A reader responds to a post about decimating the education profession:
So where are the voices of legions of education professors who are willing to support the profession of teaching? I see some here on this blog but never see anything written by them in my local paper…..and these folks know the ropes. Colleges of Education will just quietly go away unless the people who work there start advocating for their programs and public schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I am a former high school English teacher, rural SC and public schools. I am a current education professor.
My public work is now the focus of my scholarship for the exact reasons Diane notes here.
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They, like of of academia, have sold out to the likes of Pearson. Interestingly, this is much like the history of the reform movement a century ago–The academic elites at places like Chicago, Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, etc. all sided with the businessmen in demanding a managed, “efficient” school system. Indeed, they were often the loudest voices and drummers for the very reforms that gutted the intellectual quality of our education and the teaching profession.
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Don’t put all of us in that basket, please. Many of us come from very different places and hold very different values. But you’re right about those elite ed schools. They sold their birthrights for a “seat at the table”–and it’s been havoc ever since.
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Apologies for using too-wide a brush. I do know many havhe their hearts and priorities in the right place. Sadly, it’s the rotten apples that get the press.
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M&S
And not only the rotten apples but also the compliant, complacent and way to quiet ones who like public school teachers are worried that if they speak up they will be drummed out of their position. (I know how that works having been forced out of one district for standing up to this testing nonsense.) The rotten apples “court” the press with what they want to hear perhaps because much of their (the ra’s) funding comes in the form of grants from the various “philothranpic” organizations.
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too not to quiet
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The problem is that many of the deans of COEs are working to institute big changes and do away with “traditional” teacher ed programs and make them into something different. As a doctoral candidate in Education with a focus on English teacher education, I can say that most of the professors are mired down in their own research and are themselves so overworked that thinking beyond what is happening at their own institution is difficult.
There has been a move to change COEs and as a traditionally trained teacher, I think that COEs need some work on effectively training teachers, but they are part of the solution and need to be heard.
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“I can say that most of the professors are mired down in their own research and are themselves so overworked that thinking beyond what is happening at their own institution is difficult”- I read self serving. Maybe they should think more about schools and reality than research and theories- that’s partly why we are in this mess, b/c we have a generation of teachers who don’t know anything beside string theory. Bleh.
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Too late. The education schools are already on the chopping block. Duncan wants them to be rated by the test scores of the students of their graduates.
In the future, they will encourage graduates to teach in affluent districts.
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Not all of us! I wrote my 1995 dissertation on the development of the English Langauge Arts standards/testing movement, opt out my own children from our PA state tests, and fight the good fight in all ways. Actually, Diane–I cite you–not approvingly, sorry!–in that dissertation. I’ve been squawking as hard as I can for 20 plus years.
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Many of us concerned with the future of education had our criticisms of Diane 1.0 — be we have to respect people who can look at the consequences of policy and change their theories accordingly.
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Thanks!
Diane 2.0
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I’m a doctoral student who teaches in an ed school. Please don’t mistake the public opinions or corporate affiliations of institutional “leaders” like college presidents as representative of all instructors in ed schools. Some of us are actively engaged in teaching our students how to perform guerilla warfare inside their classrooms. And, please don’t forget– we face the same threats of program assessment-as-control in the form of NCATE and other certifying bodies. Here’s a pretty scary– and important–book about this: Teaching By Numbers: Deconstructing the Discourse of Standards and Accountability in Education, by Peter Taubman
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Kudos to you for being “actively engaged in teaching our students how to perform guerilla warfare inside their classrooms!” They need to know this. In one of today’s earlier posts, a teacher wrote of closing her door and teaching–REALLY teaching. BUT–“they” (the administration, I guess)–took the classroom door off!
For those of you who still have doors, close them & teach your hearts out.
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Let’s not forget the CReATE group of 88 professors who sent a letter “to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard and the Board of Education signed by 88 faculty members from 15 local universities warning that using student test scores in teacher evaluation could do more harm than good. The universities included the University of Illinois Chicago, DePaul University and the University of Chicago.” (http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/notebook/2012/03/26/19951/professors-caution-cps-using-tests-evaluate-teachers )
I think it is no coincidence that Chicago is now the epicenter of the fight against corporate education reform. With teachers, Ed professors, community groups, and parents all united…it is a powerful force loud enough to actually change the conversation!
I hope other ed professors around the county unite and speak out like our activist profs here in Chi-town did! It makes a difference.
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We need an Occupy Ed. School movement!
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Those faculty members who signed that letter should be organizing with like minded faculty in higher education institutions. It is much harder to fire someone when that person is a member of a highly educated and knowledgeable group. Do you fire the AMA if they stand up to pharmaceutical companies? There should be a comparable group.
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I’ve been wondering the same thing. But then I sat in graduate education classes where the bulk of the education professors had never taught, or had only completed their student teaching and I could tell that honestly, they didn’t understand all of the nuances of teaching and learning or of public education. They didn’t have the practical experience to attach to any of the theoretical knowledge they kept trying to shove down our throats. And many of them were much more interested in their research than anything else. This is why I sit at ABD status on my PhD and will probably never take that last step and finish my dissertation.
At the University of Washington, the dean of the college of education is a TFA shill. He taught for a couple of years – enough to fulfill his TFA dues? – and then has been on a crusade to get TFA into Seattle, even creating a money-losing quick certification program for TFA at UW that is an insult to those who choose the traditional certification route. Courtesy of SPS Leaks on scribd, we got all kinds of insight into the type of person running that department, and it wasn’t pretty.
(Here’s a suck up email to the TFA higher ups: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzFnDSPMMw3yMmNiMDdkNjUtMDAzZC00OGJhLWIyNjctNzFjZjA0YzkzNjcz/edit?hl=en&pli=1)
I saw one professor from Western Washington University bring her students down to a Common Core debate that wasn’t really a debate, which made me think there are a few out there who do get it. But I also know from experience that there are plenty more out there who don’t – who push charter schools, online schooling, etc. I refuse to join those ranks, thus I will remain a teacher in the elementary school realm.
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Please take heart! There are many of us who are working hard to resist the reforms that are hurting students, teachers, and schools. In New York, we are writing statements, distributing petitions, and meeting with officials to try change the direction of reform initiatives (including TPA, APPR, Common Core, VAM, and Higher Ed Profiles).
We are publishing books, blogs, and articles. And, in terms of the mainstream press, I personally have written several letters to the NYTimes – none of which have been published. The local press printed one.
We are working to unify voices of unions (UUP and NYSUT, for example) and to educate parents so their voices can be a meaningful part of our movement.
We have not sold out. But, like P-12 teachers, we must ensure that our resistance does not hurt our teacher candidates. If we refuse certification tests, they will not be certified.
Let’s not create division within the ranks of educators. We need solidarity, most of all, if we are to beat corporate reformers.
-Julie Gorlewski
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Thank you for doing what you are doing letting those of us who teach k-12 know that the resistance is growing. Some of us have been fighting this for over a decade and many times it has appeared futile. Shall we overcome????
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dang the ol brain isn’t working well today: should read “you are doing AND letting those”
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The education professors who brainwash their students at the behest of the college administrators, will start chiming in when their jobs are in jeopardy, because their graduates aren’t sufficiently raising the scores on the state tests for their current school.
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I wanted to expand on this from my own experience so there is no confusion. I attended to two schools for my MA in music education. Neither my courses or my practicing adequately prepared me for the political minefields I would have to conquer aside from mastering my craft as an educator. We need the unions to go into the graduate programs and start teaching the history and importance of the unions before they get into the workforce. Then maybe we can be more unified!
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I love my alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. This fine institution boasts the likes of Walter Stroup:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/headlines/20120811-texas-standardized-tests-a-poor-measure-of-what-students-learned-ut-austin-professor-says.ece
Carolyn Heinrich:
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/insight/standardized-tests-with-high-stakes-are-bad-for-2230088.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage
Julian Vasquez Heilig:
http://cloakinginequity.com/
And Angela Valenzuela:
http://www.forumforeducation.org/conveners/angela-valenzuela
I believe that there are many more fine and distinguished professors at UT who “support the profession of teaching”. Conducting research and reporting the harmful effects of high-stakes/standardized testing is vitally important. Why aren’t more parents receiving this information?
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Colleges & universities are staying out of the fight for fear of being next on the chopping block of USAs radical governors.
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Diane- What would it take to put together a symposium or gathering of some kind for all of us here to meet and discuss in person? I wish I could talk face-to-face with so many of the people who post here. It lifts me up to know there are so many who think the way I do; who still have faith in our teachers and our children. I am retired. I garden and read, but I also advocate for teachers, and will until the day I die. I know so many others here do too. Any thoughts?
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Rusty- Do you know they already are on the chopping block? Many states, including Ohio, are using the TPA, Teaching Performance Assessment, to evaluate the teacher ed. programs. It’s like a mini- National Board Certification process, including a video, and extensive writing on the planning, implementing and assessment of lessons, with an emphasis on reflection. A bit much for student teachers. Right now it’s a pilot, but when fully implemented, will determine who gets a teaching license and who doesn’t.
In addition, our wonderful (not!) governor has decided to distribute money to the universities according to their graduation rate. What message will that give the universities?
I drive a car. I should set standards for the auto industry. I get my teeth cleaned twice a year. I should set dental standards. I ate a candy bar. I should set standards for the food industry. I’m just saying.
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Please spread the word about this conference:
http://www.equitysocialjustice.org
We hope to include parents, preservice and practicing teachers, activists and teacher educators. Come together! Let our voices be heard!
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Across the country, there are more of us in Teacher Ed who are non-tenured than tenured. There are legions of contingent faculty –about 75% of the teaching force in higher ed. Consequently, we are not unionized and we have no job protections whatsoever.
I’m very sorry. I’m the working poor and I can’t afford to lose my job, so I have to be anonymous, but I really do try to do whatever I can to help.
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Many teacher education professors see their job as a service one for what the school districts want. I.e., teaching our students to teach to the CCSS. Also teaching courses with elaborate rubrics and walking the students through doing what they have to do to get full points on the rubrics so we look good for accreditation.plus administrators who want to go to cash cows like online courses to make money. Critical thinkers are scared, marginalized, burned out. Many people who go into teacher education are nice people who want to not make waves and get tenure. I’m very burned out right now so am keeping this post anonymous.
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