area, including having a broad and comprehensive understanding of learning processes, the professional environment, and content. Throughout the last two years, I have had a number of opportunities, both in the field and in my classes at Saint Mary’s, to meet these eight standards.

Teaching has always been lauded as an altruistic and fulfilling career. What better can one do to contribute to society than educate and prepare the future generation for success? At first glance, there are many attractive characteristics regarding the job: work-free summers, plenty of holidays, and the chance to impact a child’s life forever. However, in recent years, enrollment in teacher preparation programs have been on the decline. Headlines announcing “America’s New Major Teacher Shortage” have filled the news and papers, and Florida has been named as one of the states impacted. More and more teachers seem to be leaving the field. The question, though, is “Why?”. Many might point to the poor pay that teachers are notorious for receiving, but teaching has never been known for making big bucks in the first place. With both new teachers and longtime veterans leaving the field, the problem seems to be something more internal.

Teaching is a very rewarding career if you learn and understand how to work with the diversity of the classrooms we teach in. As teachers, we need to be more vigilant of where are students come from. Before we can teach we need to know who we are teaching and what background, knowledge, and customs they bring with them to the classroom. We must also be aware of the factors that are relevant to the academic achievement of the students we currently teach. There are many of these factors, but I want to focus on two; teacher quality and low teacher expectations.

Elementary teachers not only introduce their students to the basic concepts of core subjects, they also help pave the path to each student’s future success. Education to become a teacher is long and tedious, and while the income may not be the highest available, watching students develop a new skill or grow an appreciation for learning can be very rewarding. Because there will always be a need for education, even with the recent budget cuts, teaching jobs will always have to be available somewhere.

Some teachers are better than others. This is a simple and, I hope, obvious fact. But the culture of American schools is not friendly to it. Particularly in our hiring of public school teachers, we tend to avoid notions of serious discernment, of picking the very best in our society to become our teachers, and we accept that the most talented of our young people will gravitate to other fields. Overcoming this acceptance of mediocrity in teacher recruitment and retention represents the greatest opportunity to bring a quantum improvement to our schools.

“One of the most damaging myths prevailing in American education is the notion that good teachers are born and not made” (Darling-Hammond, 2012, p. ix). This seems to imply that teaching teachers is simply an identification process. Unfortunately, the identification of what makes an effective teacher is challenging (Cantrell & Kane, 2013), the process of becoming a teacher is consistently reported as a difficult and strenuous process (Akkerman & Meijer, 2011; Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004), and identification of how best to train new teachers is unclear (Shuls & Ritter, 2013). These qualities of teacher education are unsettling in light of the international call to deliver relevant and high-quality teacher education