Highly Qualified in Whose Book?
Under the guidelines of No Child Left Behind, a public elementary or secondary school teacher is considered to be Highly Qualified if he or she has (1) obtained full state certification or passed the state teacher licensing examination, (2) holds a license to teach in the state, and (3) not had a certificate or license requirement waived under emergency, temporary or provisional conditions. If a teacher meets the aforementioned requirements, he/she is deemed highly qualified by Congress. However, while these attributes might satisfy federal guidelines, they fall a long ways shy of meeting the needs students?
If a teacher meets the criteria of the federal government, but is not effective with the students or valued by the parents, can she really be considered “highly qualified?” If an administrator finds the teacher critical of students and unwilling to work well or accommodate the needs of others, will he deem her as a “highly qualified” member of the staff? Research indicates that the quality of teaching impacts student achievement. With high standards and accountability being such a strong focus in the state of North Carolina, school administrators are not only looking to meet the federal guidelines when they hire a teacher, but they also have a personal agenda, as well.
In my career as a school administrator, I’ve served on various interview panels and spoken with quite a few teacher applicants. More times than not, the personal attributes of the applicant outweighed their professional accomplishments. We didn’t look for full state certification or a current state license. We looked for a love of children and a passion to teach. We didn’t look to see whether or not a license requirement had been waived, but rather a willingness to grow as an educational professional, learn new strategies, and adapt to the needs of students. If a teacher is missing any or all of those traits, as a school administrator, I would be hesitant to hire her to work as a member of my staff. Achieving “highly qualified” status under federal guidelines, in my opinion, is only half the requirement. It takes an individual who’s committed to the profession of education and helping children achieve their absolute best to be “highly qualified” in my book.
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The problem with all these terms is that there is a certain amount of subjectivity that comes into play. You are right, someone who does not teach effectively or well is not highly qualified to teach. That’s why I have a problem with labels. They only have meaning if you agree with the one doing the labeling.
As we discussed in Dr. K’s class a number of these are loaded terms. I find most of them silly because teaching is an abstract art. What makes sense to me and is natural to me may be like reading Chineese to someone else. you are tryingto define the undefinable.
That being said, we must have some type of structure. While you may not agree with the jargon, its the best we can do for now. I have to ask, if you disagree with this particular term what would you use in its place.
I agree with your assessment on the term of “Highly Qualified.” As a teacher for 11 years, I have seen many so called “highly qualified” teachers come and go from my school.Most of them didn’t know how to teach or even interact well with their students.Most of them thought teaching meant showing movies and passing out candy.That kind of behavior drives people like me, who think teaching is a profession, crazy.Not everyone, that can pass a teaching Praxis test, knows how to teach.I believe that holding a National Boards Licensure should be required before you can be considered highly qualified.
I agree with you that just because a teacher is labeled as “highly qualified” it does not necessarily mean that they are effective teachers. I was only required to take the Praxis I exam in my teacher licensure program in college and even after I received my National Board Certification, I was not deemed “highly qualified” because I had not taken the Praxis II exam. It seems ridiculous to me that the state does not factor in addtional certifications or degrees as part of this process. On the other hand, it would be difficult to use other measures to assess what makes a good teacher because it involves being subjective. I guess the state had to come up with a concrete assessment, so they decided to look at test scores and licensing. We all now that good teachers have more then just “book smarts”, but how would we assess someone’s passion or commitment to children?
What Term Would I Use? Until the federal government comes up with a uniform curriculum and uniform set of standards, I don’t think that there should be a term, on the federal level, to label a teacher or that deems her “highly qualified.” I think that the states should come up with their own terminology and their own set of standards.