Motoko Rich. NYTimes.
Studies have shown that
on average, teacher turnover diminishes student achievement. Advocates who
argue that teaching should become more like medicine or law say that while
programs like Teach for America fill a need in the short term, educational
leaders should be focused on improving training and working environments so
that teachers will invest in long careers.
“To become a master plumber you have to work for
five years,” said Ronald Thorpe, president of the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards, a nonprofit group
that certifies accomplished teachers. “Shouldn’t we have some kind of analog to
that with the people we are entrusting our children to?”
Teachers’ unions and others in the traditional
education establishment argue that charter schools are driving teachers away
with longer hours and school years, as well as higher workplace demands. (At
YES Prep, for example, all teachers are assigned a cellphone to answer any
student call for homework assistance until 9 p.m.)
These critics also say that schools and students
need stability and that a system of serial short timers is not replicable
across thousands of school districts nationwide.
“When you stay in a school or community, you
build relationships,” said Andrea Giunta, a senior policy analyst for teacher
recruitment, retention and diversity at the National
Education Association, the country’s largest teachers’ union....
HOUSTON — Tyler Dowdy just started his third year
of teaching at YES Prep West, a charter school here. He figures now is a good
time to explore his next step, including applying for a supervisory position at
the school.
Mr. Dowdy is 24 years old, which might make his
restlessness seem premature. But then, his principal is 28. Across YES Prep’s
13 schools, teachers have an average of two and a half years of experience.
As tens of millions of pupils across the country
begin their school year, charter networks are developing what amounts to a
youth cult in which teaching for two to five years is seen as acceptable and,
at times, even desirable. Teachers in the nation’s traditional public schools
have an average of close to 14 years of experience, and public
school leaders and policy makers have long made it a priority to reduce teacher
turnover.
But with teachers confronting the overhaul of
evaluations and tenure as well as looming changes in pension benefits, the
small but rapidly growing charter school movement — with schools that are
publicly financed but privately operated — is pushing to redefine the arc of a
teaching career.
read the entire article here. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/education/at-charter-schools-short-careers-by-choice.html
read the entire article here. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/education/at-charter-schools-short-careers-by-choice.html
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