| Professional development for highly qualified teachers |
6/9/04 8:40 AM |
| Author:
Carmen Rivera
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In California, and many of you here are from California, a teacher must show subject matter competence prior to getting a teaching credential. On the other hand competence to teach is a tougher area to evaluate. In schools, specifically a Chartered School, competence should be demonstrated by the teacher's willingness to participate in discussions with collegeues about lessons. The collaborative discussion of competent teachers at any given moment is not about what a terrible reader Johnny is but about the different strategies used to get Johnny to read. I do not beleive that Chartered Schools would need to invest heavily in professional development unless they have among their midst teachers who are not willing to address student needs. Professional development at these schools (and really all schools) should not be about developing highly qualified teachers. It should be, in my opinion, about continuing the education of highly qualified teachers. Professional development should provide all teachers at a charter school opportunities to become experts in student learning. Practice does not make perfect... practice makes permanent. Therefore, if lawyers practice law, and doctors practice medicine why can't teacher's practice educational research? Maybe then we could raise the level of professionalism within the arena of teacher professional development.
Posted as a reply to:
NCLB's "Highly Qualified Teachers" Requirement and Charters by Bob Montgomery 
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