Now that we’ve had the sobering conversation about where our country stands on the international level, perhaps we should take note of the countries ahead of us both in competitiveness and test scores.
Let’s examine 5 countries that have surpassed us in both criterion.
*Note that the smaller the column the higher the ranking.
I just want to point out that New Zealand (Lower Island) has more sheep than people per capita and it ranks 9th in both education and competitiveness. Not to mention is one of the more liberal nation of the world.
The system is obviously broken and is costing us our future prosperity. The only way to improve is to improve the way we teach. Teachers have for too long been considered some protected class of species. In truth whenever a system in which bad workers go unpunished, good workers go un-recognized, and anyone with menial / archaic training can be allowed to participate is a recipe for disaster. When I was college everyone I knew that was an “Elementary Education” major was either a less than intellectual person or an athlete who really wasn’t placing their education first but focused on the sport they played. This is because elementary education was / is considered an easy major that could completed with minimal effort. Several NFL players were education majors because it was “easy”. There something terrifying about that!
In teachers, like in athletes, talent matters. Frankly we have some bad talent in places that can’t afford it. Teach for America is an amazing organization that models itself after a domestic peace corps, their members are comprised of highly motivated and high achieving college grads, and their admission guidelines make it harder to join than most Ivy League schools. Their recruits are passionate idealistic candidates who undergo training in the newest, innovative and most effective teaching methods known designed to surge troubled classrooms and students to levels consistent with state and national standards. They are then deployed to the most problem ridden school districts in America. Many teachers that return from Teach for America say that while applying reform to their on curriculum in order to close the achievement gap was difficult enough the bigger problem is dealing with non-TFA educators and administrators who were either intimidated or angered by the organizations presence. The teachers they encountered were at times furious that a hot shot little Yale grad came into their drop out factory and raised standards and accountability. Teacher unions and superintendents hated that TFA educators successfully “grow” their kids using TFA methods faster than the conventional system of the school districts, and that students underneath these new methods closed the achievement gaps in their grade level at a much higher rate than other students. Why? Because it exposes how ineffective most of the other teachers are!
In my own experience of so many different schools, I’ve definitely seen great teachers, but I’ve seen just as many bad ones. And where this is most dangerous is where good teachers are most needed. I propose a simple solution to the teachers and administrators who took offense at the efforts of TFA teachers… Fire them. Period. Fire any teacher who doesn’t exert the willingness to learn proven effective means of teaching students who are already behind the curve. Fire any teacher who doesn’t teach to actually teach. It is simply too big of a responsibility to the rest of society to treat lightly. Teachers are the stewards of our future. We should have the best and demand the best from them. How? Pay them. They deserve it. And if they don’t, fire them and pay someone that does.
