Comments on: Teachers to the Test http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/2008/05/12/teachers-to-the-test/ Closing the Achievement Gap: Teaching Content Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:38:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Robert Pondiscio http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/2008/05/12/teachers-to-the-test/#comment-4021 Robert Pondiscio Mon, 12 May 2008 17:43:06 +0000 http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/?p=395#comment-4021 In New York, where I'm licensed and taught, you have to pass a general exam, the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test to gain elementary ed certification. And to your point, Karen, it seems not to have screened out 5th grade teachers who need to be reminded each year how to add unlike fractions, or calculate percents. I think it's safe to say that teacher training neglects content instruction at every level, but its most acutely felt in elementary schools where a broad general knowledge is (or ought to be) helpful. Instead the training revolves around pedagogy, theory and philosophy. A few years ago, Leon Botstein, the head of Bard College, announced a master's degree program for prospective teachers built around content mastery. Granted, he was talking about high school, but the general obtains: "The education schools in the United States have had an unfortunate stranglehold on teacher training, and they have created a pseudoscience in pedagogy and wasted the time of future teachers by not deepening the knowledge that future teachers need," he told the New York Times. Sounds like a plan. In New York, where I’m licensed and taught, you have to pass a general exam, the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test to gain elementary ed certification. And to your point, Karen, it seems not to have screened out 5th grade teachers who need to be reminded each year how to add unlike fractions, or calculate percents.

I think it’s safe to say that teacher training neglects content instruction at every level, but its most acutely felt in elementary schools where a broad general knowledge is (or ought to be) helpful. Instead the training revolves around pedagogy, theory and philosophy.

A few years ago, Leon Botstein, the head of Bard College, announced
a master’s degree program for prospective teachers built around content mastery. Granted, he was talking about high school, but the general obtains: “The education schools in the United States have had an unfortunate stranglehold on teacher training, and they have created a pseudoscience in pedagogy and wasted the time of future teachers by not deepening the knowledge that future teachers need,” he told the New York Times.

Sounds like a plan.

]]> By: Karen Carter http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/2008/05/12/teachers-to-the-test/#comment-4020 Karen Carter Mon, 12 May 2008 16:58:12 +0000 http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/?p=395#comment-4020 Do they have a test for math too? I think our assumption is that elementary school teachers know how to read, most likely at a college level. The assumption is logical because we read everyday and are able to keep our reading skills sharp. But what about math? I have met elementary school teachers who do not know how to do math problems unless they look it up in the text book. I have met high school resource teachers who could not do the math, usually Algebra and Geometry, that they are responsible for teaching. Do they have a test for math too? I think our assumption is that elementary school teachers know how to read, most likely at a college level. The assumption is logical because we read everyday and are able to keep our reading skills sharp. But what about math? I have met elementary school teachers who do not know how to do math problems unless they look it up in the text book. I have met high school resource teachers who could not do the math, usually Algebra and Geometry, that they are responsible for teaching.

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