How would you rate the teachers in your local schools?

Given an opportunity to define a highly qualified teacher in a public venue, parents, students, and community activists had strong opinions. As with testing, students proved to be keen observers.

Students raised a fundamental issue about the worth of the current certification process in deciding who is a good teacher and who isn’t. A basic quality for them is the teacher who goes the extra mile. A Memphis student entered high school far behind academically because “not all of my previous teachers taught me the required
curriculum,” but, fortunately, “the teachers with higher qualifications made my education a better experience,” she said. “Highly qualified teachers should have the training and the professionalism to understand that teachers need to devote quality
time with their students. I know everyone does not learn at the same pace. It is helpful and much appreciated when teachers take extra time out of their schedule to help students in need.”

A Philadelphia high school senior also was adamant that “sometimes qualified doesn’t mean certified.” In an algebra II class, he said, “we didn’t do any math. We just sat in there and watched TV and stuff. I got a million of those stories. I mean,
we have the teachers, but they’re not teaching.” A Sacramento, California, high school student compared two of his teachers—one on an emergency certificate and the other with a doctorate degree. Students “really understand” the former but not the latter, he said, but the uncertified teacher was dismissed. Regardless of a teacher's qualifications, the student added,“ it’s always going to come down to their ability to teach the students what they need to know.”

In a more formal sense, parents and other adults wanted teachers to have a sense of personal responsibility, too, toward student learning and to be competent in classrooms
with a great deal of diversity. They were not sure teachers received preparation for either skill. A Sacramento mother confessed that she was
not a psychologist, “but I’ve had enough experience with my seven children that
suggests to me that learning takes place in a variety of ways and there is no one approach
that best fits all. But we need to prepare our teachers in a way that is going to be meaningful
to the student, not to the process.” A frustrated Chicago parent described double-digit dropout numbers from the high schools in her neighborhood, “yet we have qualified teachers, according to the information we receive in the
mail. But if our qualified teachers aren't engaging these young people to stay in the system, so what?”

A Los Angeles parent called for redesigning teacher preparation to condition teachers
for urban areas where counseling is as
important as instruction. “They have to know
about the community and how they can inspire kids to make a difference in their communities,” she said. Others wanted to be sure teachers
were “culturally competent” and especially that they held high expectations for all students.
The youth development director for the Memphis Urban League cited a PIPE study in which teachers and principals held low expectations for students and did not believe they could overcome socio-economic disadvantages. “We must have teachers who believe that all students can learn and who teach to that possibility,” she said. “If we don’t, it won’t happen….For that to not be a part of the criteria (for highly qualified) is a huge failing.”

On the other hand, witnesses expressed genuine empathy for teachers trying to cope with NCLB requirements. Most did not believe teachers
approved of narrowing the curriculum and spending
so much time on test prep, but, “it’s the fear of losing their jobs” that causes them to bend to the pressure.
A student from Milan, Ohio, told of good teachers leaving, once a school was labeled as failing to meet AYP. “The teachers ask,” she said, “why would I
want to teach at a failing school when I can make
much more money if I’m over there at a passing school?…. You label it failing, and everybody runs away.” A New York City student said she lost opportunities to learn more in academic classes because “my teachers felt they were forced to
teach towards the Regents Exams.“ When we
asked questions about things that might be a little more off topic but definitely significant to our education,” she testified, “they would say: ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have time for this because you are
getting the Regents in June and we have to stick
with the curriculum and learn this now’.” This
student did not even believe the Regents were
“smart tests.”

Educators who testified wearing two hats—as
teachers and as parents—told of their frustrations. Teachers trying to use themes to differentiate instruction for students who need extra help “are hardpressed to do so,” because the only priority in
the school is raising basic skills test scores. A Brookline, Massachusetts, teacher described
teachers as “appalled at what the high-stakes
testing demands are doing to children in
classrooms.” A teacher educator from the University
of Illinois, who was trying to prepare her students for highlevel teaching in diverse classrooms, described
the frustration of her student teachers because the
only instruction they saw happening was drill and
more drill. “Such experiences are causing future teachers in the last year of their training program to panic about their career choices,” she said. “And it
also makes them question why their teaching
training program is too often not compatible with the reality of teacher-directed instruction that is focused
on high-speed test instruction at the expense of
quality, challenging instruction on a daily basis.”