Wanted: Great Teachers

beware the menace of untrained teachers. just because they're talented and motivated doesn't mean they will be good teachers. all people interested in education DESERVE a proper preparation program, not just a 6 week crash course in authoritarian practices that attempt to turn inner-city kids into replicas of the white middle class adults who grace them with their presence for two years. teachers should be teachers not saviors. keep it real new haven.

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The answer to closing the achievement gap is doing something about the welfare/entitlement crowd birth rate, not throwing other peoples money around .

"authoritarian practices?" Like homework? Like paying attention in class?

Lance, what would you propose to do about birth rates? If you are talking about births to unemployed teenage mothers, there is nothing like a great education to give a girl a vastly different vision for her future. Yes, its our money, but we've been paying for failure for decades. We don't need to spend any more money, just take some new approaches.

It's popular to criticize TFA but they have grown to be a strong organization doing tremendous good.

I don't see any negatives to more young, smart, committed young professionals living in New Haven and working in our public schools. This benefits us all. As a TFA NYC corps member, living and working in New Haven, I am happy TFA is here.

A point of clarification: All TFA teachers must now become state certified over their two year commitment, and many stay on teaching and administering (61% of TFA corps members continue to teach beyond their two-year corps commitment which is a similar retention rate for first year teachers.) Plus, research details the shamefully bad job many teacher preparation programs are doing. Except a few stellar programs, I doubt most teacher prep programs are doing a better job than TFA. Alternative routes to teaching are good for students.

There are a lot of haters out there but I invite them all to try their hand at the hard job of teaching. I doubt they'd survive 1 week.

<a href="http://tinyurl.com/nk9ld9&quot; rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/nk9ld9&lt;/a&gt;

Sigh. I think Teach for America is a good idea, but obviously shouldn't be the only idea. I mean, Southern Connecticut State University has a great teaching program. Yale has an Urban Teaching Fellows program which is great, as well. I think bringing people in from other cities/states to teach in New Haven is okay--I'd prefer to see New Haven citizens recruited for these positions, though. I don't hate on TFA, I just hope that we can develop New Haveners for these positions--having the community members invested in their educational systems by being teachers and parents empowers citizens.

Last year there were 25 certified candidates for four HS math positions. It seems that New Haven is doing really well attracting math teachers.

The TFA teachers I know are dedicated hard-working teachers with high expectations for our kids. I wish more of them would make a career of education, especially in the New Haven Public Schools.

Yet again the NH Public School System gives lip service to hiring quality teachers. BUT they won't hire highly experienced teachers with years of service because they don't want to pay them. Brand new teachers, sure. Highly skilled teachers with proven track records, um, not likely.

While the TFA teachers I've worked with have been smart, dedicated, and hard-working, like any teachers, they've also had a lot to learn about how to teach. I've spent the past three years mentoring a number of them along with non-TFA teachers. Unfortunately, the pattern with the TFA teachers is that they work for two years, three if we're lucky, and then leave the system, and often leave classroom teaching. That means that the time, energy, and resources put into mentoring them has a very short term payoff. I would rather put those resources into supporting young teachers who are not only smart, hard-working, and dedicated, but who actually stay in teaching.

The problem with the argument for experience over talent is that we have "enjoyed" 40 years of a system that rewarded experience at the expense of talent. This is what seniority and tenure rules assure. And look where it got us.

Having said that, experience is clearly a big component in developing talent. So the talent vs. experience battle is a bit of a false choice.

What we need to do is to identify talented teachers whose performance continues to be ENHANCED by experience. Some folks use their experience to become gurus and master teachers. These are among the most important people in our system today. Unfortunately others are so burnt out from years of being under fire in the trenches that they are no longer productive. Some were not great teachers in the first place and continue to stay in their jobs.

We need to do away with seniority and tenure and replace it with real performance differentiation. I hope the new teacher contract reflects that.

CT Retirement Board....change your retirement rules so teachers can receive their full benefit package and you'll find many of us retiring and then you can fill all the schools with the wonderful TFA teachers. I am sick of hearing how great the TFA teachers are compared to the experienced teachers of New Haven. This is an insult to a highly educated group of individuals who have spent their years teaching, participating in professional development opportunities, and paying to get degrees to improve their craft w/o any financial help from the state or the district.

Teach For America is a band-aid for a bullet wound. It's irresponsible to put untrained teachers in our classrooms, plain and simple. Add in the fact that they're often gone after their commitment is over -- off to brag about their terrible time in the trenches to their new law school and med school buddies. Who cares if they're smart, dedicated, young, and fun? They don't know how to teach. There are plenty of ways to learn to teach without harming our own kids by giving them slightly older kids who don't know the first thing about pedagogy. The previous poster is right -- we've got good programs at Southern CT, Yale, Quinninpiac, UNH, UConn. New Haven should make a statement by aggressively courting those teachers, the ones who have learned how to teach, who have practiced their craft under the guidance of some of the city's finest, and who are committed to use their time in city schools for more than just their resumes.

I am a Teach for America teacher teaching in the New Haven Public Schools presently, and -- surprise-- I went to New Haven Public Schools! (Whatsername should be happy.)

I have heard all of these arguments that have been thrown about many times before, and they are not new to me. I think you all make valid points, but I urge you to think about several things:

1) Despite my 6-weeks of training, I was interviewed by my principal as part of a general pool and hired over other, more traditionally trained and even veteran teachers! What about my TFA training made me more attractive in my interview? What does this say about the TFA training process?

2) Connecticut has the largest achievement gap in the nation, and New Haven is a very real part of that statistic. From my experiences at school here before college, I had lots of amazing teachers. I also had a lot of teachers who didn't care. The data shows that Teach for America is closing the achievement gap both here and across the nation. Why wouldn't that be good for the children of New Haven? They are the ones who matter, right?

3) When looking at the amount of retention, I urge you to also consider teachers' ages. Teach for America teachers are young; we don't have families of our own for the most part, and we're highly mobile people. How many other young teachers stay in the same district year after year? We're going to get married; our spouses may get jobs in other places; life happens. Compare our retention statistics to those of other young teachers, and then decide.

I want to continue teaching in New Haven, my home town, for many years to come. However, I don't know what my life will be like, I cannot predict it. I may stay in New Haven for the rest of my life, or I may move to California. I'd like to have the freedom to do that without my decisions somehow influencing the perceived "amount of good" that my 2 year commitment in TFA achieved. I've chosen to try and make a difference, and that is, in the end, what matters.

As several of the comments above suggest, TFA is one source -- not the only source -- of new talent in the NHPS. I have met TFA corps members and, like "Cross Teacher" among other commentators, hope that we are able to retain more of these folks in the NHPS.

As a community, the more we can do to welcome and support the most promising teachers, the better. These include graduates of various universities, via a range of programs and career paths. Groups like Young-Pros and TGWNN (with leaders like Janna) already are helping.

There is also much talent, as well as hard-earned experience, among longer-serving teachers. As in any profession, some are more inspired and effective than others. There are few tougher or more important jobs.

Among newer cohorts, it's been encouraging -- not surprising -- to see the enthusiastic dedication of many of the district's recruits in recent years. At the same time, I've observed committed, even impassioned work of veteran colleagues. Many have participated in the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.

The Institute is a teacher-led partnership that aims to involve a cross-section of educators throughout the New Haven Public Schools. It is inclusive, not exclusive, but it is demanding. Though the program's curricular products are widely available online, its direct professional opportunities -- small-group seminars led by Yale faculty members in the sciences and humanities over a period of months -- are open only to teachers in this district. In that way, the Institute is one incentive for teachers to come to New Haven, to develop professionally and to remain here.

The Institute's teacher leadership seeks both continuity and renewal each year. Accordingly, it's seen a number of new teachers who have been Fellows and continued in the program, developing their careers and working to respond to needs expressed by colleagues across the district. Ultimately, advancing student learning is their goal.

The Institute's 2009-10 school Representatives and Contacts are beginning to disseminate the latest curricular resources Fellows have prepared, and to solicit suggestions for seminar topics the Institute might address in the coming spring/summer. More information will be available in the weeks ahead.

I agree with using TFA teachers to fill in the gaps when necessary, possibly in high school math and science, but when my position was taken by a TFA teacher because somehow they were more certified to teach a class that I had already been teaching for two years, I can't understand the logic. Now the TFA teacher is struggling in my old position and I am now struggling to adjust to my new placement in a different school and grade. Putting teachers in struggling situations is not the best way to serve our children and should only been done in emergency situations, when no other teacher can be found. TFA should be a last resort, because the TFA teachers struggle and the kids suffer.

I have taught in New Haven over the past 13 years and I can honestly say that our teaching staff is phenomenal (whether they hail from traditional pathways or any of the new pathways-TFA,etc). The demands put on our educational staff are immense, yet we are up to the task. With the arrival of Garth Harries I believe we need to be prepared for an even more intense everyday existence--but in a good way. The reform movement is our chance as teachers to show others how it is done. Under Dr. Mayo's leadership we have come a long way, with test scores ever improving in an environment many could not fathom. This is our legacy--this is our moment---and we will not fail-----I believe in you and our children and our parents-Tom

Tom - thanks for your support.

TFA Teacher - I'm sure your terrific but i do not agree more experienced teachers should be overlooked to provide you with a position. And excuse me, teacher's age should not be considered when hiring. You too will age and someday you be replaced by a younger, prettier, inexperienced model and let's see how you feel then!

Again, I will repeat 37 1/2 years is TOO LONG to have to do this job BUT until the state changes it's rules then we will age, some of us will tire, but persevere. I am currently 58 and teaching urban middle schoolers who don't like school, rules or reading, but I show up each day, take a deep breath, and do what i know to best for kids based on experience, research and years of education.

A child like yourself can not possibly be expected to have the experience that someone like myself and many of my colleagues possess, despite your over confidence in your ability which is common of your generation. But then, i'm sure you know their lingo as you're so close in age and they think your very cool...good for you but it's not enough!

Assistant Superintendent: Of what? New Haven??? Doubt it as NH administration, except for one, don't ususally blog. I guess they are too busy to chat about issues that affect the greater NH education community.

Personally, I think most of them are so far removed from the real deal and are so data driven that they can't possibly relate to what is really happening in our schools.

OK, I've said enough, gotta go enjoy some of this beautiful day!

TFA mandates an intensive induction program for corps members. New Haven Schools offers mentoring for new hires, but a true multi-year induction program is needed. These programs work with new staff to help them become effective educators. If we hire the best and give them an excellent induction, more would realize success in the classroom.

We need to ramp up efforts to recruit and retain the best teachers who are committed to sticking around our district for at least 8-10 years. Affecting change in large systems (like education) takes time, hard work, and the most informed minds.

That said, effective TFA corps members play important roles as catalysts and on-the-ground models for change. I have been very impressed by the TFA corps members I work with. If they don't remain in the schools after the required 2 years, they will be advocating for support for our schools as business leaders, lawyers, politicians, doctors, or whatever other role they choose in society. They see the world from the perspective of our at-risk students, and confront the obstacles to academic achievement.

I agree with the previous poster that TFA is a band-aid where a tourniquet is needed. I also disagree that Yale and Southern have great programs. Yale's Urban Education program is too new to be seriously evaluated, and if I were a hiring administrator I would think twice before selecting anyone coming out of Southern. This is not to say that great teachers don't come out of Southern; just that coming out Southern does not a good teacher make. Education programs are highly overrated. Content area knowledge coupled with field experience and meaningful feedback are the only "tools" necessary to create a talented teacher pool.

The achievement gap will not be closed in the classroom. The achievement gap is not an issue of education; it is in fact a socioeconomic creation.

I wish Mr. Harries the best of luck in his efforts at reforming the system; at the same time, I continue to find it laughable that DeStefano and Mayo claim to be the harbingers of education reform as they have been at the helm for nearly TWO DECADES!

PS I have known many great teachers to come through TFA, some of whom have remained in the classroom after their requisite time (at the same time the majority of whom I speak have chosen to work in other districts).

In a top heavy administration, I don't see why Garth was hired to begin with. We need to reform, yes that's true, BUT why can't our own people lead the reform?