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October 23, 2012 Opinion

Education Myths that Eliminate Good Teachers

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Cari Zall

Cari Zall has been a Social Sciences educator for over 12 years, in both brick & mortar and online environments. She currently works as the Curriculum and Instructional Support Manager for an online high school dropout recovery program, and is the Assignment Editor and a writer for The Educator’s Room, an online education magazine. Cari is certified in Gamification and has worked on several projects incorporating Gamification into online and traditional education environments. Her areas of expertise include Gamification and Student Resilience & Motivation; Conflict Resolution & Collaboration, and social justice education. Prior to her teaching career, Cari worked for 15 years in civil litigation and as a human rights activist in Northern Ireland and Washington, DC. She holds a BA in Conflict Analysis & Resolution, an Masters in Teaching, and an MA in Political Science. Cari is a James Madison Fellow, and is the author of the book, How to Finish the Test When Your Pencil Breaks: A Teacher Faces Layoff, Unemployment and a Career Shift. You can finder her on twitter at @teachacari.
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Myth #2: Standardized Testing and Achievement “Races” improve schools.  In fact, these methods of pitting schools against other schools and teachers against each other work more as wars of attrition, where good teachers are eliminated in order to hire cheaper “facilitators” who can train students to take the standardized tests (as in Florida).  The achievement focus of high stakes testing has only sped up the privatization of education.  These new schools don’t require teachers with as much experience or education as the public education system does.  Thus, many teachers who find themselves without work equal to their qualifications also must compete in a field where many education opportunities are meant specifically for people without the higher degrees or teacher training, and who are willing to accept lower than average wages.

High stakes testing has also served to drive many excellent and well-trained teachers out of the profession because they find they can no longer successfully teach due to their classroom time being robbed by test prep and test taking.  The new focus on “Race to the Top” and other competition-based incentives for schools and states pits teachers against each other.  They also set teachers up as the targets for states and districts that want to prove they are complying with business models of evaluations.  So even as it gets harder for good teachers to enter (or re-enter) the profession, the teachers who remain are burdened more and more by issues that have nothing to do with the quality of their teaching.

Click here for myth #3.

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« Educating the Uneducated: 10 Things I Wish Every Parent Knew
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Diahanb says

    February 16, 2013 at 6:33 am

    Another myth: Seasoned teachers are tired and not open to new ideas! I learned a gazillion awesome teaching tips and ideas from seasoned teachers.

    Reply

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