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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2011)
Page 4 Jïortlanh (Obstruer September 14, 2011 Parent's Making Good Teachers, Principals Corner in R o \ Hi rm >(>\ The National A ssessm ent of E d u c a tio n a l P ro g re s s (NAEP), called the “Nation’s Re port Card,” mea sures the academic preparedness of American students state by state. Its 2009 report shared the following about Oregon’s children: Fourth grade students able to rea d at “ p r o f ic ie n t lev el or h ig h e r:” Black students 10 p er cent: L atino students 1 1 p er cent. S ham efully, the N A EP re port for reading pro ficien cies had the exact sam e paltry scores in 2009: Black students, 10 p e r cent; L atino S tudents, 1 1 p e r cent. N early a decade later and th e re ’s been no im provem ent in O re g o n ’s academ ic p repared- ness, not a sm idgen. M illions of dollars are spent on com pensatory program s that are purportedly designed to get chil dren to grade level. These efforts include, for exam ple, T itle 1, En glish as a Second Language, Bi lingual Education, Special Educa tion, in addition to a school district’s general fund dollars. It appears money may not be the primary problem. One of the glaring failures in O regon’s educational system is its inadequate training and prepa ration of teachers. Principa1 train ing is worst than inadequate. The public would not knowingly board a commercial airline if pilots were trained as carelessly as teachers and principals. The overw helm ing m ajority of teachers and principals enter the field of education because they care deeply about children. They want to help children acquire the skills and knowledge needed to live independent and fulfilling lives. But the training provided to prospective teachers and princi pals is a disservice. T here is no requirem ent that the p ro fesso rs in O re g o n ’s c o l leges o f education have been exem plary teach ers or p rin c i pals. E xem plary is defined as 90 p e rc e n t o f th e ir ow n p u b lic sch o o l stu d e n ts c o n s is te n tly having p erform ed at or above grade level. T his is not a c o m p lic a te d p roposition. If a p ro fesso r never had 90 p ercent o f th eir public school stu d en ts p erfo rm in g at grade level, how can they in struct novice teach ers on how to help 90 p ercent o f th eir stu dents p erform reading or m ath at grade lev el? It d o e sn ’t m ake sen se to have a p ro fe s so ria l strateg y that says, “Do as I say, not as I do, or ev er d id !” Com m ercial pilots receive the m ajority o f their training from p i lots that have flown successfully fo r m any years. E le c tric ia n s, plum bers, carpenters and doctors are trained for many years by indi viduals that are experts in their field, successful practitioners. D on’t Oregon taxpayers deserve to know why this logical approach to professional teaching prepara tion is conveniently suspended for those who work in public edu cation with our children? Lest we overlook the prepara tion for becom ing a principal o f a school, it should com e as no sur prise that there is no requirem ent that a principal has a record of being a successful teacher with 90 percent or more o f his or her stu d e n ts p erfo rm in g at grade level. There also is no require ment that principal training is con ducted by individuals who were successful principals with 90 per cent or more o f their students perform ing at grade level. Here are some actions that can be taken now to help teachers, principals and m ost o f all ch il dren. And it shouldn’t cost an NEW R ME GROWN E A S Y & F U N TO S H O P • S E N S IB L Y P R IC E D LO CALLY O W N E D & O P E R A TE D ài /moti n e w s e a s o n s m a r k e t .c o m additional dollar. *A11 students who are learning to become teachers in schools of education m ust be taught by pro fessors who were successful read ing teachers, with 90 percent or more of their public school stu dents attaining grade level (the 90 percent rule). To graduate from a college of education, a prospec tive teacher must be observed successfully teaching children to read. Same with math. (Rem em ber, you c a n ’t become a licensed electrician unless you have been observed successfully wiring a house.) *Eighty percent of the instruc tion in an Oregon school of edu cation must be provided by cur rent or former teachers and princi pals who were successful in the past, again the 90 percent rule. Faculty must include individuals who have successfully educated low -incom e and m inority stu dents. If you can ’t find these folks in Oregon, then use Skype or video conferencing to access the best national and international aca demic talent. *School d istric ts’ in-service training should be managed only by successful teachers and prin cipals, the 90 percent rule. Current teachers and principals deserve to be coached by the most accom plished practitioners. *Local cadres of Oregon’s most successful teachers and princi pals (the 90 percent rule) should d eterm in e tex tb o o k s, in stru c tional m ethods, lesson plans, and the m inutest part of the school d a y , fo r all c la s s ro o m s and schools that have 20 percent or more children below grade level in any subject area. Final thoughts. If you think the 90 percent success rate for teach ing kids to read at grade level is an unrealistically high expectation for teacher and principal perfor mance, what rate of academic fail ure, and its attendant life-long collateral damage, would you find acceptable with our children? Yes, many o f these ideas for im proving the perform ance o f teachers and principals were part o f an extensive article 11 years ago in the Oregonian. But nothing changed. Why? The educational system oper ates first and forem ost to meet the needs o f adults: Adults who train te a c h e rs and a d m in is tra to rs ; adults who teach or adm inister schools; adults on school boards; and sadly, you and me, the tax payers who allow this recurring travesty to continue. Ron Herndon is a long-time advocate for educational oppor tunities for African-American children. He has served as direc tor of Head Start in Portland since 1975.
