The Wrong and Right In Education Reform
Published April 11, 2013
By Tom Campbell
by Tom Campbell
Once again we hear calls for education reform and like many issues there is some right and some wrong in what is being discussed.
It is wrong to say our education system is broken. It is right that there are enough problems that we should seek education reform. Our students prove this need. With their hand-held games, smart phones and computer smarts today’s child learns, communicates and experiences the world in very different ways from what they experience in our schools. It’s like the cartoon character who said, “where did they go, I’ve got to find them. I’m their leader.” Digital and distance learning isn’t the future – it is the current best practice and our approach to education hasn’t caught up with our students.
It is right to demand accountability in education, but too often those demanding it are wrong in their search for who should be accountable. The most important person in the classroom is the teacher and it is true we have teachers who should not be in the classroom. We have not developed good ways of objective teacher evaluation, even though most parents and administrators know the good ones from those not so good. Tenure is a system that protects ineffective teachers and makes it difficult to remove them. Good teaches don’t need tenure. But we cannot stop just with teachers.
We must also evaluate principals. I will never forget Don Stedman, the former dean of the UNC School of Education, who pointed out that a school with outstanding teachers and a mediocre principal will likely result in a mediocre school, while a school of mediocre teachers and an outstanding principal often produces an outstanding school. We haven’t paid nearly enough attention to principal accountability.
While it is right to demand accountability from education professionals it is too simplistic to point the finger of blame at the teacher, the principal or even the system itself while giving parents an excused absence for not meeting their responsibilities in a child’s education. If we are going to open the can of worms of education accountability we must address this issue. Regardless of their socioeconomic situation parental support is essential. The parent or caregiver must set the tone for the importance of education, establish a supportive learning environment, ensure their child gets proper nutrition, rest and healthcare, and check to make sure homework is done, confer with teachers and advocate for their child.
Look at those countries currently beating us in education outcomes and you quickly discover societal and cultural differences. The church, the neighborhood and the community in which the child is raised constantly emphasize the importance of education and the child is raised knowing that not only their future, but the very success of their state and country are dependent on their getting a good education. Not too many years ago we had that understanding but in too many instances we have lost that imperative.
The call for education reform is right but we are wrong not to tackle the whole subject. Educating our children is the most important task the current generation undertakes and we must lay aside partisan and defensive responses and have these hard conversations. We cannot have true education reform without a top to bottom examination.
April 12, 2013 at 7:40 am
Bobby Gibbs says:
The first thing we need to do is do away with all this testing.We need to let our great teachers teach our children not spend all semester on teaching the test. We have great teachers in NC lets let them teach.Let them do what there paid to do.
April 12, 2013 at 4:26 pm
dj anderson says:
Amen! Principals do not have tenure and can be replaced and demoted already. We've just seen Chancellor Thorp (a fine teacher and man) replaced when he failed to control those under him, and Rutgers University fired their AD and counsel for not firing an abusive coach.
Find a bad teacher in a school that isn't under an action plan? Fire the principal and hire one that will get rid or fix the teacher.
As for compensation of teachers being based on performance, it's a good idea that is hard to execute, as Tom said. How does a special education teacher of learning disabled students compete with the teacher of a college bound class?
Why does a teacher age 60, with 30 years experience, make more than a teacher of 30 with 10 years experience, JUST because of longevity? Teachers improve greatly in their first 5 years, level off for a decade or so, then start a slow decline, so studies say. Hats off to any 60 yo teacher in front of an elementary or middle school class. They earn their pay, but maybe they should have make more in their younger years? We let our LEOs retire at 55yo, to let them escape the rigors, so why not teachers?
Wake County hired Tata, a former successful general trained for educational administration at San Francisco's Broad school. The idea behind that is to shake up the good-ole-boy teacher to AP to Principal tradition that keeps the status quo thinking in place. He shook up Wake County and had the administrative tier shaking and jumping and teachers fussing. The red/blue divide in the board changed power and he was paid off and sent off before we could see if he could deliver. Will the new board want real change or just someone to calm the waters? We will see. But any superintendent will have to have the tools to make change, like Tom said, and old hard heads will have to roll to get new minded people in charge to make changes.
Also, why does a physical education teacher make the same money as a teacher of higher math or science? There is where the first crack in the ice is to be found. But then, coaches often are PE teachers and enjoy community support that a chemistry teachers doesn't. State jobs are not business positions. McCrory might want a business model in education, but I doubt he will get it or like what he gets when he applies sound business practices to state positions.
I firmly believe the welfare of the child is not, and has not been, the primary concern of governmental thought or action, although they are the first & last words said.
