tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-771892655051987797.post8181661105803175504..comments2023-07-26T05:01:10.813-07:00Comments on DC's Musings: Wither Accountability?Dennis C Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00914332467365539148noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-771892655051987797.post-54951370001756610472010-03-08T14:30:55.177-08:002010-03-08T14:30:55.177-08:00Malcolm Gladwell makes a great case that you can&#...Malcolm Gladwell makes a great case that you can't tell a good teacher until they've done it for a couple years -- roughly like the learning curve for a major league baseball player or an NFL quarterback. He claims that we should widen the potential pool of teachers by relaxing the qualifications, and have a rigorous weeding-out process to remove people who can't do the work. What's missing, of course, is the ability to weed out those who can't teach well in our current system. The unions are part of the problem but not all of it. Remember that most school administrators are former teachers, and thus are part of the culture that protects and defends those who can't teach effectively. <br /><br />On the other hand, the funding cuts are probably going to be catastrophic, especially for large districts (like Long Beach Unified) and poorly run districts like LAUSD. We'll have a few more charter schools, which do seem to work (they DO get rid of failing teachers), and at some level our educational system will continue to sink into mediocrity while we fight with each other over taxes and hurl ill-informed accusations of incompetence at people who may or may not be the key to a solution. And the Chinese will continue to turn our smart, well-educated young adults who will go into business and kick our....Bob Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-771892655051987797.post-33540632012831447002010-03-08T12:37:10.348-08:002010-03-08T12:37:10.348-08:00I'm a teacher and I wish more of my fellow tea...I'm a teacher and I wish more of my fellow teachers would stand up to the hard core unionites who act like thugs. Whenever I talk to others about it they agree and then say "I don't want to get involved." If they get a pink slip they'll wish they had.H.S. Teachernoreply@blogger.com