How Was I Supposed to Know! They didn’t teach me that in college
The latest proficiency number is in. 37% of our nation's fourth graders are proficient or above in language arts. I’ll do the math for you. 63% of our country’s fourth graders can’t read. Six out of ten kids can't read!
"Not in my school!", you say. No. Maybe not...or maybe so. The point is, this awful statistic holds true and it doesn't seem to be improving any time soon nor does it get better as kids go through our system.
If a child is still struggling with reading by the time they finish third grade, odds are they will continue to struggle through the rest of their academic career Fixing something after it's broken is far less effective than addressing the issue BEFORE you determine its broke it in the first place.
It might be fair to say the skill sets were never developed in the first place....and the students you now have....are broken. You didn’t break it. The teachers before you didn’t break it. It’s fair to say no one broke it....but no one also did what needed to be done in the first place. The nessesary skill sets needed for a great ‘reading start’ should have been taught starting in preschool.
If college and university professors were doing what they should be doing in teacher preparation, they would already be teaching soon-to-be teachers how to get the job done. It's absolutely no surprise when you hear a teacher say, "They didn't teach us that in college." They should have. But they didn't. When I do VoWac workshops, no matter where I am, I will inevitably hear, "Why didn't they teach me this in college?"
It’s a great question. One for which I have no hard and fast answer. I have some theories,,ideas and rabbit holes to chase. They may be on target. They may strike a nerve. They may even be laughable.
Theory/Idea: Most professors have forgotten what it's like to be in the trenches of an elementary classroom. They have forgotten the runny noses, the dirty hands, the unair-conditioned classroom harboring 24 curious urchins. Most don't remember (if they ever have) what it's like to roll around on the floor with a bunch of five- or six-year olds. The words "out of touch" comes to mind.
Theory/Idea: Too much emphasis is placed on professors to become published. For if they fail to do so, they might be seen as irrelevant or lesser among their peers. To be published, one needs to put words into practice. This has led to some questionable practices in the classroom sometimes lasting decades. I.e., Fountas and Pinnell, Caulkins, Reading Recovery, and ARC Core, to name a few.
Theory/Idea: College professors remain out of touch with what is really needed in a typical classroom. Some have become unconsciously incompetent; they don't know that they don't know....and eagerly pass this knowledge on to future teachers.
Theory/Idea: For forty years I have seen where teachers come out of college with a teaching degree and are able to write up one heck of a lesson plan. But when it comes to "teaching on their feet', that skill has never been developed. It seems the idea of taking advantage of teachable moments not built into the lesson plan are nonexistent. Thinking on your feet is probably the one thing college courses CAN'T teach. It's both an art and a skill. Some teachers get better at it. Sadly, many don't.
Rabbit Hole: Teachers that went through the covid boondoggle had to reinvent themselves and learn how to present content remotely. For some it was easy. The techie-gene burst forth and away they went. Their kids didn't necessarily follow but that was beside the point. The concepts were introduce on-line. A lot of teachers struggled to come back from the lackadaisical remote approach. Some teacher found out that this remote instruction was pretty easy. For the most part it is but it is also ineffective if both teachers and students aren’t tuned into eachother during the teaching session.
Theory/Idea: Student/teacher ratios are disproportionately lopsided. To garner higher proficiency scores, the primary grades (K-2) should see a much lower student to teacher ratio. 14 to 16 students to one teacher is doable. There should be some kind of a para or parent volunteer in the room to help out. If schools are stacking 20 or even more kids in a room with no assistance, that teacher needs to buckle up....it’s going to be a rough ride!
Theory/Idea: Too many educational decisions are made by people that have very little or no educational background. Politicians should stick to poltics - leave education to teachers. Politicians are also guilty of not prioritizing education. Unfunded or poorly funded mandates don’t do much to help the cause.
Theory/Idea ---→ Rabbit Hole: With the growing shortages of teachers, the ones that are entering the field need to be better trained. Colleges and Universities need to do a better job - not just in traing teachers, but screening potential teachers and weeding out those that really shouldn’t enter the field. Sounds harsh but it is what it is. It doesn’t happen, primarily, because higher institutions of learning have monetary goal. Follow the money.
Getting a teaching degree could be turned into a five-year process. The fourth year becomes a teaching year that includes a paid stipend. The fifth year, that student comes back and fine tunes their skills and mistakes and makes what they’ve experienced practical in every educational aspect. They’ll also find out in that fourth year if this is really the vocation they were cut out for.
I have provide a ton of fodder for almost every person interested in education. What say you?