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More teachers returning to school > Back
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Monday, 17, 2004
By Sarah Kellogg - CHRONICLE WASHINGTON BUREAU
When school lets out next month for Michigan's
more than 1 million schoolchildren, many of the state's 100,000
teachers will be heading back to the classroom.
But they won't be going back as teachers; they'll
be there as students. It's an annual rite of summer known as professional
education, and it's taking on new meaning as teachers face tough
new federal requirements.
"Summers are not the relaxed, kick-your-feet-up-and-drink-mint-juleps
time for teachers," said Margaret Trimer-Hartley, a spokeswoman
for the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teachers
union. "They're very busy. They're spending their time improving
their professional skills. They're working very hard to meet the
standards."
The standards come out of No Child Left
Behind, the Bush administration's solution for failing U.S. schools.
The law, enacted in 2002, requires changes in curriculum and the
adoption of new testing procedures.
It also mandates that teachers be certified as
"highly qualified" in their subject area by the end
of the 2005-06 school year. And some teachers are feeling under
the gun.
"They're feeling a burden right now with
new standards and testing around the corner," said Chuck
Allan, president of the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics
and a professor at the University of Michigan's Dearborn campus.
"Their kids have to achieve at higher levels."
While the "highly qualified" provision
has drawn the ire of education officials, especially large teachers
unions, some teachers and administrators say it can be a force
for good.
"I think the law is well-intended,"
said Mark Pullen, a third-grade teacher at Lakeside Elementary
School in the East Grand Rapids School District. "I think
expecting all teachers to be highly trained is a good idea."
Pullen, whose school won a national third-grade
math contest this year, sees a committed group of veteran teachers
at Lakeside.
"Many of the teachers in our building have
been teaching for 10 or 20 years," said Pullen, who has been
a teacher for six years. "There is no question they're highly
qualified to do what they do."
Pullen, who minored in math in college, will
not have to return to school for extra classes under the federal
law.
The federal rules are complex enough that even
talented teachers could find themselves in a bind. At a basic
level, each teacher must be certified or licensed by the state
and have a bachelor's degree, which has been the general requirement
in Michigan.
But beyond that, new teachers must demonstrate
competency in each academic subject that they teach by passing
a subject matter test, completing course work for a major in that
subject or completing a graduate degree.
In Michigan, veteran teachers can choose another
option, meeting the standards with a teacher portfolio that outlines
the body of a teacher's work and training.
Many experts fear that the federal law will pinch
Michigan's K-8 teachers who work in middle schools. Under No Child
Left Behind, middle-school teachers must be proficient in the
subject matter they are teaching, whether it be math, science
or social studies. But the state has long certified teachers to
teach any subjects in any grade between kindergarten and eighth
grade.
"Any elementary teacher becomes highly qualified
if they've got an elementary teacher's degree," said Walter
Rathkamp, director of the Saginaw Valley State University Math
and Science Center. "If they move up into middle school,
maybe they're teaching math or science, they can't be considered
highly qualified anymore unless they minored in those subjects
in college."
And that's why many of those teachers are going
back to school this June to beef up those degrees or certifications.
It's also why school districts are working with intermediate districts
to enhance professional development seminars.
"For us, it was a rethinking of the needs
of our schools and our teachers," said Barbara Bleyaert,
assistant superintendent at the Washtenaw Intermediate School
District in Ann Arbor. "When it comes to following the new
national standards, you can't fake it in subjects such as math
or science. It requires a deep understanding, and that's what
we hope to give."
But not every district can afford to offer additional
professional development for teachers.
"If you want to provide additional training
for your teachers, that's a financial matter mostly," said
Tony Derezinski, director of government affairs for the Michigan
Association of School Boards. "Where's the money going to
come from? School budgets are really hurting. No Child Left Behind
doesn't have a lot of money in it to meet these standards."
Nationally critics of the law estimate it has
been underfunded by $9.4 billion for 2005 by the Bush administration.
That translates into a shortage in Michigan of about $461 million.
"It's not unusual for a business to invest
as much as 10 percent of its resources in professional development,"
said Tom Watkins, Michigan's superintendent of schools. "Take
a look at any school district -- the best, in the good times,
spend about 2 percent or 3 percent.
"If I could wave a wand and produce resources,
I would provide additional professional development for our teachers.
It's a relatively small investment that translates directly into
improvements in our schools and the education of our children."
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