ProjectFindBetterTeachers

Despite arguments over educational policy, it is widely agreed upon that one necessity of public schooling is high-quality educators. It is dually noted that under-qualified teachers run rampant throughout public schooling. According to many experts, there is an increasingly notable group of educators in the system that show insufficient knowledge in the subjects they teach. In order to ensure our children with high-quality education, we must first provide them with more caring and better qualified teachers.

The effects of good and bad teachers
Many studies have proven that several areas of teacher qualifications largely affected student’s success rates. Reports have shown that students taught by the lowest quality teachers for three years experienced an average achievement gain of 29% while students taught by the highest quality teachers had an average achievement gain of 83%. In particular, experts suggest that factors surrounding a teacher’s competency in areas such as: certification, licensure, experience, subject-matter knowledge, and pedagogical preparation had a major impact on their students’ academic achievement. It is crucial to demand high competency in such areas if we expect positive results from our educators. (Yan)

Unfortunately, it is becoming harder and harder to recruit and retain quality educators. Many times, the existence of under qualified teachers stems from the lack of incentive to enter the field and options for better pay in different, more intellectually intensive fields. Thus, educators tend to be among the weakest students among college graduates. A Princeton-based study concluded that prospective teachers had average SAT scores of 507 in math and 522 in verbal, with Elementary Education majors scoring just 486 in math and 498 in verbal. Meanwhile, the average college graduate scored 542 in math and 543 in verbal. (Williams, p. 188) Similarly, in a Massachusetts test given to middle-school math teachers, 41 percent of teachers failed. (Graham, p. 196)

Difficulty In Weeding Out Poor Teachers
Though the statistics on teacher incompetence are overwhelming- according to surveys, 45 percent of public school parents felt that some teachers in their child’s school should be fired, while administrators estimated that 5 to 15 percent of their school’s teachers were deemed unsatisfactory. (Yan) – many times incompetent teachers are virtually impossible to weed out. Since incompetence is difficult to define, it is very difficult to outline standards for teachers, and even more difficult to identify ineffectual teachers. In addition, because many teachers have tenure, there are many legal boundaries for firing such teachers. Teacher tenure grants the teacher the benefit of the doubt when it comes to competency. For example, a teacher with permanent status must be deemed unmistakably inept before the district can fire them. In addition, school districts are discouraged from taking action against such teachers due to the added costs in developing the case against them.