Train Teachers Like Doctors: Article Analysis

There are many problems in the American public education system today. Some of those include the quality of teachers, who have no real passion for the job, and are only allowed to remain in the position because of tenure privileges. Another issue is the state budgets that are allowed for public schools, with some states investing billions of dollars, and others prioritizing it lower on the list. In hot debate today is standardized testing, and the negative effect that it has on high school education, with the limits it places on teachers and what they have time to teach in the classrooms.

As explained in Diane Ravitch's article, “American Schools in CRISIS,” educators are provided with little job security under Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Obama's Race to the Top educational reform initiatives; where teachers can be fired based on poor standardized test scores from their students (50). The majority of new teachers already quit within five years of entering the field; “demoralized” (Ravitch 50) by the effects of such high stakes and low resources (Ravitch 52). To combat this figure, many states have decreased the requirements for becoming a teacher, even allowing online licensure in Texas (Ravitch 51). To lower the standards of the “conservators of our common future” (Barber 122) is an irresponsible practice that must be reversed if students are to succeed. Barber proposes paying early childhood educators as much as lawyers to attract better teachers. Higher wages would encourage more ambitious individuals to enter the fields of primary and secondary education. Without highly-trained and intelligent educators, who are dedicated to progress and change, students will continue to stumble through a broken system, woefully unprepared for the task of becoming productive citizens.

Therefore, teacher certifications should be loosened. States do need to make it a bit more difficult to receive a teaching certification. Teachers need to be trained in the subject they are going to teach and have some experience with children. They also need to have significant mentoring, continuing assistance and support, and a variety of enticements to keep them in the profession. To address the teacher shortage issue, states need to do more than just produce a higher number of untrained teachers faster. Recruiting more teachers will not solve the teacher shortage issue. Policymakers need to find a way to keep teachers in the field (Ingersoll and Smith 32). They must invest in the teaching profession, provide high standards for teachers, and increase their salaries, and they also should improve working conditions that impact student achievement and teacher success. Our society needs to recognize teaching as an essential profession. “Those who recruit new teachers need to remember that they are not just responsible for the next generation of teachers, but also for the future of our schools” (Tell

Becoming a teacher in the United States is fairly easy compared to other countries. In order for the students to get the best education possible they must be taught by the best teachers. On page 85, Amanda talks about how the U.S. stress such emphasis on the medical school process. I totally agree with her when she states that the teacher-training process should be just as important and

“The education teachers receive isn’t good for anything and that advanced degrees aren’t worth additional compensation like, say, a physician or architect would get. “The field of education is less challenging than other academic concentrations,” it says. (“Are teachers paid too much? - The Washington Post”) According to research many believe that teachers are just paid babysitters. In fact, it is a big debate among the population because many question our teachers and the job that they do. Since some of the population seem to think that teachers are just overpaid babysitters let's give them the pay of a babysitter, give them the benefits that they deserve, and give them the time off

Teachers are in the news almost every day. Sometimes for good reasons and sometimes for bad reasons. One article I found in the news was one about the Head Start law. This law was created by George W. Bush. It required teachers to have a bachelor’s degree with training in early childhood education. 74% of all teachers in the Head Start program have their bachelor’s degree and training in early childhood education. A problem with this back in 2007 was that the law did not fund a college or university to help train the teachers for the program. Today, there are many places where teachers can go to get this training. The program has lessons that help the teachers to boost their skills and knowledge about early childhoods. For younger children

The low pay for our educators is causing many negative effects. New York Times shows that the low income is causing sixty-two percent of teachers to have a second job outside of their teaching jobs. Just to have enough money to support their families and make ends meet. Most everyone decides to college to prevent having these struggles with money, and to avoid having to work multiple jobs, when they get older; however, not when it comes to living off of only a teacher’s income, the struggles to have enough money are interminable. This low pay is also causing most teachers to retire, and find new jobs. New York Times states, “every year 20 percent of teachers in urban districts quit. Nationwide, 46 percent of teachers quit before their fifth year. The turnover costs the

Experienced teachers are on average more effective in raising student achievement than less experienced counterparts. It is said that teachers do better as they gain experience. In If You Build It, Matt has very good knowledge in designing so he could work with the students hands-on. He also gained knowledge and experience while also teaching other students. Emily on the other hand was the organizer. She was hand-on with building and going around to the students making sure they were working efficiently. Both Matt and Emily gained experience through their many months of working with these high school students. In order for there to be good teachers the state needs to cooperate with the teachers. The salaries must be adequate and the teachers must have an expectation that as they gain experience their salaries will rise in line with what they would normally earn in comparable professions. Teachers would most likely leave if they feel they are in poor working conditions. A principal can improve these conditions and retain good teachers. In If You Build It, the superintendent of Bertie County High School was very creative and ready to work to improve the school with his bright ideas. Unfortunately, before the school year started he was fired because the county couldn’t afford him and his ideas. Politicians and states have this idea of teachers and principals and scapegoats

Besides the casualties of the capital and a majority of American cities, the teachers that fail to do their duties are the reasons for students failing educations. A major reason for this, is because of the tenure that the Teachers Union provides. Teachers that are slacking, but have tenure, can rarely get fired due to the long process it takes. In fact, one in every twenty-four thousand teachers with tenure get fired. By these people being allowed to stay in the education world, the children cannot receive the education they need to succeed. It is proven these

The rise of idiot America as this article called it is and has been a very dangerous part that is just laying underneath the surface of American society this being the case with the publics way of looking at teachers as well as politicians. These thoughts and opinions of the “cult of ignorance” have led the American people to distrust and hate the people who have the knowledge on how to best teach and govern them.Instead turning to those that can show them that their problems are the same as the average everyday joe,even when this is clearly not the case with some of these people being hugely successful in large part because of the people they claim to represent being exploited to their “saviours” benefit. Because of this numbers of literate

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 teacher plays the most vital role in education, without their involvement, no learning would exist. Currently the qualifications for teaching are fairly adequate. One serious problem is the salary for teachers and how highly they are respected by society. As of now, garbage collectors and paid more than teachers. It's as if Americans want clean neighborhoods more so than they do educated children. Why should a teacher be compelled to teach if they don't get much respect for it? Most teachers are what they are by a choice and a desire to educate. Most garbage collectors did not chose to be what they are, it's just a matter of circumstances. Being a teacher is not a 9-5 job. Teachers may work from 9-4 or 9-9, they have a very demanding schedule and work different lengthy hours for the same wage. If teachers are paid more, they are likely to teach better.

With beginning teachers usually earning entirely less than other college graduates, the profession is at loss of top-notch, quality people who tend to find jobs seeking more money. Almost 50 percent leave the profession within 5 years, lured by higher pay and prestige elsewhere in the booming U.S. economy (World, 1999, par. 7). Starting teachers average a $25,735 salary in the United States compared to an engineer earning $56,820 or a physical therapist earning $56,600 (Engineer, 2000, par.1). And what signal does it send out about the value of good teachers and a good education when a 45-year-old teacher with a master’s degree earns $45,000 a year and a 25-year-old out of law school often starts at $80,000, considering a six year education for a master’s degree and a seven year education for a law degree (Greenhouse, 2002, par. 4)? A teacher is also given no compensation for the long hours spent basically in overtime work. The teacher’s day does not end when they leave school because if lesson plans, grading, or planning is not completed, it will have to be finished on their own time. Accountants, paralegals, and engineers all are compensated and get paid overtime for work that does not get completed in a regular day or if they want to stay and

The nation’s teacher-training programs do not adequately prepare would-be educators for the classroom, even as they produce almost triple the number of

Before starting my debate research, I made a cluster graphic organizer to see which characteristics correlated with the topic, the state of the teaching profession. The overall themes I came up with where teacher shortage, retention, and how the implementation of the Common Core State Standards affects teacher retention. Collectively, as a group, we decided on our three debate topics: teacher residency programs, teacher shortage related to mentorship, and the Common Core State standards. In relation to teacher residencies, I am pro teacher residency programs. When I started doing more research, I noticed these programs were becoming popular and were established as a way to help with teacher retention. Teacher residences are modeled after medical residency programs. The novice teacher is given a mentor teacher and accompanies that mentor teacher for a whole year instead of one semester like the traditional programs. That being said, the National Education Association (2013) believes, “That the best way to ensure that every teacher is “profession-ready” from their first day as a teacher-of-record is for preparation programs to incorporate teacher residencies.” I must agree with the National Education Association. I feel that teacher residencies prepare teacher candidates for the reality of teaching by having a more hands on experience. Teacher candidates are being exposed to daily meetings, parent-teacher conferences, after school programs,