Check the recent IPS Board Report. Richard Myers is getting a new job title and a $17,000.00 raise. Where's your raise?
 July 29, 2009 Teacher training faces overhaul Proposed rules being unveiled today would give Indiana teachers a new mandate: what you teach matters more than how you teach. A broad series of changes proposed by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett would require even elementary education majors to minor in core subjects such as math, English, science, art or social studies while limiting undergraduate coursework in education. The proposal also would relax the amount of training required of principals and superintendents. As details of the plan emerged Monday and Tuesday, school districts, teachers and universities blasted parts of it as putting unqualified people in charge of districts or in front of children. And they questioned why Bennett did not inform deans of education schools earlier. "I don't really understand the rationale for imposing those kinds of restrictions," said Pat Rogan, executive associate dean of the education school at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. "Why would we ever want to eliminate even minimum standards for licensure? We need to be increasing the standards." Bennett said the changes are needed to ensure school districts have flexibility in hiring and that teachers grasp the subjects they teach. For instance, a fourth-grade teacher has to teach fractions, percentages and related concepts, Bennett said. Having an outside concentration in math would help ensure that teachers have mastered that subject. "You have to start with the premise that improving education starts with high-quality instruction," he said. "We know that a teacher who doesn't understand complex math problem-solving cannot help a student master that." Bennett said he also wants to give school boards the option to look more broadly than the ranks of educators when filling leadership positions. His plan would allow any teacher to become a principal by passing a test rather than taking courses as is now required. It also would allow anyone with a master's degree in any field to become a school superintendent by taking a test. Principals and superintendents now must take courses in school leadership and Indiana school law. Relaxing those requirements, Bennett said, would allow a district facing serious financial problems to hire a retired corporate CEO for a year to get the books in order. Rogan and representatives of other education schools said the proposed teacher education rules appear to tip the balance too far away from courses on how to teach. Courses at IUPUI, for example, cover the research and laws on working with special education students, how to teach to students who learn differently, ways to engage students in lessons and many other topics. Rogan said the proposed limits of 30 credit hours in education courses for education majors and 15 for education minors would put educators without essential teaching skills into classrooms. Although Indiana State Teachers Association officials said they generally don't have many issues with the state's plan, they, too, are wary of the limits on the number of education courses college students can take. "Just because someone knows chemistry inside and out doesn't mean that person knows how to reach kids teaching chemistry," ISTA spokesman Mark Shoup said. Officials at the University of Indianapolis are still trying to figure out what the proposal means but fear it could turn their program on its head by requiring it to undo cooperative courses that, among other things, merge training in education and various subject areas. "Do you just drop everything you do now that you think is doing well?" asked Dean Kathy Moran. Superintendents also reacted strongly this week to the proposal, saying some changes would be helpful but others would be destructive. Eminence Superintendent Larry Moore said he would welcome the flexibility that would come from allowing teachers to add areas of specialty without taking more courses. That would allow him, for instance, to have a physics teacher take over a math course without having to go back to college to study math. But he questioned the wisdom of relaxing course-work requirements for principals and superintendents. "School business is not business, and you have to have some school sense to run a school and a school corporation," he said. "You get that from having sat in various chairs within a school system." The proposal will be presented to the Indiana Professional Standards Board at a meeting today. The board will then hold hearings. Indiana University Dean of Education Gerardo Gonzalez said he is concerned by the speed of the rulemaking process and the lack of consultation with education leaders. It would be a major break in the culture of academic freedom for the state to dictate curriculum to independent universities, he said. "Here is probably one of the most significant changes that have been advanced around teacher licensure in the state of Indiana," he said, "and the deans of education received notice the day before the meeting occurs." Additional Facts |
Bennett to announce proposals to improve teacher quality
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett will announce recommended changes in teacher licensing to improve teacher quality and increase flexibility for administrators. The changes will be presented to the Indiana Professional Standards Board at their meeting at 1:00 pm Wednesday.
WHO: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett
WHAT: Recommended changes to the Professional Standards Board to improve teacher quality
WHEN: Wednesday, July 29 at 11:30 am
WHERE: Superintendent’s Office, Room 228, Statehouse
What would you like to see changed?
| IPS B.S. got this e-mail Wednesday. Can anyone help her out? I have been seeing on the news and internet sites saying that all but a few teachers have been re-hired for this school year. I was RIFd. I signed the stupid cadre paper because I wanted to be ensured a position next year. I am number 118 on the callback list and want to know if anyone has any idea when these calls are taking place. I have taught 3rd grade and am just dreading getting a phone call saying I have been placed in a 6th grade position the day before school starts... has anyone else been called back to a position that they have no idea about?? |
I wrote a few weeks back about the anonymous new IPS teachers blog venting their issues with the district. At that time it wasn't clear whether it would take off or fizzle. It seems like it's well on its way with teachers from a variety of schools, although most appear to be in the secondary division (middle schools and high schools).
It's got interesting conversations going on in the comments sections with a lot of back and forth between teachers. Beware that some of the rumors on there just aren't true -- they're things I've checked out in the past and seen enough evidence to believe they're just false. But there are others that are most certainly true and others that sound sound credible. Plus there's a lot of firsthand accounts of how teachers perceive administrators in their buildings.
One longtime IPS teacher wrote me a note the other day to say: "Personally, I think blogs are mainly gossip, but this blog is quite serious. It intends to air a lot of complaints and other information the public needs to know about and that you may find you need to tell the public about. We the people, who are ultimately responsible for the public schools, can't be truly responsible without the facts. ...This blog shows IPS has big problems, not what the IPS PR machine wants us to know."
Back when Eugene White took over as superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools, yours truly questioned whether he would actually turn around the district's woeful performance or merely following the typical new top school boss script of preaching -- and not delivering -- reform.
Almost two years later, the results are mixed. On one hand, moves such as the release of a report card on the district's performance and the uproar arising from it -- show that White is at least trying to do more than talk the talk. And that is admirable.
But White's efforts have been inconsistent at best. By asking Mayor Bart Peterson to halt expansion of his charter school regime after proclaiming earlier in his tenure that he would simply compete with them, White raises questions about whether he is putting at risk the educational destinies of Indianapolis children who without choice, would be forced to attend woeful public schools.
Despite personnel moves such as replacing Northwest Principal Roy Simpson, White hasn't done enough to remove school-level officials such as Arlington's Jackie Greenwood and those top officials within the central district who have been partly responsible for IPS' status as home to the state's worst dropout factories. The move this month to recommend raises for several top longtime central staffers? Not smart at all.
But it's what he didn't do -- kick out the worst teachers in the district, toss out poor-performing principals early in his tenure, push for innovations for improving teacher quality -- that stands out. The longer a superintendent stays in office, the harder it is for him to effectively reform a school district, especially as the honeymoon period wears off and special interests within the district remain entrenched.
By failing to strike early, White has now limited his effectiveness. Which is a pity. Because more than ever, IPS students deserve better.
