Progression Analysis

Accuracy in Academia ^ | March 18, 2010 | Malcolm A. Kline

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Progression Analysis

Malcolm A. Kline, March 18, 2010

Progressives now acknowledge some of the key failures in public education but what solutions they propose to fix them may only exacerbate the problem. “It is well documented that teachers are rarely dismissed,” Robin Chait writes in a report published by the Center for American Progress (CAP). “National estimates from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education find that school districts dismiss on average only 1.4 percent of tenured teachers each year and .7 percent of probationary teachers for poor performance.”

“A number of indicators suggest that the percent of teachers dismissed is relatively low compared to the percent who should be dismissed.” Chait is the Associate Director for Teacher Quality at CAP.

“Teachers and principals report in several national surveys that they believe there are ineffective teachers teaching in their schools,” Chait writes. “In a recent survey of a nationally representative sample of teachers conducted by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates, 59 percent of teachers reported that there were a few teachers in their building who ‘fail to do a good job and are simply going through the motions’ and 18 percent of teachers reported there were more than a few.”

“Similarly, the New Teacher Project conducted a recent study of evaluation practices in 12 districts entitled ‘The Widget Effect’ and found that 81 percent of administrators and 58 percent of teachers reported there was a tenured teacher in their school who delivers poor instruction.” Chait herself was once a third grade teacher in Washington, D. C. and worked at the U. S. Department of Education....