Education Week - December 12, 2018 - 19

LETTERS to the EDITOR
www.edweek.org/go/letters

In Defense of Teacher Colleges
What Works Abroad Won't Work at Home

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acquired a while back with new skills so
that the student retains previously taught
information and can learn to apply the correct skill to a given problem.
With personalized learning, the focus is
on mastery of a skill and individual student understanding instead of grades. In
a traditional classroom, students often get
the message that some kids do well because they are naturally smart. The ones
who struggle don't know what to do to improve because they assume that they do
not naturally have the characteristics for

success. Through thoughtful personalized
learning, students can see a clear connection between the effort they put in and the
results they achieve. This helps them to
persevere when they encounter difficulty
rather than giving up. They learn to work
harder when they are not able to get it the
first time. n
NINA PARRISH runs a tutoring business for children
of all ages and holds a school counseling license.
Previously, she worked as a middle school special
education teacher.

To the Editor:
In a critique of teacher education ("Teachers Colleges as the
Weakest Link: Part 2," Top Performers blog, www.edweek.org, Nov.
9, 2018), Marc Tucker reiterated that schools of education are the
weakest link in public education and argued that they cannot
and will not change without help from "the state." Tucker believes
higher education must defer to government officials to develop
universal education policies, citing Finland and Singapore as
successful examples.
While such a system may work in Finland, it would not work
in a country as large and diverse as the United States, where
challenges and needs vary significantly by school district.
Tucker also wants to limit the number of teacher colleges by
raising admission standards and praised Singapore for preparing
all teachers and administrators in one of the country's "premier
research institutions."
While I support raising admission standards and even helped
Ohio University's Patton College of Education institute a required
3.0 grade-point average policy for applicants and current students,
I also recognize that not every top-notch scholar or researcher
would be a top-notch teacher. Theory and practice are not one
and the same, which is why the clinical model of education is so
important.
Tucker, with a strong focus on financials, seemingly wants
education to run as a business. While it is a business, it is not only
a business. There's also one key difference: Business owners have
complete control over their raw materials; public education does
not. In fact, it has none. Public schools willingly educate every
child who enters our doors, together in one room while accounting
for social-emotional differences and socioeconomic disparities.
Theory won't prepare you for that.
Tucker raised valid concerns but calling higher education the
weakest link in public education is incorrect, and his approach to
education would create more problems than solutions.
Linda Reed
Superintendent
Archuleta School District 50 Jt.
Pagosa Springs, Colo.

quality problems evident in Tulsa.
But quality problems are only part of our
concern. "Elevated"-and especially "peak"
schools-have far more poor and minority
students and lower reading and math proficiency rates than do schools with lower
participation, compounding quality issues
with equity concerns. Peak schools also had
markedly lower graduation rates, but revealingly, had the highest graduation-rate
increases for four years running, raising red
flags about credit recovery's role in graduation-rate inflation.
The onus is on districts to assure creditrecovery program quality, but when we
looked for policy information on the websites of 200 districts with high participation rates, we found basic information
missing far too often. The missing information included when credit recovery was
offered, which courses students could take,
and how it was administered. Fifteen percent of districts provided no information
on credit recovery whatsoever. At best,
this missing information on programs that
serve a large and growing number of students suggests that credit-recovery policies are poorly communicated. At worst, it
means too few policies are in place.
High-volume, low-quality programs potentially harm students, particularly the least
advantaged among them. District leaders
should know how effective their programs
are and at a bare minimum provide basic information about the programs' administration or quality controls. Leaders, especially
those in districts with high participation
rates, need to ensure that, as their programs
serve more and more students, districts are
not sacrificing quality or rigor.

Tulsa is a cautionary case. Its program
grants credits extremely quickly, and to a
large percentage of students. With about
2,000 12th graders, the 87 extra graduates
from its summer credit-recovery program
will bump up the district's graduation rate
this year by 4 percentage points, twice the
bump from last year. Oklahoma's rate as
a whole isn't raising many red flags-its
school and student credit-recovery participation rates are right near the national
average. Tulsa shows us that problem
districts may not lie in problem states,
so district leaders should not necessarily
take comfort in low statewide participation
rates.
Credit recovery, done well, can give students a second chance to stay on track for
graduation, without lowering expectations
or holding students to lesser standards.
But assumptions about adequate quality
can be dangerous when more than one in
five schools have a substantial number of
students participating in these programs.
While rising graduation rates may signal
progress for struggling students, district
leaders must be vigilant about ensuring
the quality of the credit-recovery programs
that fuel the rates. If they aren't, the next
credit-recovery scandal may come to their
district-or worse, fly under the radar
while leaving more students with watereddown diplomas, ill-equipped for college or
career. n
NAT MALKUS is a resident scholar and the deputy
director of education policy at the American
Enterprise Institute. AMY CUMMINGS is a research
assistant in education policy at the American
Enterprise Institute.

71 percent
of all credit
recovery
students are
concentrated
in just 22
percent of
schools."

My Teacher Prep Was Not 'Weak'
To the Editor:
In Marc Tucker's blog post about teacher colleges ("Teachers
Colleges as the Weakest Link: Part 2," Top Performers blog, www.
edweek.org, Nov. 9, 2018), he argues that colleges of education
may be weak because they stay inside their shell and are
prisoners of their environments. As a recent graduate of a college
of education, I believe my experiences demonstrate otherwise.
My school's teacher-preparation program collaborates with
public schools in rural and urban settings, and requires that
students experience teaching in both environments.
Of these clinical experiences, my junior year stands out to me.
This unique year included two full days a week dedicated to a
classroom in the community where I was right in the trenches,
working alongside experienced teachers, learning from and
sharing ideas with them, and building critical relationships with
students. I learned skills that could not be taught in the college
classroom: Empathy, differentiation for students with diverse
needs, building connections with families, work ethic for the long
hours it takes to be a teacher, and many more. Before entering
"student teaching," my professional internship as a senior, I had
already spent hundreds of hours with students.
Although there will always be ways to improve and change
teacher-preparation programs, my experiences lead me to feel
proud of our work. The profession and our education are not weak.
Abigail Morgan
Teaching Fellow
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio

COMMENTARY POLICY
Education Week takes no editorial positions, but publishes opinion
essays and letters from outside contributors in its Commentary
section. For information about submitting an essay or letter for
review, visit www.edweek.org/go/guidelines.

EDUCATION WEEK | December 12, 2018 | www.edweek.org | 19

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Education Week - December 12, 2018

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