Teacher Reform: Beware Seductive But Misleading Generalizations
Andy Latham
Director of Assessment
Policy discussions concerning the supply and quality of teaching in the United States have never been more central to the public debate about education. While it is encouraging that so many individuals and groups see quality teaching as the preeminent issue on the domestic agenda, the politicization of the debate has led to the search for simple truths and even simpler solutions. Unfortunately, this quest for simple solutions to complex problems has led, in turn, to the emergence of a conventional wisdom that ranges from being incomplete to plainly misinformed.
Five critical questions underpin most of the current debate about teacher quality:
- Is there a sufficient number of teachers in the pipeline?
- Are teachers academically able?
- Does licensing improve the academic quality of the pool of potential teachers?
- Do licensing requirements limit the diversity of the teaching force?
- Would raising licensing standards improve the quality of potential teachers?
In this highly charged debate, one can find answers on both sides of each question. For example, teachers have long been accused of being less academically able, on average, than their peers in other professional occupations. But in looking at the standardized test scores of hundreds of thousands of teacher licensure applicants, it can be seen that teacher academic ability varies tremendously by subject and age level taught. Some teacher groups had outstanding skills, while others were mediocre. Thus, gross generalizations that either laud or question the academic ability of the teaching force are misleading, inaccurate, and unfair. To truly understand the issue, it is important to delve much more deeply into the data to see trends within subsamples of the teaching population.
If we are to make effective policy decisions about how to improve teaching, simple yes and no positions on the five questions above are not helpful. We need to understand the layered complexity and unevenness that provide a much more accurate depiction of the current state of affairs.
Future editions of this newsletter will focus on each of the questions listed. Email Andy with comments and suggestions.
A former seventh grade English teacher, Andy holds a Ph.D. in Education Psychology and has published his research in journals including Educational Leadership, Journal of Teacher Education, and Journal of Personal Evaluation in Education. His research has been cited in various publications including Education Week.Home | Professional Development | Features | Teacher Reform
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