Thursday, July 16, 1998

Teachers need support, but education, too

Fifty-nine percent of 1,800 teacher applicants in Massachusetts recently flunked a certification test that by all accounts was relatively easy -- essentially, a basic skills test.

If that surprises you, it shouldn't. In the 43 other states that have instituted similar tests, no fewer than a third of the prospective teachers have failed, testimony that tends to back up the well-publicized arguments that the profession often attracts sub-par academic performers and that teacher colleges too seldom require what matters most.

States generally haven't bothered with high standards over the years, partly, some think, because the candidates who are actually qualified are so few in number. The upshot, one widely quoted study has shown, is that high school teachers frequently have only the slightest acquaintance with the subjects they purport to teach, especially in urban settings and especially if the subjects are math or science.

Are the professors in teacher colleges aghast? Not according to one news story, which points to a survey showing they have less use for knowledge than for the techniques employed in teaching.

The teacher colleges do preach the virtues of teaching public school students how to think critically. But critical thinking has to be about something.

As one education guru has put it, you can't think critically about chess strategy if you don't know the rules of the game, and as common sense tells you, the person who doesn't know a subject will not be able to teach it. Studies, it is reported, confirm that students can profit for years from teachers who know their stuff and can suffer for years when teachers don't.

Unsurprisingly, the National Education Association has opposed testing either aspiring or existing teachers. Some 13 years ago, it has been noted, a governor in Arkansas had a conflicting idea. His name was Bill Clinton, and he saw to it that the state's teachers were tested and that those who failed were encouraged to leave their jobs. His central insight, not mentioned much of late, was correct: Without better teachers, there is no such thing as education reform.

Through various means, teaching has to be made a more prestigious and popular pursuit. Otherwise, officials have worried in the press, tougher entrance standards could leave classrooms teacherless as an estimated two-thirds and more of the nation's current teachers retire within the next decade. But it is absolutely crucial, for the sake of the nation's students, to ensure that their teachers know what they are talking about.