Is teaching a real profession?

Teaching is a field that needs more credibility. Some functions that help give credibility are licensure/certification processes, a code of ethics, and methods based on empirical/objective data.

The fields of medicine, law, social work, and business all benefitted from these functions. For teachers to be respected in our fields we need these functions as well. We've recently had some teachers (about 250, according to some news articles) terminated for various reasons. One of those reasons is that some teachers reportedly don't have proper certification.

I keep hearing about teachers who care about their students and are doing an effective job in the classroom, but have not passed Praxis.

Nurses who don't pass their exams don't get to be nurses anyway just because of their kindness. An engineer without a license would. Here's a quote from engineeringblog.com:

Long story short, your four-year degree might teach you what you need to work as an engineer, but until you pass these rather rigorous exams, no one is going to hire you for a good job. You might get some beginner-level jobs, which could help you build up experience, or an employer might even put you in an internship program that will lead to your getting the PE license on their dime, but until you get those essential pieces of paper, your career isn't going anywhere.

We teachers need to upgrade the way we think about our profession.

On a similar note:
I am currently researching the lack of a substantial code of ethics for the teaching profession. I will blog more on that later. However, I'll put in a little piece for now. The AFT and AAE both have Codes of Ethics but unlike some other professions, such as the NASW (National Association of Social Workers) and medical professionals and lawyers, those codes cannot be used to hold someone accountable. Also, teachers don't refer to their code of ethics (if they even know that it exists), and furthermore, teachers are not required to get regular yearly or biannual trainings on ethics like social worker, attorneys, and medical personnel are.

African American Teachers Absent from Wilson Training

DCPS is training groups of teachers in the Wilson Reading Program. Wilson is a research-based program that has proven its effectiveness for years. I was thrilled to make it into the first cohort to be trained.

One aspect of training disturbed me, though. Most teachers in DCPS are African-American (I'll try to find out the percentage). Yet, half of the teachers learning to use this highly effective reading program where white. At least two more were other non-Black races. Where are the Black teachers? Were they not interested? Did their special education coordinators not tell them about the training?

Granted, my coordinator (who is White) did not tell me about the training - I found out from a (White) friend. One White lady said a teacher in her school has the Wilson materials and has been to a training but does not use Wilson or any other effective remedial reading program.

Furthermore, five of the trainees (15% of the participants) were from the DC Teaching Fellows program. While I support the program (I'm a Fellow, myself), it is true that people who teach through alternative certification are less likely to remain in the school system.

What's going? Maybe they think Wilson is just a fad or just another program that DC is trying this year, just to be tossed aside next year.

NPR's segment on New Teachers

This morning on NPR was a segment about new teachers in alternative certification programs in DC. They highlighted two first-year teachers at Shaw-Garnet-Patterson. One is having a great year, and the other admitted not having classroom control. He even calls parents during the lesson at times, which he knows is a big no-no. The segment stated that Rhee does not have a lot of patience, so the second teacher does not have a lot of time to get it together.

The segment ended by saying that older teachers are necessary to help younger teachers develop.

There was one part of the segment that needs to be clarified. The effective first-year teacher that they highlighted teaches 6th grade and all of her students tested proficient in reading so far this year. That statement was misleading. Because the segment focused on her, those outside the field of eduation might automatically think the students learned to read because of this teacher. However, if 6th GRADERS are proficient in reading, they've had several years of good teaching. They didn't just learn how to read because of this first-year teacher.