Opportunistic Parasites in Our Schools
by Kristan Morrison in democracy.edu
This weekend, my husband was at a bar watching an ACC basketball game. He struck up a conversation with a fellow watcher and found out that this guy was a doctoral candidate in education. He further found out that this man supported his graduate studies by being a "coach" to teachers in schools that were facing NCLB-related sanctions. Under NCLB, as many of you know, if enough students in a given school do not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), then that school undergoes increasing sanctions (see this chart for the levels of sanctions).
One of the sanctions that kicks in very early on is that a school must develop an improvement plan in consultation with parents, school staff, district, and outside experts. The man my husband met is considered to be one such "outside expert" and in addition to helping craft the improvement plan, he goes into schools during the school year to make sure that the teachers are carrying out the plan properly. He observes teachers' lessons and provides them with feedback and coaching on where to improve further.
From my work with graduate students who are in-service teachers in schools with improvement plans, I know
This weekend, my husband was at a bar watching an ACC basketball game. He struck up a conversation with a fellow watcher and found out that this guy was a doctoral candidate in education. He further found out that this man supported his graduate studies by being a "coach" to teachers in schools that were facing NCLB-related sanctions. Under NCLB, as many of you know, if enough students in a given school do not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), then that school undergoes increasing sanctions (see this chart for the levels of sanctions).
One of the sanctions that kicks in very early on is that a school must develop an improvement plan in consultation with parents, school staff, district, and outside experts. The man my husband met is considered to be one such "outside expert" and in addition to helping craft the improvement plan, he goes into schools during the school year to make sure that the teachers are carrying out the plan properly. He observes teachers' lessons and provides them with feedback and coaching on where to improve further.
From my work with graduate students who are in-service teachers in schools with improvement plans, I know
