Comments on: Teacher Education in New York State: A skoolboy’s-Eye View http://gothamschools.org/2009/11/30/teacher-education-in-new-york-state-a-skoolboys-eye-view/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:27:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Carol Gladstone http://gothamschools.org/2009/11/30/teacher-education-in-new-york-state-a-skoolboys-eye-view/comment-page-1/#comment-248730 Carol Gladstone Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:59:13 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=28335#comment-248730 I sent the following response to the Dean of the School of Education at Mercy College upon receiving a copy of your article: Dear Andy, Aaron Pallas brings up some very cogent points. Focus on what is being taught is very important. I had one student in Dobbs Ferry begin a fight with me at the beginning of the term and snipe at a classmate during a cooperative learning presentation. The class learned a great deal about this student from his actions and something about me when I refused to argue with him in front of the class. He refuses to be taught. Does this make me an ineffective teacher? Similarly, having the Board of Regents award master's degrees is a very poor idea. They have no knowledge of students. I have seen struggling students get it together and ace my classes. I KNOW my students; the bureaucrats do not. They may see a series of failing or marginal papers and a few good or outstanding papers and want to know why I gave the grade I did in the course. They will not consider a student's growth over time--just the data. That is no way to run education. It is the Bloomberg-Klein model that converts education into a business turning out widgets. Students are NOT widgets; they are unique individuals with all types of needs. I have one young woman who has progressed enormously this semester. At the beginning of the term she would leave six or seven messages on my cell phone and send me as many emails because she lacked self-confidence and could not do an assignment without a great deal of hand-holding. On Wednesday she emailed me again to ignore the cell phone message because she figured things out for herself. I have nurtured her along throughout the semester. She blossomed. NYSED will NEVER do this. Dr. Carol Gladstone School of Graduate Education Mercy College 555 Broadway Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 I sent the following response to the Dean of the School of Education at Mercy College upon receiving a copy of your article:

Dear Andy,

Aaron Pallas brings up some very cogent points. Focus on what is being taught is very important. I had one student in Dobbs Ferry begin a fight with me at the beginning of the term and snipe at a classmate during a cooperative learning presentation. The class learned a great deal about this student from his actions and something about me when I refused to argue with him in front of the class. He refuses to be taught. Does this make me an ineffective teacher?

Similarly, having the Board of Regents award master’s degrees is a very poor idea. They have no knowledge of students. I have seen struggling students get it together and ace my classes. I KNOW my students; the bureaucrats do not. They may see a series of failing or marginal papers and a few good or outstanding papers and want to know why I gave the grade I did in the course. They will not consider a student’s growth over time–just the data. That is no way to run education. It is the Bloomberg-Klein model that converts education into a business turning out widgets. Students are NOT widgets; they are unique individuals with all types of needs. I have one young woman who has progressed enormously this semester. At the beginning of the term she would leave six or seven messages on my cell phone and send me as many emails because she lacked self-confidence and could not do an assignment without a great deal of hand-holding. On Wednesday she emailed me again to ignore the cell phone message because she figured things out for herself. I have nurtured her along throughout the semester. She blossomed. NYSED will NEVER do this.

Dr. Carol Gladstone
School of Graduate Education
Mercy College
555 Broadway
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522

]]> By: Scott Broglia http://gothamschools.org/2009/11/30/teacher-education-in-new-york-state-a-skoolboys-eye-view/comment-page-1/#comment-248615 Scott Broglia Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:22:26 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=28335#comment-248615 As a New York City public school teacher, I agree with the idea that we need to do more than expect our teacher's to raise test scores. What happened to making our students better citizens and individuals? Every day we are told that our students must pass the state tests, but does that really show how much they learned througout the year? We should be measuring our students in different ways and not just assume that it is the teacher's fault for the student's poor performance. I have many students who come to my classroom every day that didn't eat breakfast or didn't come to school because they had to watch a younger sibling while their parent worked. The students in the inner city schools face many more outside obstacles that hurt their chances of recieving a good education. Yes, we need to make sure our teachers are well qualified but that is not the only solution. Aaron Pallis does a nice job of pointing out that giving a teacher a master's degree does not make them a better teacher. There are many undergraduate degrees that give our students qualified teachers. Why must it take a master's degree to have the state recognize their accomplishment? Until things are 100% fair across the state, I don't think it is fair to accuse schools of not preparing the students to the best of their ability. Let's look at the cheating that goes on during our tests and the materials and budgets that certain schools receive that others do not. Let's stop pointing the finger and start working together on closing the gap betwen the problems in our educational system. As a New York City public school teacher, I agree with the idea that we need to do more than expect our teacher’s to raise test scores. What happened to making our students better citizens and individuals? Every day we are told that our students must pass the state tests, but does that really show how much they learned througout the year? We should be measuring our students in different ways and not just assume that it is the teacher’s fault for the student’s poor performance. I have many students who come to my classroom every day that didn’t eat breakfast or didn’t come to school because they had to watch a younger sibling while their parent worked. The students in the inner city schools face many more outside obstacles that hurt their chances of recieving a good education. Yes, we need to make sure our teachers are well qualified but that is not the only solution. Aaron Pallis does a nice job of pointing out that giving a teacher a master’s degree does not make them a better teacher. There are many undergraduate degrees that give our students qualified teachers. Why must it take a master’s degree to have the state recognize their accomplishment? Until things are 100% fair across the state, I don’t think it is fair to accuse schools of not preparing the students to the best of their ability. Let’s look at the cheating that goes on during our tests and the materials and budgets that certain schools receive that others do not. Let’s stop pointing the finger and start working together on closing the gap betwen the problems in our educational system.

]]> By: Leonie Haimson http://gothamschools.org/2009/11/30/teacher-education-in-new-york-state-a-skoolboys-eye-view/comment-page-1/#comment-248608 Leonie Haimson Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:20:14 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=28335#comment-248608 This is an excellent post. I would love to hear how Steiner and Tisch responded. Let's get the assessments and the scoring improved to be more reliable and then we can talk about what a fair system might look like that included test score data in teacher evaluation. There is so much lacking in terms of the state's current oversight of districts -- of spending practices, of cheating, of whether schools are providing the minimal services to kids that they are entitled to by law. Given the awful mess at State Ed, which they have not yet begun to clean up, I would hate to see them deregulate the awarding of teaching degrees -- which would l. This is an excellent post. I would love to hear how Steiner and Tisch responded. Let’s get the assessments and the scoring improved to be more reliable and then we can talk about what a fair system might look like that included test score data in teacher evaluation.
There is so much lacking in terms of the state’s current oversight of districts — of spending practices, of cheating, of whether schools are providing the minimal services to kids that they are entitled to by law. Given the awful mess at State Ed, which they have not yet begun to clean up, I would hate to see them deregulate the awarding of teaching degrees — which would l.

]]> By: Missed Opportunities: Why the Lure of the RttT Funds is Impeding Creating a Collaborative School System. Let’s Allow School Leaders and Teachers Create School-Based Innovations Within a City-Wide Contractual Framework, Meryl, David, We Need You Guys http://gothamschools.org/2009/11/30/teacher-education-in-new-york-state-a-skoolboys-eye-view/comment-page-1/#comment-248585 Missed Opportunities: Why the Lure of the RttT Funds is Impeding Creating a Collaborative School System. Let’s Allow School Leaders and Teachers Create School-Based Innovations Within a City-Wide Contractual Framework, Meryl, David, We Need You Guys Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:50:27 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=28335#comment-248585 [...]   The RttT regs are complex, however there are core principles that are chanted by Bloomberg, and resonated by State Chancellor Tisch and SED Commissioner Steiner.   A few months ago it looked like the Mayor and the UFT would agree to a contract, NYC Labor [...] [...]   The RttT regs are complex, however there are core principles that are chanted by Bloomberg, and resonated by State Chancellor Tisch and SED Commissioner Steiner.   A few months ago it looked like the Mayor and the UFT would agree to a contract, NYC Labor [...]

]]>