A timely piece by well regarded educational researcher, Edward Moscovitch, appears this month in Commonwealth Magazine. His piece (Teachers are not to blame) decries those Ed Reform initiatives that blame teachers instead of helping them. This is a piece well worth reading, and quite fitting given the drama playing out in Boston right now. Here’s an excerpt.
“In the past few months, President Obama, Gov. Deval Patrick, and the press have practically made “education reform” synonymous with “firing teachers.”
“…What all these so-called reform initiatives have in common is the assumption that teachers in low-performing schools have the tools they need to turn their schools around but, for some reason, are refusing to use them. We therefore need to use the carrot (merit pay) or the stick (losing their students via choice or to charter schools, embarrassing them by publicizing their students’ low MCAS scores, or firing them). “
“This view-that the right incentives (positive or negative) will produce the necessary changes in teaching-may be a very common one, but there is no data to back it up. Indeed, a close look at MCAS results shows there is surprisingly little difference between the quality of teaching in so-called “good” schools (wealthy, suburban schools with high MCAS scores)and “bad” schools (inner-city schools with low scores) when the results are averaged across all teachers in the district and disaggregated by student demographics, specifically race and poverty. Put another way, a low-income white student in a “good” suburban school tests essentially the same as a low-income white student in a “bad” inner-city school.”
Moscovitch writes persuasively and gives comfort and ammunition to those of us who face the tsunami of daily attacks masquerading as ‘Ed Reform.’ His conclusions will not be popular in today’s blame-the- teacher culture. All the more reason to print out his article, grab a cup of coffee, and spend a few minutes digesting something that will make you feel pretty good.
Along the same lines, educational historian Diane Ravitch has written another good piece about RTTT’s demonization of teachers.
Here’s a challenge to a bold and brave BPS administrator: print out the Moscovitch and Ravitch columns and use them for staff PD. Give staff one hour to read and digest both, then have a discussion. That’d be true professional development. It would also take great courage. Go for it!