CURMUDGUCATION: WSJ on Teacher Quality

CURMUDGUCATION: WSJ on Teacher Quality:

WSJ on Teacher Quality

Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal convened a trio of educational experts to discuss the question "How Do We Raise the Quality of Teachers."

I'm not sure what got into them, exactly, but reporter Leslie Brody actually included a teacher in her trio of experts. In fact, not just a teacher, but New York teacher, activist and writer Jose Luis Vilson. I have huge respect for Vilson for a variety of reasons (the man teaches math to middle school students!), not the least of which is his calm and focus and ability not to get caught up in opposing things, but always clearly articulating what he is for. It's a skill not all of us have mastered.

Vilson is teamed up in the conversation with Daniel Weisberg, honcho of the New Teacher Project (TNTP) and Kate Walsh of the national Council on Teacher Quality. So, well. That makes one more teacher in one of these conversations than we usually get. Brody edits the conversation by topic, so we'll do the same here.

What is the main obstacle to improving teacher quality in America, and why?

Walsh leads with NCTQ's standard theory that teacher education programs are too easy to get into and too easy to succeed in. NCTQ did a big research project on this very subject, and by "research," I mean they grabbed a bunch of college commencement programs and read through them. Really. I know I exaggerate for effect sometimes, but that's what they actually did.

That said, she makes a valid point about the need to look at the supply side of the teacher pool CURMUDGUCATION: WSJ on Teacher Quality: