Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor for The Atlantic, on “a terrible mismatch between the characteristics of teachers most likely to produce excellent outcomes, and the characteristics of the systems that seek to attract and retain them” (hat tip: Megan McArdle):
Work environments hospitable to continual innovation tend to have relatively low barriers to entry, and relatively low barriers to exit. Schools invert that. Many have extensive up-front credentialing requirements, forcing novice teachers to invest substantial time and money at the beginning of their careers, before they can even decide whether they are indeed well-suited for the job. Early career teachers tend to get the least desirable assignments, and to be paid barely enough on which to live. On the other hand, most compensation packages are grossly back-loaded, offering lock-step seniority raises and substantial retirement benefits. So it’s tough to get in the door, and once you do, leaving entails abandoning the rewards for which you’ve already labored before you can enjoy them. That’s crazy.
This is a statement by Paula White, Executive Director of JerseyCAN, on the New Jersey…
This is a press release. Earlier today, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill to eliminate…
Today Gov. Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill 896, which prohibits the New Jersey Department of…
The 74 conducted a study of the relative learning loss in Democratic (Blue) and Republican (Red) states and…
In October 2020 Newark Superintendent Roger Leon announced with great fanfare the opening of district’s…
This is a press release from the Governor's Office. In related news, one in five…
View Comments
Typical pundit claptrap(I don't buy it).
If barriers to entry (e.g., serious educational credentials) constrained innovation around intellectual pursuits, we'd have a much thinner list of accomplishments in say, the health sciences.
No, Mr. Coates, what we have is a system that mandates extensive preparation in teaching technique over the substance of what is taught. What we need is more (upfront) rigor, not less.