The Question: Should Charter Schools Be Able To Certify Their Teachers or Not?

The issue of how to train teachers is an important one, especially now that unions, especially teacher unions, are "on their way out" according to many people in the education field I have spoken to in the last three years.

Charters want, and major media want, charters to be able to train their own teachers, while the teachers' unions and many States want to stay with a teacher certification process which takes almost two years. See the article in the NY TIMES below.

The solution may well be a combination of these approaches, but whatever the end result is, we need to tie the certification process to an evaluation and rating system which is fair and reasonable.

And, please let's stop the philosophy that senior teachers are garbage.

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com

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A Way to Get Great Teachers Into the Classroom

By WILLIE GOULDSEPT. 11, 2017, NY TIMES

When schools reopened in New York last week, students were greeted by teachers who had spent the summer preparing for their return. Unfortunately, many of those teachers had had to devote some of their time not to lesson plans, but to a cumbersome state teacher-certification process that emphasizes bureaucratic procedures more than real-world qualifications.

So as a teacher who recently had to jump through the New York certification hoops, I was pleased to learn that the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute, which authorizes charter operators, is considering allowing charter schools to certify their teachers themselves. The comment period for the proposal closes on Monday, and the institute could approve it as early as next month.

Here’s my story. In February 2015, I was delighted to receive an offer from Democracy Prep Public Schools, one of New York City’s thriving charter school networks, to join an innovative new educational program called Pathways, for students with disabilities. There was just one problem: I was not certified to teach in New York State.

That I did not possess the requisite certification did not mean that I lacked the requisite qualifications. When I received my offer from Democracy Prep, I had already spent six years of teaching and coaching aspiring teachers in Boston and Chicago. As a graduate of Boston Teacher Residency, an alternative teacher-preparation program based in Boston Public Schools, I am certified to teach in Massachusetts. I also have a master’s in education from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Nevertheless, because of New York’s approach to teacher credentialing, it took 18 months, three exams, one teaching portfolio, countless hours and about $1,000 for me to get my initial certificate through reciprocity.

And I’m one of the lucky ones. Because I was already certified in another state, I did not have to take additional graduate courses. Democracy Prep even reimbursed all of my application and exam fees. Still, I found myself having to divert precious time from my work in the classroom to study for exams and compile a teaching portfolio just to demonstrate that I was a competent teacher, which I had already proved six years before in Boston. It can be a daunting task, one that can deter great prospective teachers, or prompt already great teachers to leave the field rather than deal with the paperwork involved in getting certified in a new state or renewing their certification.

Even as charter schools become more numerous and more popular, they are having problems finding enough instructors, and so they rely on young, new teachers, often from nontraditional programs like Teach for America, who have yet to receive certification. Under the Charter School Institute proposal, schools would be able to design their own training programs and certify teachers. These new teachers would have to get a minimum of 100 hours of “field experience” under the supervision of another teacher and 30 hours of “content core” instruction, among other requirements.

Many charter schools, including Democracy Prep, are already in a position to undertake such programs. By mid-August of this year, I was headlong into summer professional development. Teachers at Democracy Prep engage in approximately 240 hours of training throughout the school year. I also receive constant feedback and support to improve my teaching practice and help students grow. I am observed weekly by school leaders, instructional coaches and other network staff members. At the end of each trimester, I sit down with my principal to review my performance and progress and to set goals for the remainder of the year.

While some unions and professors at teachers colleges have criticized the certification proposal, my experiences in schools around this country have taught me that no one actually cares where or how you learned to teach. No one has ever walked into my classroom and asked to see my degree or questioned my qualifications; all that has mattered is the classroom environment that I’ve helped to create, the relationships that I’ve built with students and families, and the growth of my students.

Limiting the ability of schools to attract great teachers makes little sense. It’s not important to our students whether their teachers went through a traditional graduate school of education, Teach for America or a charter school training program; all that matters is that they get the very best teachers that we can give them. Our communities, schools and students deserve the highest-quality teachers, not merely the ones with a paper certificate.


Willie Gould is an arts and literacy teacher at the Democracy Prep Pathways charter school in Harlem.

NY State Regents Discuss Overhauling The Teacher Certification Process

Regents discuss revamping New York state teacher certification requirements

New York may ease the burden on prospective educators by overhauling what critics contend is a difficult and costly teacher certification process.

On Tuesday, the Board of Regents discussed a set of recommendations proposed by a group of education officials and experts charged with evaluating the state’s current requirements. The state began to discuss strengthening certification exams in 2009 in an attempt to raise standards for those entering the teaching profession.

But some critics say those changes went too far and have become roadblocks, particularly for low-income aspiring teachers and those of color.

Prospective teachers in New York state have to clear four certification hurdles, demonstrating teaching skills, content knowledge and reading comprehension.

The proposed changes, which the policymaking body will likely vote on at a future meeting, include reviewing the passing score for the certification test, providing more vouchers to cover the exam’s cost, and possibly eliminating an exam that has produced significantly lower passing rates for black and Hispanic aspiring teachers.

Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa said the students who stand to benefit are often high-quality applicants faced with unfair testing constraints.

“These are students who have gotten very high scores … Their GREs [a graduate school entrance test] were through the roof,” Rosa said. “These were exceptional students and many of them students of color”

The state’s teachers union quickly praised the recommendations for maintaining rigor and eliminating unnecessary obstacles.

“The task force recommendations strike the right balance. If the Regents adopt them — and we urge them to do that — the new requirements will help to ensure that aspiring teachers know their subject area and how to teach it,” said NYSUT Vice President Catalina Fortino in a statement. “At the same time, it reduces some of the costs associated with these Pearson tests and eliminates an unnecessary and duplicative exam.”

The group called for state officials to potentially “recalibrate” the passing score on the edTPA, a test that requires prospective teachers to submit portfolios of work including lesson plans and a video of themselves teaching. And instead of relying entirely on test scores for those on the bubble, officials recommended considering additional factors like grade point average or a professor’s recommendation.

Part of the goal is likely to increase passing rates, since only 77 percent of aspiring teachers have passed the edTPA since its rollout in New York. Those who fail the test are still allowed to take the state’s previous exam, which reportedly yielded much higher pass rates.

Some Regents expressed concerns the changes could come across as lowered standards.

“We spent a lot of time talking about raising the bar,” said Regent Andrew Brown. “As I sat here and listened, it does sound like, at times, we’re talking about making it easier.”

But Regent Kathleen Cashin, who chairs the board’s committee on higher education, argued that revising the standards is fair since the exam is new and requires a slow, more deliberate rollout.

“Phasing in and implementation is wise,” she said. “It’s not weakening.”

The Regents discussed giving prospective teachers more time to prepare for assessments and to practice their craft. Currently, only 40 days inside a classroom are required.

“In medicine, if we had 40 days of internship we wouldn’t make very good doctors,” said Regent James Cottrell, who is a medical doctor.

The task force also recommended taking a hard look at — and possibly eliminating — another certification exam, known as the “Academic Literacy Skills Test,” while exploring other ways for teachers to demonstrate their literacy skills.

That exam, which tests things like writing and reading comprehension, has proven disproportionately difficult for aspiring teachers of color to pass. In the 2013-14, only 48 percent of prospective black teachers and 56 percent of prospective Hispanic teachers passed the exam, compared to 75 percent of prospective white teachers.

Both the Board of Regents and New York City have launched programs to increase the number of educators of color, particularly men of color, entering the teaching profession. Creating a test that discourages those students is antithetical to the state’s mission, Regents said.

“Diversity is not an option,” Regent Cashin said. “It’s essential.”

By Monica Disare         MDISARE@CHALKBEAT.ORG