Turning ex-traders into new teachers
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
This article from the New Jersey Star-Ledger discusses a new pilot program just approved by the New Jersey state legislature to fast-track teacher certification in science and math. A likely recruitment target: recently unemployed Wall Street workers, who have a significant math background. Kudos to New Jersey for a policy that is intended to both put the unemployed to work and to provide qualified math and science teachers for urban districts struggling to fill those slots. As with any policy, though, we will have to wait and see whether it accomplishes either goal.
Of course, within the education community there is a great debate over the effectiveness of teachers who undergo alternative certification programs in general. People interested in the topic might be interested in this Mathematica evaluation on the efficacy of different teacher preparation methods in contributing to students’ academic achievement. It concluded that there was no difference, on average, to student achievement resulting from placing an alternatively versus traditionally certified teacher in the classroom.
Another study of interest might be this 2008 Urban Institute publication on the effectiveness of Teach For America teachers (who were specifically excluded from the Mathematica study) in secondary schools in North Carolina. While, like all studies, there are methodological limitations, the authors found that TFA teachers are more effective, as measured by student exam performance, than teachers certified traditionally working in the schools in which they are placed. They also suggest that TFA teachers are more effective than experienced secondary school teachers in those schools. Results are particularly strong in math and science. [Note: I do have slight bias in posting this study, as I taught high school math and science as a TFA corps member]
Labels: teacher certification
