Kathie Bracy re: Fast Track Educators

From Kathie Bracy, May 18, 2011
Subject: Re: With all the teacher layoffs COMES THIS?

It's going to be real interesting to see how this turns out once these fast-trackers hit the classroom in the real world. Most of them won't last, nor will they want to, once our governor gets all his mandates in place, like bigger class size, smaller salaries, merit pay, no collective bargaining, no job security, no public schools, etc., etc., etc.

I had to take the equivalent of four full summers of courses for certification. Some of those courses were academic -- political science, biology, etc., since my background was mostly in music [including my master's]. I hated the education courses; I thought they were pretty ridiculous and meaningless. I always thought they should be giving us courses in the subject areas we were teaching instead. That plus classroom management -- that's all we really need. The rest is fluff.

If you went into a European classroom, you wouldn't see fancy decorated rooms designed to make the kids 'feel good". You'd see teachers teaching the subject matter and attentive students taking it in, because that's what is expected of them in their culture. They also "track" their students at a certain point. They find out early what a child's natural inclinations are, and track him in that direction, whether it's college or manual labor. Also, blue collar work over there is not considered demeaning. Every job is respected, and the workers take pride in their job, whether they're bus drivers or university professors. Teachers are highly regarded and highly paid, too.

I remember visiting a school in Holland once. I was talking to the headmaster, and asked him how often he went into the classroom to observe the teacher. He looked at me like I was nuts. He said he wouldn't dream of doing such a thing, nor did he need to. He knew how the teachers were doing without such an intrusion. It's a whole different culture over there. The parents and teachers work together, and obviously there's a level of trust all around -- teachers, administrators & parents. Something like my early days of teaching, before everything and everyone got crazy. (I will say things have no doubt changed in many instances, with the influx of foreigners to the European countries.)

Yes, these fast-trackers will be very interesting to watch. Many of them are in for a big shock and won't stick it out.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/ud-offers-a-fast-track-to-teaching-license-1162707.html?cxtype=rss_local-news

UD offers a fast track to teaching license
It’s part of state effort to offer a quicker route for professional license.

Dayton Daily News, May 17, 2011
By Christopher Magan, Staff Writer

COLUMBUS — Citing a need for more science and math teachers, Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro tapped the University of Dayton as one of seven institutions that will offer a new route for working professionals to enter teaching.

The Ohio Teaching Fellowship program is the latest example of how Ohio colleges and universities and state lawmakers are working to offer alternative licensing and quicker pathways for people who want to teach.

“If you look at the public discourse about teaching, this is what the state wants and what a lot of our critics want us to do — break down barriers to teaching,” said Kevin Kelly, dean of the UD School of Education and Allied Professions.

Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, said the Ohio Teaching Fellowship will begin with 65 fellows at John Carroll University, Ohio State University, the University of Akron and the University of Cincinnati later this year.

Each fellow will receive a $30,000 stipend through the Woodrow Wilson foundation.

UD, Ohio University and the University of Toledo will join the other four and begin offering the program sometime in 2012. UD expects its first students to start next summer and be in area classrooms by 2013.
The fellows will include recent graduates, working scientists and long-time professionals looking for a career change. The program also exists in Michigan and Indiana.

Last month, Gov. John Kasich signed legislation that will allow recent graduates to teach in low-income schools by 2012 as part of the national Teach for America program.

TFA has been controversial because “corps members” receive only five weeks of training before heading to the classroom, where they get continued mentor support.

Woodrow Wilson fellows will receive a year of university-led classroom training before teaching on their own.