Education Station » unions

Becky Felts’ Column for Sept. 24

edstation — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:23:52 +0000

Why don’t our teachers stay: Providing the right learning conditions for new teachers
Today’s efforts to improve teaching and boost student achievement are almost exclusively focused on punitive measures or short-term cash incentives. While the classic motivators of fear and money may be effective for a little while, that is not the answer for long-term retention of our teachers. Many teachers feel called to do this job, so motivation is not what our new teachers need. They are motivated, but what is missing are working conditions that provide an opportunity for success.
Nationally, in the first five years of teaching more than 60 percent of teachers leave the profession. Research by the New Teacher Center suggests that the reason teachers leave the classroom is poor working conditions.
A teacher’s working conditions are a student’s learning conditions. If the environment is not conducive to effective teaching, it certainly is not conducive to effective learning.
If the quality of the teacher is the single most important determinant in a child’s success, we have to dedicate more time and resources to creating successful learning environments.
Poor working conditions that lead to attrition
• Large class sizes- Each student is an individual with different learning styles and talents. Teachers, especially our new teachers, need small class sizes that allow them to know and work with each student individually. Research conducted by the National Education Association has shown the positive benefits of being in small classes of 13-17 students in the early grades continued after students were placed in larger classes in secondary school. It is absolutely essential for our elementary students to receive the individual, specialized attention they need to create a foundation for success throughout their academic careers. With large classes, teachers cannot provide individual support. They also spend large amounts of time managing the classroom as opposed to engaging students in active learning. Large class sizes contribute to poor student achievement, thus lowering teacher satisfaction and contributing to increased turnover.
• Heavy workloads – In 2006, the average workload for a secondary teacher in the United States was five classes a day, teaching two different subjects. The more excessive the workload, the more problems new teachers will incur. On top of providing engaging and effective instruction to students during school hours, teachers go home and continue to work by grading papers and calling parents. In my small community of Tahlequah, I would end up holding a parent conference on the fly at the discount pharmacy or the local grocery store. People sometimes forget that you are a teacher 24-7. It is a very consuming job, especially paired with heavy workloads and no support.
• Insufficient resources and materials – The average teacher spends about $500 out-of-pocket a year on instructional materials, but the average first year teacher spends $700 out-of-pocket a year on classroom supplies. I recently heard a story of a parent who could not help her child with his homework because he was not allowed to bring his book home. The mother’s challenge was helping her child complete a math worksheet with no examples from the textbook. While she understood the information, the way she learned how to solve the problem and the way the teacher showed her son how to solve the problem was different. The mom was confusing the son and needed a textbook example to help. We have to have sufficient classroom supplies at a bare minimum, to help our teachers and parents educate our kids.
What can we do to provide working conditions conducive to teaching and learning?
• Provide extra support for new teachers- The sink or swim induction new teachers typically experience is causing our new teachers to drown. A high-quality, multi-year mentoring system helps provide the extra support new teachers need. The Oklahoma Education Association has partnered with the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University to create an intensive two-year mentor training program. A 2005 study by the New Teacher Center showed that retention can rise to nearly 90 percent, 30 percent above national retention rates, after implementing a rigorous instructional mentoring and induction program. Ensuring that there are dedicated resources to implement a quality, multi-year mentoring program should be the first step in a comprehensive and sustained effort to ensure Oklahoma’s most important educational resource, dedicated teachers, are available and able to help every child learn.
• Provide time to work collaboratively with colleagues- In strong professional learning communities, teachers help and support each other, develop innovative approaches to instruction and accept responsibility collectively for student achievement. However, the workplace culture and structure has to promote it. New teachers need time embedded in the workday to exchange ideas and solutions. New teachers cannot be isolated.
• Provide additional help to work with students and parents – Schools must provide extra support to students with additional needs and for teachers working with students with additional needs. School must try to create a culture of collective teacher responsibility for student achievement and provide comprehensive student support services. Nurturing school, family and community partnerships also creates multiple support systems for teachers and students.
- Becky Felts is president of the Oklahoma Education Association

New York, New York

edstation — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:57:19 +0000

When New Yorkers say that 90 degrees is sweltering, I’ll no longer look at our weather map of triple-digit temperatures and scoff.

Here, we go from an air conditioned house to an air conditioned car to an air conditioned workplace.

In New York City at an education seminar this past weekend, I went from an air conditioned hotel to a subway station more appropriately referred to as a sauna, then up the stairs to conquer a few more blocks of pavement before reaching my air conditioned destination.

All with my laptop bag on my shoulder. So heat is all relative. This is one of the things I learned at the Hechinger Institute’s seminar for new education reporters.

Lifestyle differences aside, I learned an incredible amount about reporting on education. I was an eager student for three days, absorbing everything I could from the speakers and taking copious notes for everything I could possibly need to review later on.

I want to share a few interesting notes with you.

Oklahoma singled out

First, Oklahoma got a shout-out in a session about prekindergarten.

Albert Wat with Pre-K Now cited the Sooner State in his presentation for having at least 70 percent of eligible students enrolled statewide. We’re one of only three states (Georgia and Florida are the others) to enroll more than 50 percent of all 4-year-olds.

He specifically talked about Tulsa, where a study showed that all races of students gained from one year of enrollment, and noted that Oklahoma pre-K teachers are paid equivalent to K-12 teachers, which he said doesn’t often happen.

A few degrees of separation

There was another Oklahoma tie in the presentation about academic rigor, even if by a stretch.

One of the two presenters was Jerry Weast, superintendent of Montgomery County Schools.

If that school district sounds familiar, it’s because that’s the last place John Porter worked before moving from Maryland to Oklahoma for his abbreviated tenure as superintendent of Oklahoma City schools.

Working in uni(s)on

Another highlight was hearing from Randi Weingarten, who was elected president of the American Federation of Teachers just five days earlier.

Weingarten advocated for “real collaboration” — politically and practically.

Politically, that means doing reform with teachers, not to teachers, she said. And practically, she’d like to see a collaboration of services that put after-school enrichment, medical clinics and parent help in the school building.

‘Physicians of the mind’

During the Q&A afterward, I asked Weingarten what she thought the union’s role is in recruiting enough teachers in the first place.

“In this instance, money does matter a lot,” she answered. After boosting starting teacher salaries in New York City by more than $5,000 in 2005, the hiring halls were filled and the number of uncertified teachers fell from 17 to 2 percent, she said.

Teachers want to be treated as professionals in their quest to better the lives of their students and the institutions in which they work, she said, adding that “teachers are physicians of the mind.”

Upon reflection

I’m thankful for the opportunities I had to learn from and network with experts and colleagues across the nation, and I can’t wait to start putting all my newfound story ideas and tips to work.

It was all made possible by the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University’s Teachers College, which is supported by various philanthropies, including the well known Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Oh, and I’m also thankful I won’t have to wait in underground, un-air conditioned subway stations again any time soon.

Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter

From bad to worst

edstation — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:41:50 +0000

The Center for Union Facts wants to give $10,000 each to 10 teachers — to stop teaching.

The organization said Tuesday it can be impossible to fire a bad teacher if he or she is protected by a union. To clarify, the Washington-based nonprofit also says it’s not against unions, just against corruption and the like within unions.

Anyone age 13 or older can submit nominations for the Worst Union-Protected Teacher at www.TeachersUnionExposed.com.

The Web site in part singles out Tulsa for firing “only two tenured teachers” out of more than 2,000 between 2003 and 2006. During that time, six tenured teachers seemingly resigned or retired in the face of termination, according to the site.

Do you think there are more than a handful of teachers in any given school district that should leave the profession? Do you think unions protect them too much? Or do you think union rules need to be in place for the good of the majority, even if that means a few unsatisfactory teachers are protected?

Share your thoughts with me and with other readers on the Education Station blog at NewsOK.com.

Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter

AFT calls for longer school year

jeffraymond — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:01:40 +0000

The president of the American Federation of Teachers on Thursday called for extending the school year.

Edward J. McElroy proposed pushing the year into the summer to provide intensive instruction and enriching out-of-classroom activities for at-risk kindergartners through third-graders. McElroy was speaking before more than 2,000 educators and paraprofessionals at the AFT’s national professional issues conference, according to a union press release.

“We are simply losing too many children during the long summer months, when they forget much of what they learned during the school year. Struggling students need additional instruction, enrichment and more time,” McElroy said, according to the release.

The proposal is designed to keep students from losing what they’ve learned while off for the summer. McElroy proposed that the summer extension last a minimum of 20 days.

“The summer extension would offer struggling students instructional methods proven to be effective, as well as enriching experiences such as museum visits, educational field trips and other summer activities,” according to the release.

State Superintendent Sandy Garrett on Tuesday called for increasing the school day by one hour and increasing the school year by five days, saying the changes would help make Oklahoma students competitive with their regional and international peers.

Jeff Raymond