DON'T LOWER TEACHER
QUALITY STANDARDS--RAISE THEM!

The idea that we can raise standards for student achievement while lowering standards for entry into the teaching profession is absurd. And yet, this is the policy the Administration is pursuing by investing millions of federal dollars in programs that make it easier and quicker for a person to become a certified teacher.

Programs, such as the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence's "Passport to Teaching Certification," greatly reduce the amount of time a candidate must spend studying how to teach, and eliminate requirements that would-be teachers must first practice teaching in a real classroom, under the watchful eye of an experienced teacher, before teaching solo.

Everyone agrees that teacher-candidates must thoroughly know their subject. And alternate teacher certification routes for college graduates is gaining acceptance. But how much classroom experience and subject knowledge a teacher-candidate must have before teaching is a concern. As a veteran teacher, I believe that it takes a lot more than a bachelor's degree, a winning personality, and good intentions to become a quality teacher. Teaching is a profession, not missionary work. It requires practice and the mastery of a special body of knowledge about how children learn and develop. What's more, as an African-American male teacher, I encourage more African American and Hispanic men to come into the teaching profession and serve as role models for children.

Quality teachers must know their subjects, how to reach and inspire students, and how to adapt instructions to meet students' different needs--because no two students are alike. In the classroom, one size definitely does not fit all. Studies consistently show that experienced teachers are more effective at tailoring their teaching for students with diverse learning needs. The most important lesson I learned during my professional life was "If my students can't learn the way I teach, then I must teach the way they learn."

Today, high teacher turnover is undermining teacher quality and student achievement. One-third of new teachers leave the profession within three years and almost one-half leave within five years, and the turnover rate is even higher in urban and rural schools. Underqualified and underexperienced teachers are teaching too many students.

Many teachers were ill-prepared for the classroom. They never practiced teaching, nor did they receive adequate training in child psychology and development or in different instructional techniques and classroom management. Some programs provide idealistic college graduates with a crash, summer course in how to teach, and then they are expected to teach. Not surprisingly, these programs have a high turnover rate.

School conditions also contribute to the high turnover rate. Qualified teachers often leave because of poor working conditions, inadequate facilities, insufficient textbooks and supplies, and large classes.

If the President and the Congress are truly serious about leaving no child behind, they must get serious about putting a truly qualified teacher in every classroom.

While the so-called "No Child Left Behind" law seeks to have a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom by the spring of 2006, unfortunately, implementation of this worthy goal has been abysmal. Bureaucrats are lowering standards in order to increase the supply of teachers and have cut funding for programs that would enhance teacher quality, especially in Title I schools that serve poor and minority students.

Congress needs to provide meaningful professional development; increase funding; offer student loan forgiveness; and provide tuition aid to second-career teachers and tie that aid to service in Title I schools.

Today's children will challenge you, but all children can learn, achieve, and be taught--if you know how. There are no shortcuts to becoming a qualified teacher. When you shortcut teacher preparation or certification, you shortchange students. It is time now that the Administration and the Congress buckle down to the task at hand, because every child in America deserves a quality teacher and a great public school.