Thursday, October 22, 2009

If the Solution was that Simple, We wouldn't have a Problem

Jay Mathews for Kaplan Test Prep Daily:

The excerpts of the speech we were given, however, did not appear to address one part of the classroom management problem that is often raised when successful teachers explain how they learned to keep students in order. These teachers often say they learned by doing, by facing a class alone without help, trying one thing after another until something worked for them. Education school deans have been critical of the Teach for America program, which pushes recent college graduates into classrooms with only a few weeks training, but teachers who have survived that toss-them-into-the-water approach say it works better than class management classes at their teacher's colleges.

Also, Uncle Jay has never met anyone who drowned after being dropped in the deep end of a pool.

The good news is that there is increasing momentum for residency based programs.

Also, addressing another random point from the post, I would point out that another reason college/district collaboration is difficult is the instability of leadership in urban districts and national policy. Every time a new supe comes in and shakes things up, or previously "successful" schools are now found to be "failing," it breaks existing relationships.

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