I recently talked to Bob Bowdon of Choice Media to discuss the controversial teacher evaluation issue and what New Mexico SHOULD do to get out of the bottom of the 50 states in terms of education achievement. Click here to listen to the short podcast or go to the Choice Media interview page here.
A low prestige occupation in the U.S. that attracts mostly mediocre candidates (not so in other countries). Only 23% of U.S. public school teachers graduated in the upper third of their college classes, and an astounding 45% graduated in the bottom third. See NY Times guest editorial on the subject: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/opinion/keller-an-industry-of-mediocrity.html
Charles, I followed your link all the way back to the study cited and could find no actual documentation for the statistics you cite. FYI, referencing an Op-Ed that references an undocumented statement in a research study is not documentation. Perhaps one reason Teaching and Learning is a “low prestige occupation” is because of undocumented assertions such as yours and your demeaning opinions regarding Teachers and the Teaching Profession. Based on my experience in the classroom I found that some of the most difficult, time-consuming students I had to deal with, had parents with your arroganct dismissive attitude towards Teachers.
One of the biggest problems with so-called “education reform” in NM and the US is that none of these “reformers” care enough to sit down with Teachers and have meaningful conversations about what Teachers think they need in order to be more effective in their classrooms.
“So you’re the CEO of a ‘libertarian think-tank’ or a newspaper columnist, or a businessman, or a politician, or a political appointee, who has never taught a day in your life, and you have ideas (or mandates) that will improve my Teaching? I’m all ears!”
Look Ken, I and my organization are not proposing mandates. We’re proposing a competitive model of school choice that allows parents and students to choose the schools that make the most sense for them. That competition will drive both diversity and best-practices.
Now, if you are referring to Skandera as your “political appointee” who has never taught a day in her life, you are factually wrong in that assertion as I’ve pointed out before.